Numerous symptoms in a 22 year old male

[Zardoz7979]

I’m a 22 year old male who has been diagnosed with ASD and extreme health anxiety. Since October of last year, I’ve been experiencing a number of symptoms that have terrified me after learning that some of them share characteristics with early signs of ALS.

Some of the symptoms I’ve been experiencing include…

-Persistent twitching across my entire body, though it is predominantly in my arms and legs.

-Dull pain in my joints, including my elbows, shoulders, and elbows.

-Stiffness in my hands with audible cracking in the joints as I move them.

-Shortness of breath even after minimal physical exertion and tachycardia when I hold my breath.

-The annoying feeling of a lump stuck in my throat.

-Excessive mucus in my throat that is clear and extremely difficult to cough up.

-Throbbing in my vocal cords whenever I change the pitch of my voice and an overall tightness in the throat.

-A unbearable pain in my chest under the ribs, which started last night and feels like I’m having a heart attack. It sometimes spreads to my lower back when it flairs up.

-Excessive lethargy, to the point that I more often than not sleep all day when I can normally wake up early in the morning.

I want to emphasize that I have already read the READ BEFORE POSTING thread, but I wanted to ask people directly to hear their opinions. I’ve also wanted to go to a neurologist and get an EMG for my twitching forever, but my therapist has told me that it will do nothing to help me and my parents frustratingly refuse to take me because they believe that nothing is wrong with me and I can’t drive. I don’t mean to waste anyone’s time or insult anyone who deals with this awful disease, but I’m scared and unsure of what do do.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Hi there-

The things you report all stack up to something other than ALS. You know this already, but you want someone here to tell you directly- this is not what ALS is. The compulsion to seek reassurance despite knowing this already is a pretty clear indicator you need to take it up a notch with regards to dealing with your anxiety.


If you are seeing a therapist, the next time you speak with them, please let them know you are willing to step things up and try something more/different to deal with anxiety. Anxiety causes and/or magnifies all sorts of symptoms and can muddy the diagnostic waters for your doctor. If you look up physical symptoms of anxiety, you would see pretty much what you have listed above. If you've had any sort of viral illness (Covid) recently, this can also cause long lasting issues.

If you speak with your family doctor again, you might want to ask them about what can be done to improve sleep, nutrition and overall fitness to support your health. You are too young for ALS unless there is a known genetic link (you don't have).

 

[Zardoz7979]

I feel genuinely terrible wasting your time and you’re right. I’m just so scared of dying and never seeing the people I care about again. . For this I want to apologize.

 

[Zardoz7979]

I have a bit of an update. Lately I’ve been experiencing what I can only describe as an extremely uncomfortable globus sensation in my throat and while I can swallow, it feels like pieces of the food I do eat gets stuck. At first I thought it was possibly GERD, but there’s no burning sensation or any real pain other than the aforementioned feeling and tightness. My tongue can still move just as well as it normally does and my speech isn’t slurred, but I’m terrified that this could be bulbar ALS potentially manifesting itself in a different manner, especially after reading that dysphagia is a symptom.

Another question I have is if I received an EMG on my tongue and it proved to be negative, would that apply to my throat as well?

 

[Clearwater AL]

And you come back again... first sentence of your Thread about says it all.

"I’m a 22 year old male who has been diagnosed with ASD and extreme health anxiety."

Extreme Health Anxiety ! That's the most definite diagnosis right now.

ALS is still considered a rare disease. Extremely rare is for someone 22 years old to be
diagnosed with ALS.

It's clear this forum can not help you.... only a doctor can help you now.

I hope you get the real help you need soon and can finally be convinced you
do not have ALS and move on to this wonderful time can be at 22.

 

[Zardoz7979]

I have returned with another update concerning my situation. After telling my GP about my anxiety concerning ALS, he arranged a NCS and EMG for me with a neurologist he personally knew at another hospital in my home town. I received testing on my legs on Monday and just got done with my arms an hour ago, and the results were negative for MND of any kind. Instead, they told me that the pain and discomfort I’ve been experiencing is related to extremely mild neuropathy likely caused by my prediabetes.

 

[Nikki J]

Thank you for letting us know. I hope you can get excellent control of your blood sugar to prevent further issues. Best of luck to you

 

[Zardoz7979]

I have to admit that I still feel extremely nervous about my situation. I know I should have faith in what the neurologist and his assistant told me about it being impossible for me to have MND, but having neuropathy at all still raises flags. I experience painful cramping, tightness, and twitching in my arms, primarily my left one at the moment, which makes me afraid that said neuropathy is actually something worse than just from my pre-diabetes. My A1C has never gone above 7, and even my dad, who has full-blown Type 2 Diabetes and has been as high as 13, was surprised that I had any damage in the first place.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Hoping you will remove this forum from your daily searches as part of your focus on moving on from ALS. You have been very comprehensively cleared of MND and it is up to you to now work with your doctor to mitigate the symptoms of your actual health issue.

Please take care

 

[lgelb]

Unstable glucose can do as much nerve damage than persistently high glucose. You might talk with a dietician about ways to keep it more even.

But past that, anxiety/stress are clearly playing a role, and that is where counseling can be helpful, or even talking things through with a friend or relative. If your current therapist is not up for what you need, there are many fish in the sea, and I encourage you to keep looking.