ttyg33
New member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2016
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- ny
- City
- buffalo
I have been pretty much paralyzed from fear ever since these symptoms started showing up and I could really use an opinion. I know this is very long and rambling, you will roll your eyes since my symptoms appear due to injury, not disease, but please hear me out. I cannot get the thought of ALS out of my mind and I will greatly appreciate any responses i recieve.
Background: I have felt "unwell" for many years now- extremely tired, brain fog, stiff muscles, headaches ect. I've been to doctors (GPs, ENTs, Urologists and more) who have told me everything from it's allergies, fibromyalga to just plain mental.
Over the past three or four years my body had become very stiff and inflexible, particularly in my neck and back. For reference, i used to be able to crack my neck very fast side to side; in the past years, i could barely twist my neck side to side and cracking was impossible. Additionally, i separated my shoulder 2-3 years back and never got any sort of therapy for it. Also worth noting is that about 6 months ago i started having knee pain out of nowhere, where my right knee would pop out of place then back in very quickly. These two injuries come into play shortly.
It all started about 6 months ago, when I got some marijuana edibles. Despite giving me sometimes severe mental anxiety, I took them a few times a week because they caused my body to "unwind". What I mean by that, is my body would become extremely loose and would go into an autopilot of sorts, causing me to stretch uncontrollably (but in a good way).
The weed would make me realize how hillariously tight i was. For hours i would lay in the couch or floor and have my body twist and contort into various stretches and poses. Now i realize how bizzare this sounds, but I have had some injuries in the past and i rationalized that the weed was "undoing" some of my previous damage. I would also go at my back with a massage tool- one that curves around to press on knots. Indeed, for a while i was completely convinved I was stretching out old injuries and healing myself.
I became more flexible, but at a strange cost- my body would continue the "unwinding" for days on end, even when abstaining from marijuana. For example, just sitting at the computer it would be hard to work because my arms would want to flutter upwards into a pose, and before i knew it i was on the floor going through a bout of involuntary yoga. The main area that these stretches/ massage tool work would attack was my left shoulder/scaupla area. I felt like i was succesfully releasing some of my scar tissue/tension and i would ignore any pain- most likely due to the edibles. Sometimes i would feel "ripping" inside me, but i was confident it was fascia and scar tissue being released. Its worth noting also that I would sometimes agressively go at my back with the massage tool. I would feel these terribly tight little knots around the base of my spine and go after them, causing spasms all over my back. Occasionally i would go too hard on my scapula area and put wounds there.
Fast forward 3 months ago, and that reoccuring knee popping happened again while at a martial arts class (brazillian jiu-jitsu). My knee popped right out of place and i could not walk for a while, and a second failed attempt at returning to class confirmed something was wrong. I was on crutches for 3 weeks and an MRI confirmed a meniscus & MCL tear. This has caused me to walk with a limp when off crutches and my right side to tighten considerably.
Right around this time, after taking an edible and giving myself away to the spasms/stretching, my first symptoms started to appear. During the night i was awoken by a strange tingling in my left shoulder blade. It felt like my trapezius muscle was "melting away" and the entire area had a pins and needles sensation. I was freaked out about this and stopped all marijuana use immediatly. The tinging feeling did not go away, but got worse over time. I started to get very concerned when my left trapezius appeared to be weaker and definitely showed signs of atrophy. The tingling droped off over time but never went away, and the trap still felt smalkl and weak.
One month later I got over my fear of the edibles and gave it another try- big mistake. The automatic stretching returned, causing my spine/left shoulder to spasms worse than ever. That night the tingling/metling feeling returned and has been progessivley getting worse. Now, not only is my left trapezius severely atrophied, but my left scapula is winged along with my right to a lesser degree. My spinal erector muscles and upper back are atrophied on both sides, along with my right bicep which is pathetic. I have a tingling in my hand along my pinkie which seems to spasms connecting to the shoulder blade, and my hand is stiff and weaker. The most concerning symptom of all is that my body now "pops and rips" whenever i make a movement. It almost feels like my muscles are ripping from the bone, although painlessly. There are audible popping noises when i reach for things on either side. My previously stiff muscles are now soft like jelly, and have the consistency of dough (movements are dough like as well, as if my muscles lost elasticity and contract back slowly). My stomach is spasming in knots and i am low level nautious throughout the day
My main ALS related fears stem from the marijuanna possibly triggering something neurological. Or that ALS has been working in the background unbeknownst to me in order to weaken my knee/make me tight and stiff in the first place, and everything afterwards is a progression. Sorry for such a long post. I just feel i need to be thourough here for a good opinion. Like i said before i cannot stop worring about this and i continue to see progressively worse symptoms every day. Just reading about this disease is horrible and my heart goes out to every one of you suffering
Background: I have felt "unwell" for many years now- extremely tired, brain fog, stiff muscles, headaches ect. I've been to doctors (GPs, ENTs, Urologists and more) who have told me everything from it's allergies, fibromyalga to just plain mental.
