Searching for a Diagnosis

[cryingwolf85]

Hello everyone! I am a 22 year old male, and have been a medical mystery for about 2 years now. I have hyper-calcemia and hypo-calcuria , and 4 very small brain lesions on the left middle side of my brain. I've had symptoms of slight fatigue and muscle twitching (I'm assuming at this point the muscle twitching is related to the calcium.) I have a slight tremor in my left arm when I hold it out, and very bad GERD. These have been my symptoms for the past 2 years.

I visited an endocrinologist, and he assumed hyperparathyroidism (Main cause of high blood calcium) but my calcium in my urine was low (In hyperparathyroidism calcium in urine is high.) He repeated this test twice with the same results. At this point they are just keeping an eye on my calcium because they have no idea why it is high. I have almost given up on the calcium at this point.

I later visited a neurologist. He did various strength tests, and an EMG to rule out a pinched nerve. The EMG came back negative, and they did an MRI, where they found 4 very small brain lesions. He said he thinks it is completely unrelated to anything and also said they look nothing like what would be found in ms. He ordered another MRI to be done in 6 months (a week away now.)

Just the other day, I was taking a shower and washing my hair. As I was scrubbing the shampoo in my hair, I noticed that my pinky on my right hand kept giving out when I would press it to my head. I thought this was very strange because I have never experienced anything like this before. I did a little research thinking that maybe this would finally help me get a diagnosis, and that's sort of what landed me here. After researching through this site and others, I found one other thing that I never noticed before. My tendon on the inside of my right forearm is very pronounced and there is a long thin crevice going all the way down my forearm. This is not the case with the other arm; in fact, there is a muscle in place of where the other arm is completely missing one (My right arm is my dominant arm too.) I am a little worried that this could have something to do with als, but I would like to know if any of this sounds typical of als or if anyone has any advice.

Thank you and God bless.

 

[vickim]

You should have posted this in the "Do I Have ALS" thread. Is your arm weak? Can you still lift things and carry things or open things? No one's body is symmetrical on both sides. If you are truly worried you should go to the dr.

 

[vickim]

My post went to moderation, it will show up later...sorry

 

[cryingwolf85]

Also, here are pictures comparing my left and right forearm
Right - View image: photo 1
Left - View image: photo 2

 

[cryingwolf85]

Huh, how does that happen? Thank you for the reply anyway.

 

[vickim]

I must have used a word that the moderator picked up on. Don't worry nothing bad :smile:.

 

[vickim]

Have you shown your arm and finger to your dr? If you have had a clean emg then I think you can rest easy about als. There are so many of these diseases that mimic each other they are hard to figure out. It sounds like you have good drs and they will get it figured out, it may just take time.

 

[TeresaElizabeth]

I'm a worrier by nature... But you have plenty of things working in your favor. #1. ALS is very rare... #2. It's even more rare given your age. #3. Youve had a clean EMG. There are many different things that could be causing your twitching and other symptoms.
One of my friends just had an emg bc she kept dropping things and her hand would just randomly fall asleep... She thought it was something horrid and it was Carpel tunnel. My friends mom had twitching and weakness as well as pain and has fibromyalgia. Also if you have leisions on your brain your dr might want to do a spinal tap... I too have leisions but they aren't in the right spots but my dr still did a spinal tap just to rule out any auto immune diseases as well as Lyme disease. I've also seen people on the forum who had a high level of metals in their system which caused the same symptoms. There is also Issacs Syndrome, CIDP, Mitochondrial Neuropathy, or even post viral polyneuropathy. Just to name a few. So don't fret, let the dr's draw their conclusions. It's their job. I know it's easier said than done but they know what to look for. Good luck and try not to worry!

 

[Clearwater AL]

I think the problem many people have is... there are too many medical web sites that say (in so many words) there is no definitive test to diagnose ALS. Well, if EMGs are... they should say so. Or say, "If you have more than one clean EMG... you don't have ALS."