backman22
New member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2019
- Messages
- 1
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Diagnosis
- 00/0000
- Country
- US
- State
- MD
Hello all,
First off I want to take the time and thank everyone for reading this. I know that this is a terrible affliction and truly appreciate everyone taking their time to read this whole thing.
It all started off on August 4th as for about the next week I had a pretty significant spell of stomach pain/loose stools/abdominal cramping along with headaches that wrapped around from the back of my head and created pressure around the sides of my head and behind my eyes.
During this time, I went to the ER twice on the 6th and the 8th of August and my normal doctor’s office on the 12th (even though I saw someone who was not my primary care physician). I had my blood work done twice at the ER both on the 6th and the 8th and everything in the blood work was normal. I also had a CAT scan of my chest done at the ER on the 8th and that was normal except for some swollen lymph nodes in my abdomen. On the 12th at my doctor’s location I had what I would describe as a baseline neurological exam done and everything was normal. After all this I was diagnosed with gastroenteritis the 2nd time at the ER and with a possibility of my symptoms being caused by anxiety at my doctor’s.
From the 13th to the 20th, I was out of town moving my significant other to her new apartment and during this time the stomach symptoms felt like they got better but I also felt like I developed some dizziness at times and also some stiffness in my neck when I would turn my head back to the sides.
When I came home over the span of about a week and a half the stomach symptoms seemed to return at times and I experienced more bouts with the dizziness at times but also started to feel a lot more stiffness in my neck and began to feel like I was extremely weak on the left side of my body along with some numbness and tingling associated with that weakness. During this time I went to my primary care physician, an ophthalmologist (because I was having blurry vision), and a GI doctor. My PCP put me through a much more rigorous neurological exam including texting my reflexes and that was normal, everything was normal at the other two doctors as well. She also mentioned that she thought much like the other doctor at the practice that they symptoms were most likely caused by anxiety and gave me a prescription for Escitalopram.
It was after this that I started to worry about ALS thanks to Dr. Google. While the stomach pain and headaches went away the neck stiffness remained although it seemed to fluctuate at times in level of seriousness and I began to notice soreness in my legs. Along with this I began to have some serious issues with sleep where I would only sleep an hour or two at a time and also had a couple times where I woke up and my right arm would be completely numb with no ability to move. This would happen right after waking up and as soon as I woke up I’d regain movement within about 30 seconds. On September 10th, I had an already scheduled physical with my PCP and everything was normal there including my reflexes. At this appointment, I asked my PCP about the possibility of ALS since I was pretty concerned and she Then I went and saw a neurologist on the 12th and had a full neurological workup. The neurologist noted that my deep tendon reflexes were brisk in both the lower and upper extremities but that my gait, plantar response on both sides (no Babinski sign), and sensory examination was normal with no clonus, spasticity (only checked my legs), weakness in arms or legs, or facial weakness with equal pupils and full extraocular motion along with a “consistent” CRISP. I also asked him specifically about ALS and he told me that I didn’t have it although his reasoning left me concerned since he said “only old people can get it,” which I know isn’t true. He ended his report by saying I had no CNS pathology.
I’m still maintaining the neck stiffness pretty much throughout the day along with stiffness/soreness in my Achilles, the top of my feet, my shoulders near my collarbone, my hamstrings and my forearm flexors along with my calf muscle. I also feel very weak at times especially on the left side of my body including in my feet, arms, and legs. I can still do all my normal activities, have no clinical weakness yet, can still walk on toes and walk on my heels, can do a heel-to-toe test, and have done multiple strength tests to make sure nothing else is wrong like foot drop and have passed everyone of them. I can still run up stairs, do box jumps, help lift stuff at work, and do normal things. My questions are:
Also, I should end this by saying that I have been diagnosed with anxiety but am only posting this cause I’m afraid it could be something more sinister than my anxiety. Thanks for reading.
First off I want to take the time and thank everyone for reading this. I know that this is a terrible affliction and truly appreciate everyone taking their time to read this whole thing.
