sami
New member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2015
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Other
- Country
- UK
- State
- North-West
- City
- Manchester
Hi everyone!
I'm a 16 year old feamle and for the past three weeks I've been experiencing symptoms that have gotten me worried about ALS.
Three weeks ago I started twitching in my leg which was especially worse when I was resting. A couple days later they spread to my other leg, my stomach, arms, shoulders and face. Then one morning I woke up with cramp in my left arm and when I held something in my hand, the object felt much heavier than in the other hand and my whole arm felt heavy. So I phoned 111 (the non medical emergency line) and the operator, not having an idea what was wrong with me, told me and my mum to go to the A&E department where the doctor said my symptoms were anxiety and told me to go home and calm down. Now I do have bad anxiety and I was experiencing a bad episode the weeks leading up to the start of the symptoms but I've had worse episodes and never had these symptoms.
During this time, I started having problems with my speech where my usual mild lisp was much worse and I had trouble getting some words out as well as ocassional biting of my cheeks and tongue. I went to the doctors a week ago and she tested my reflexes (which were great) and had a look at my arm and mouth. She said there was no muscle wasting or tongue twitiching. By this time, oddly, my twitches had died down and now I get an occasional twitch in my leg or hips.
However, today I feel my speech has gotten worse as I keep mispronoucing words I can usually say perfectly as well as lisping badly. I also can't really speak properly at my normal tone of voice; my voice is quieter and also my accent has changed from being less northern to a more stereotypical british accent (not posh, just more london sounding). This is only slight though. However, the most annoying symptom is the biting of my lips, tongue and cheeks which I do so much when I'm speaking, chewing or even swallowing my own saliva. Also, I've been waking up and finding that I'm biting my lips. My tongue seems to be alright though as I can move it quickly around my mouth, it just feels funny at times and I think it may of started twitiching. Everyone says my speaking is normal apart from my godfather, who said I was slurring slightly. And now I've found that I can't scream as well as I used to...
As for my arm... it keeps trembling when I move it fast or lift them up. In fact, this happens in BOTH arms and my fingers feel like they're dragging a lot when they should be moving fast and I keep dropping things as well as being clumsey. And my co-ordination seems to be off as I've bumped into something or banged an arm or a leg at least five times today and I swerve at times.
It might be worth mentioning that I had sharp 'ice pick' headaches for around a month or two before the symptoms started and I've had pins and needles in my foot at least four times this week, which, for me, is really rare!
I know I'm only 16 and that for ALS to attack someone so young is extremely rare but it's certainly not impossible which scares me. Could it be ALS?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and sorry it's so long. Replies are greatly appreciated. Finally, I don't wish to offend anyone as I know that many people here are actually do have this.
Have a good evening.
I'm a 16 year old feamle and for the past three weeks I've been experiencing symptoms that have gotten me worried about ALS.
Three weeks ago I started twitching in my leg which was especially worse when I was resting. A couple days later they spread to my other leg, my stomach, arms, shoulders and face. Then one morning I woke up with cramp in my left arm and when I held something in my hand, the object felt much heavier than in the other hand and my whole arm felt heavy. So I phoned 111 (the non medical emergency line) and the operator, not having an idea what was wrong with me, told me and my mum to go to the A&E department where the doctor said my symptoms were anxiety and told me to go home and calm down. Now I do have bad anxiety and I was experiencing a bad episode the weeks leading up to the start of the symptoms but I've had worse episodes and never had these symptoms.
During this time, I started having problems with my speech where my usual mild lisp was much worse and I had trouble getting some words out as well as ocassional biting of my cheeks and tongue. I went to the doctors a week ago and she tested my reflexes (which were great) and had a look at my arm and mouth. She said there was no muscle wasting or tongue twitiching. By this time, oddly, my twitches had died down and now I get an occasional twitch in my leg or hips.
However, today I feel my speech has gotten worse as I keep mispronoucing words I can usually say perfectly as well as lisping badly. I also can't really speak properly at my normal tone of voice; my voice is quieter and also my accent has changed from being less northern to a more stereotypical british accent (not posh, just more london sounding). This is only slight though. However, the most annoying symptom is the biting of my lips, tongue and cheeks which I do so much when I'm speaking, chewing or even swallowing my own saliva. Also, I've been waking up and finding that I'm biting my lips. My tongue seems to be alright though as I can move it quickly around my mouth, it just feels funny at times and I think it may of started twitiching. Everyone says my speaking is normal apart from my godfather, who said I was slurring slightly. And now I've found that I can't scream as well as I used to...
As for my arm... it keeps trembling when I move it fast or lift them up. In fact, this happens in BOTH arms and my fingers feel like they're dragging a lot when they should be moving fast and I keep dropping things as well as being clumsey. And my co-ordination seems to be off as I've bumped into something or banged an arm or a leg at least five times today and I swerve at times.
It might be worth mentioning that I had sharp 'ice pick' headaches for around a month or two before the symptoms started and I've had pins and needles in my foot at least four times this week, which, for me, is really rare!
I know I'm only 16 and that for ALS to attack someone so young is extremely rare but it's certainly not impossible which scares me. Could it be ALS?
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and sorry it's so long. Replies are greatly appreciated. Finally, I don't wish to offend anyone as I know that many people here are actually do have this.
Have a good evening.