Over the past three or four years my body had become very stiff and inflexible, particularly in my neck and back. For reference, i used to be able to crack my neck very fast side to side; in the past years, i could barely twist my neck side to side and cracking was impossible. Additionally, i separated my shoulder 2-3 years back and never got any sort of therapy for it. Also worth noting is that about 6 months ago i started having knee pain out of nowhere, where my right knee would pop out of place then back in very quickly. These two injuries come into play shortly.
It all started about 6 months ago, when I got some marijuana edibles. Despite giving me sometimes severe mental anxiety, I took them a few times a week because they caused my body to "unwind". What I mean by that, is my body would become extremely loose and would go into an autopilot of sorts, causing me to stretch uncontrollably (but in a good way).
The weed would make me realize how hillariously tight i was. For hours i would lay in the couch or floor and have my body twist and contort into various stretches and poses. Now i realize how bizzare this sounds, but I have had some injuries in the past and i rationalized that the weed was "undoing" some of my previous damage. I would also go at my back with a massage tool- one that curves around to press on knots. Indeed, for a while i was completely convinved I was stretching out old injuries and healing myself.
I became more flexible, but at a strange cost- my body would continue the "unwinding" for days on end, even when abstaining from marijuana. For example, just sitting at the computer it would be hard to work because my arms would want to flutter upwards into a pose, and before i knew it i was on the floor going through a bout of involuntary yoga. The main area that these stretches/ massage tool work would attack was my left shoulder/scaupla area. I felt like i was succesfully releasing some of my scar tissue/tension and i would ignore any pain- most likely due to the edibles. Sometimes i would feel "ripping" inside me, but i was confident it was fascia and scar tissue being released. Its worth noting also that I would sometimes agressively go at my back with the massage tool. I would feel these terribly tight little knots around the base of my spine and go after them, causing spasms all over my back. Occasionally i would go too hard on my scapula area and put wounds there.
Fast forward 3 months ago, and that reoccuring knee popping happened again while at a martial arts class (brazillian jiu-jitsu). My knee popped right out of place and i could not walk for a while, and a second failed attempt at returning to class confirmed something was wrong. I was on crutches for 3 weeks and an MRI confirmed a meniscus & MCL tear. This has caused me to walk with a limp when off crutches and my right side to tighten considerably.
Right around this time, after taking an edible and giving myself away to the spasms/stretching, my first symptoms started to appear. During the night i was awoken by a strange tingling in my left shoulder blade. It felt like my trapezius muscle was "melting away" and the entire area had a pins and needles sensation. I was freaked out about this and stopped all marijuana use immediatly. The tinging feeling did not go away, but got worse over time. I started to get very concerned when my left trapezius appeared to be weaker and definitely showed signs of atrophy. The tingling droped off over time but never went away, and the trap still felt smalkl and weak.
One month later I got over my fear of the edibles and gave it another try- big mistake. The automatic stretching returned, causing my spine/left shoulder to spasms worse than ever. That night the tingling/metling feeling returned and has been progessivley getting worse. Now, not only is my left trapezius severely atrophied, but my left scapula is winged along with my right to a lesser degree. My spinal erector muscles and upper back are atrophied on both sides, along with my right bicep which is pathetic. I have a tingling in my hand along my pinkie which seems to spasms connecting to the shoulder blade, and my hand is stiff and weaker. The most concerning symptom of all is that my body now "pops and rips" whenever i make a movement. It almost feels like my muscles are ripping from the bone, although painlessly. There are audible popping noises when i reach for things on either side. My previously stiff muscles are now soft like jelly, and have the consistency of dough (movements are dough like as well, as if my muscles lost elasticity and contract back slowly). My stomach is spasming in knots and i am low level nautious throughout the day
My main ALS related fears stem from the marijuanna possibly triggering something neurological. Or that ALS has been working in the background unbeknownst to me in order to weaken my knee/make me tight and stiff in the first place, and everything afterwards is a progression. Sorry for such a long post. I just feel i need to be thourough here for a good opinion. Like i said before i cannot stop worring about this and i continue to see progressively worse symptoms every day. Just reading about this disease is horrible and my heart goes out to every one of you suffering
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