Dear All,
Firstly thank you for taking the time to read this post.
It all started in April this year. I had a raging sore throat which wouldn't subside. One day the whole left side of my body went completely flacid. This all went away and left me with with phlegm stuck in the left side of my throat - I couldn't swallow it away and when I did swallow, things felt 'uneven' in the muscles in some way.
Things progressed and soon I felt unable to swallow solids. The problem spread to both sides of the throat, near/below adams apple area. Its as if the peristalsis action in my throat wasn't strong enough to push the food down. I had to really gulp to get it down and even then there was some left over and took several swallows. I then noticed excess mucus in the throat after trying to swallowing even mushed up solids and ended up coughing all night. That was the end of solids.
My throat clicks terribly when swallowing also.
My doctor dismissed this as M.E. (CFIDS) a condition I have, but was under control and had very low symptoms. I went to a Neurologist at this point, who had experience of motor neurone disease, and he said he saw no signs of bulbar ALS, but did say he noticed some brisk reactions. I then saw and ENT person and they put a camera up my nose and looked down the throat, saw nothing obvious, and they then did a video fluoroscopy. I refused to take solids during the procedure, which I do regret, because they said that even though I only swallowed small amounts of fluid and pureed barium, the swallowing action looked ok.
As things progressed, I noticed more and more twitching in muscles and weakness in my arms and legs. I returned to the same neurologist, who upon examination again repeated he saw no signs of a new neurological disease, but suggested an MRI and EMG would be appropriate at some point. He said the twitching for motor neurone disease would be in the same muscles and would not be in random muscles as was the case with me.
I can feel increasingly perculiar muscular 'pulling' (hard to describe) when I try to swallow, and it takes great effort. It feels like things are getting gradually worse. I have been living on fluids (liquidised soup) since June. The back of my tongue and throat now get very achy and fatigued when I talk, or suck on a tablet or anything that basically involves tongue movement.
My palate seems to raise normally, though I have noticed the left side is lower at rest, and I've pointed this out to the ENT doctor.
I'm so sorry to bother people about this. You have enough to deal with. I also apologise in advance if anything I've posted is in any way annoying to any of you. I am trying to find out for myself whats wrong (via doctors), but would appreciate any advice or comments from the experts if you have the time and energy.
I am very anxious, and my family very worried. I've lost a couple of stone in weight.
Any advice very much appreciated.
Firstly thank you for taking the time to read this post.
It all started in April this year. I had a raging sore throat which wouldn't subside. One day the whole left side of my body went completely flacid. This all went away and left me with with phlegm stuck in the left side of my throat - I couldn't swallow it away and when I did swallow, things felt 'uneven' in the muscles in some way.
Things progressed and soon I felt unable to swallow solids. The problem spread to both sides of the throat, near/below adams apple area. Its as if the peristalsis action in my throat wasn't strong enough to push the food down. I had to really gulp to get it down and even then there was some left over and took several swallows. I then noticed excess mucus in the throat after trying to swallowing even mushed up solids and ended up coughing all night. That was the end of solids.
My throat clicks terribly when swallowing also.
My doctor dismissed this as M.E. (CFIDS) a condition I have, but was under control and had very low symptoms. I went to a Neurologist at this point, who had experience of motor neurone disease, and he said he saw no signs of bulbar ALS, but did say he noticed some brisk reactions. I then saw and ENT person and they put a camera up my nose and looked down the throat, saw nothing obvious, and they then did a video fluoroscopy. I refused to take solids during the procedure, which I do regret, because they said that even though I only swallowed small amounts of fluid and pureed barium, the swallowing action looked ok.
As things progressed, I noticed more and more twitching in muscles and weakness in my arms and legs. I returned to the same neurologist, who upon examination again repeated he saw no signs of a new neurological disease, but suggested an MRI and EMG would be appropriate at some point. He said the twitching for motor neurone disease would be in the same muscles and would not be in random muscles as was the case with me.
I can feel increasingly perculiar muscular 'pulling' (hard to describe) when I try to swallow, and it takes great effort. It feels like things are getting gradually worse. I have been living on fluids (liquidised soup) since June. The back of my tongue and throat now get very achy and fatigued when I talk, or suck on a tablet or anything that basically involves tongue movement.
My palate seems to raise normally, though I have noticed the left side is lower at rest, and I've pointed this out to the ENT doctor.
I'm so sorry to bother people about this. You have enough to deal with. I also apologise in advance if anything I've posted is in any way annoying to any of you. I am trying to find out for myself whats wrong (via doctors), but would appreciate any advice or comments from the experts if you have the time and energy.
I am very anxious, and my family very worried. I've lost a couple of stone in weight.
Any advice very much appreciated.