Please help me

[Aevanson]

I'm 27 year old female, mother of two children and married. I'm a new nurse and I'm terrified of als. In January of 2015 I was in nursing school and pregnant, started having muscle twitching in my calves. In January 2016 the twitches were widespread and I lost vision in my right eye for 45 seconds or so had an MRI and they found nine lesions.. sent me to an ms specialist who said I didn't present to him like an ms patient. Did another MRI in July my brain was unchanged.. he said I don't think you have ms and you most definitely don't have als. We will do another MRI next July.. in that time frame I have body wide twitching and have been to my GP two times with serious meltdowns. I thought I had atrophy in my left hand interosseous muscle, he checked reflexes and said they were fine gave me klonipin and said I needed to see a therapist. I'm afraid that doctors may chalk everything up as anxiety and may actually misdiagnose me. I need help please

 

[Atsugi]

You didn't say ANYTHING that was ALS. I don't understand why you might think you could have ALS.

Everything you say, except the lesions, speak to a good solid case of anxiety, however.

Don't know what the lesions are, but they don't have anything to do with ALS.

Sorry we can't diagnose you or even venture a guess. That would be irresponsible if I tried to point you in some direction. But I know ALS fairly well, and you didn't mention anything that had anything to do with ALS.

I wholeheartedly agree with your doctor. If you don't want to find a therapist. You might see a psychiatrist instead. A psychiatrist (not psychologist) is an MD, and would know both the body and the mind, so he/she would be a good one to ask if your problems are physical or mental. Then the psychiatrist could point you toward an appropriate therapist if needed.

 

[lgelb]

Iowa, nothing reads like ALS. Lesions are lesions, however. What does the MRI report actually say?

I'd head to a university medical center's neurology clinic for a full evaluation, sending the MRI data in advance. There are other possibilities besides MS, and you should be followed/treated for whatever you have. Meanwhile, get a plan going, enjoy each day with your family/friends, and you won't be so terrified.

Best,
Laurie

 

[Aevanson]

You didn't say ANYTHING that was ALS. I don't understand why you might think you could have ALS.

Everything you say, except the lesions, speak to a good solid case of anxiety, however.

Don't know what the lesions are, but they don't have anything to do with ALS.

Sorry we can't diagnose you or even venture a guess. That would be irresponsible if I tried to point you in some direction. But I know ALS fairly well, and you didn't mention anything that had anything to do with ALS.

I wholeheartedly agree with your doctor. If you don't want to find a therapist. You might see a psychiatrist instead. A psychiatrist (not psychologist) is an MD, and would know both the body and the mind, so he/she would be a good one to ask if your problems are physical or mental. Then the psychiatrist could point you toward an appropriate therapist if needed.

Thank you for your feedback, I've been stalking these forums for months and know that you guys are incredibly helpful. The reason I finally had to post was because I'm worried my husband is getting tired of hearing it and I can't rush to the doctor each week with a new symptom I forgot to mention I have the vibrating/buzzing feeling going on in my feet sometimes and I thought my tongue was scalloped only feeding more into my anxiety. A little bit of knolwedge paired with google really messed with my head. I'll call on the psychiatrist today thank you.

And the MRI scans said nine lesions .. one indictative of demyelination, which of course is the cadinal sign for ms... just hard because my only symptoms are twitching and anxiety and everyone I talk to told me ms is not associated with twitching that's an als thing... leading me here

 

[Atsugi]

Yeah, lots of twitchers come here. But twitching means nothing. Twitches are so common to many conditions, so they are useless for diagnosing ALS. Useless. And they don't always happen to all people who have ALS. The most common cause of twitching, I think, is anxiety/stress.

Good luck with the shrink. Beware, few MDs know ALS very well, and non-MDs don't understand ALS at all. But everyone you meet in the medical community will pretend they know everything. (I guess that is to build up the patient's confidence.)

 

[Aevanson]

Thank you, so with your experience, should I beconcerned about the vibrations and my tongue? Surely if my tongue were scalloped due to atrophy I would have bigger fish to fry by now right? Slurred speech, dysphagia etc?

 

[Nikki J]

Vibration/ buzzing seems very common among the worried here. It is not an ALS symptom. I don't know - it may be part of anxiety, benign fasciculation syndrome or something else.

Scalloped tongue complaints are not unusual among dihals either.

Nothing you have said points to ALS. You said your neuro told you absolutely no to ALS. Believe it

 

[WendyWooG]

Hi
Vibration feelings aren't a symptom of ALS and atrophy is wasting of the muscle because it can't work through lack of signal, so you would have seen loss of functionality.

I wish you luck in solving the problems, and hope your doctors find a solution for you and can help with your health anxiety.
It doesn't sound like ALS to me.

Wendy

 

[Aevanson]

Thank you,thank you!