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John Doe

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Learn about ALS
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NJ
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Trenton
I apologize for the length, but would love to hear anyone with knowledge weigh in on my situation. I am a 28 year old male. About 6 weeks ago, out of the blue, I started experiencing pins and needles in my arms, hands, ankles and feet. For a few weeks that was my only symptom. It subsided for the most part since, and comes back on occasion but overall I don't have any numbness or lack of feeling in any of my extremities on a regular basis.

However, about a month ago, my fingers began twitching. First it would be my right index finger, then my left ring finger, then my right thumb, etc. The twitching in my hands has largely subsided to almost none, outside the occasional twitch that I can see under the skin for a second in the back of my hand.

At this point I told myself that it had to be due to my being overweight, so I made sure to get myself into the gym about 2 weeks ago. I wasn't short on energy or strength. I was even lifting weight close to what I had been prior to ceasing all workouts a year ago.

I think I became overconfident, and was in the gym 8 of the first 9 days. I did cardio every single day for at least 30 minutes on the stair climber and treadmill. My calves and hamstrings were so sore on day 10 I could hardly walk. 4 days later, they're still sore, but I can walk somewhat comfortably. My upper body which I exercised one muscle group each day felt no unusual soreness. Prior to working out, I had no muscle soreness or weakness in my legs.

Anyway, my twitching continues, and it's particularly noticeable in my lower extremities, but I'm having minor twitches all over my body. Everywhere from my calves, quads, forearms, and even my face. It's not present in my abdominal area or my upper chest. It's been going on for several weeks now, but it stops on occasion. When I'm laying down it's very noticeable. But it does come and go.

I'm not having weakness in my throat or slurring of speech. The grip in my hands is incredibly strong. My balance and coordination is good. I have no stiffness in my muscles, just the current soreness in my legs from likely overtraining. My feet are both functioning normally. No one limb or side of my body feels particularly weak. My mental acuity is still as sharp as ever. My erectile health is overall pretty good, despite my high stress levels.

My most recent blood tests showed a very high Creatine Kinase level of 475, but I guess I could attribute that to overtraining my leg muscles as well as working out all my other muscles after nearly a year on the couch gaining weight. The blood work was done right after my first week at the gym.

My thyroid was normal, as was my hepatitis panel, B12, blood sugar, calcium, potassium, Magnesium, Bilirubin, but mildly elevated AST Aminotransferase and Alanine Transferase (but levels down from my previous ER visit a week prior). My brother has high liver enzymes as well because we're both obese.

Also, I've become so stressed out about being terminally ill that it's difficult to sleep. I also have trouble making it through the day because I'm so freaked out. I have panic attacks daily which only exacerbate my symptoms. I have nightmares and I wake up shaking. A friend gave me Clonozepam to help me sleep through the night.

My GP and the ER explained to me that ALS almost always occurs in one limb or on one side of the body, whereas my symptoms are all over the place. Nobody in my family, that I know of, has ever had ALS. I have an appointment with a neurologist in two weeks (earliest I could get), and I guess I'll relay all this information to them, but I just wanted to see if anybody could help shed some light on my situation because I'm having trouble coping.
 
Doesn't sound like ALS but we're not doctors. I wouldn't jump immediately to a terminal illness based on what you're experiencing. Let the neuro examine you and provide their opinion. Good luck.
 
I think you're likely aware that your chances are extremely low. What it looks like to me is you started to have issues due to a sedentary activity level (ie: no exercise) and poor posture. You then proceeded to overexercise. Look on any lifter/body building form and you will see many mentions about muscle twitches and ways to mitigate them. Overexercise can cause a fair amount of damage to muscles, cause imbalances in muscle strength (which can cause pinched nerves) and overtax your body's ability to heal itself. People have ended up in hospital for over exercise.

Do not get discouraged by your initial experience with exercise- you made a very positive and forward thinking decision there. See a physiotherapist for a safe and manageable exercise plan with clear goals. See a nutritionist for a way to support your increased activity level- you likely are also lacking the nutrients your newly exercising self needs.

I can almost bet money your neurologist will back this up. Best wishes with your upcoming neuro visit.
 
God bless you for the responses, and normally I would agree with you. However, my symptoms of twitching/pins and needles started prior to exercising. I wouldn't have worried, under normal circumstances that is, had my symptoms began to manifest after I began working out. Is paresthesia not a symptom of ALS?
 
No, it's not. You're thinking of MS. But your description overall doesn't fit that either, particularly. The neuro can do an MRI if concerned.

I agree w/ the overtraining theory, and a dietician consult to address any imbalances that might cause twitching is a great idea, but because you are obese, you might also want to buy a monitor at the drug store and monitor your glucose level to make sure yours are not varying a lot, which could cause symptoms like tingling/numbness, and is not always caught with even with a HbA1c blood test.

Best,
Laurie
 
My grandmother has had MS for about 20 years now. So I guess that is a possibility. I'm technically obese according to the BMI, but I'm 6'1" and about 310 pounds. I have very broad shoulders so I carry it well, but I went through a bad breakup last year and stopped working out and ate garbage for months. I used to be in really good shape in my mid 20s. Even now though, my blood sugar was only 79 despite all my sedentary behavior. Thanks for the responses everyone. I truly appreciate it, and I might even be able to sleep tonight. I will update after my neurologist gives me the once over.
 
Considering that you really hadn't exercised and now really laid it on hard, I would think that you're just sore from the exercise. Yes, you can literally be sore for two or three months if you go from doing nothing to working out every day. Twitching is normal when you exercise, especially when you're going from nothing to working out every day. Even if you stopped completely, you could be sore for up to two weeks or more.
 
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