Seriously concerned

[Dumbswede]

First off I'd like to thank you for giving me an outlet to voice my concerns and look for advise.
I'm a 57 yr old male. About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. I had a tumor on my parathyroid. They removed the parathyroid and half my thyroid to make sure if it was cancerous that they got it all. It was benign. I know that thyroid disease can cause some of these symptoms. But I've read that once you have the parathyroid removed the symptoms should clear up. Problem is my symptoms started a yr after my surgery.
At first I started noticing that I kept rolling my ankle whenever I walked on uneven ground and started having issues keeping my balance. Finally while at work I rolled my ankle and fell into a ditch and tore my rotator cuff. I really didnt think much of it at the time as I'm not known for being graceful.
After my surgery as I was recovering I tried to reach up to get something and realized I could no longer go up on my toes. My muscles just wouldnt work.
My regular doctor sent me to a neurologist for this issue. I had and EMG and a MRI of my lower back. EMG was abnormal and I was told I have myopathy and have drop foot. He sent me to a nuerosurgeon cause he thought it was an issue with my spine. They found nothing wrong in my MRI that would cause this issue. But she did notice that I had muscle atrophy in my right leg.
During all this time I have had the muscle twitching and leg cramps. It's been about 8 months since i noticed the leg weekness and now I'm waiting to see a neuromuscular doctor.
The doctors have never mentioned any diagnosis or anything they're concerned about, but i could tell they were concerned. So like an idiot i looked up what it could be with my symptoms and here I am.
There is no pain other than the leg cramps and now recently cramps in my jaw and tongue that I get every time I yawn. Those are pleasant.
Please tell me I'm just over reacting.

 

[lgelb]

Something doesn't add up. Myopathy is not ALS. And it doesn't come from a spine issue. If you can post your de-identified EMG, which you should have anyway, we could be more helpful.

Best,
Laurie

 

[Dumbswede]

This is the summary page from my EMG. I have no idea what this means.

 

[lgelb]

It's very good news as regards ALS. You don't have it. "No denervation" is like, 100% you don't. It doesn't look like a spine problem is the issue, either.

The problem you are having is in both sensory and motor nerves, and there is reason to believe it may relate to the balance between calcium and phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin D, and possibly your thyroid levels.

One common reason after the surgery you've had, is that your calcium gets high again ("hypercalcemia" mentioned in the report) because there is another tumor that they didn't see before, or that grows back, that is now causing problems. If so, you will need more surgery but well worth it. I would go back to your surgeon or endocrinologist to see if this might be true.

If that turns out not to be the issue, the problems could also relate to other electrolyte imbalances, diabetes, or some other metabolic condition. If the surgeon rules out a PTH issue, I would check in with your internist and make sure they have read this report, and ask them what tests you need. These kinds of things can often be fixed, but the longer your blood has too much or little of something, the more damage can be done.

If your nerves aren't always feeling the ground properly and sometimes aren't able to respond to the feedback they're getting, both of which are suggested by this report, you can get balance and fall issues even without really weak muscles. So while you are getting a diagnosis, you want to be careful walking around -- step slowly and carefully.

Best,
Laurie