It all started off on August 4th as for about the next week I had a pretty significant spell of stomach pain/loose stools/abdominal cramping along with headaches that wrapped around from the back of my head and created pressure around the sides of my head and behind my eyes.
During this time, I went to the ER twice on the 6th and the 8th of August and my normal doctor’s office on the 12th (even though I saw someone who was not my primary care physician). I had my blood work done twice at the ER both on the 6th and the 8th and everything in the blood work was normal. I also had a CAT scan of my chest done at the ER on the 8th and that was normal except for some swollen lymph nodes in my abdomen. On the 12th at my doctor’s location I had what I would describe as a baseline neurological exam done and everything was normal. After all this I was diagnosed with gastroenteritis the 2nd time at the ER and with a possibility of my symptoms being caused by anxiety at my doctor’s.
From the 13th to the 20th, I was out of town moving my significant other to her new apartment and during this time the stomach symptoms felt like they got better but I also felt like I developed some dizziness at times and also some stiffness in my neck when I would turn my head back to the sides.
When I came home over the span of about a week and a half the stomach symptoms seemed to return at times and I experienced more bouts with the dizziness at times but also started to feel a lot more stiffness in my neck and began to feel like I was extremely weak on the left side of my body along with some numbness and tingling associated with that weakness. During this time I went to my primary care physician, an ophthalmologist (because I was having blurry vision), and a GI doctor. My PCP put me through a much more rigorous neurological exam including texting my reflexes and that was normal, everything was normal at the other two doctors as well. She also mentioned that she thought much like the other doctor at the practice that they symptoms were most likely caused by anxiety and gave me a prescription for Escitalopram.
It was after this that I started to worry about ALS thanks to Dr. Google. While the stomach pain and headaches went away the neck stiffness remained although it seemed to fluctuate at times in level of seriousness and I began to notice soreness in my legs. Along with this I began to have some serious issues with sleep where I would only sleep an hour or two at a time and also had a couple times where I woke up and my right arm would be completely numb with no ability to move. This would happen right after waking up and as soon as I woke up I’d regain movement within about 30 seconds. On September 10th, I had an already scheduled physical with my PCP and everything was normal there including my reflexes. At this appointment, I asked my PCP about the possibility of ALS since I was pretty concerned and she Then I went and saw a neurologist on the 12th and had a full neurological workup. The neurologist noted that my deep tendon reflexes were brisk in both the lower and upper extremities but that my gait, plantar response on both sides (no Babinski sign), and sensory examination was normal with no clonus, spasticity (only checked my legs), weakness in arms or legs, or facial weakness with equal pupils and full extraocular motion along with a “consistent” CRISP. I also asked him specifically about ALS and he told me that I didn’t have it although his reasoning left me concerned since he said “only old people can get it,” which I know isn’t true. He ended his report by saying I had no CNS pathology.
I’m still maintaining the neck stiffness pretty much throughout the day along with stiffness/soreness in my Achilles, the top of my feet, my shoulders near my collarbone, my hamstrings and my forearm flexors along with my calf muscle. I also feel very weak at times especially on the left side of my body including in my feet, arms, and legs. I can still do all my normal activities, have no clinical weakness yet, can still walk on toes and walk on my heels, can do a heel-to-toe test, and have done multiple strength tests to make sure nothing else is wrong like foot drop and have passed everyone of them. I can still run up stairs, do box jumps, help lift stuff at work, and do normal things. My questions are:
- Does this sound like ALS?
- If the stomach stuff was from a bug, which is what the doctor’s think-could the stuff going on with my left side be a presenting symptom of ALS?
- Was my neurologist visit too early for him to be able to see some of the more significant stuff like spasticity or clonus?
- When he said “no CNS pathology” in his report would that rule out ALS?
- Could the dead limb upon waking up be a sign of spasticity? I know neurologist said no spasticity but he only checked my legs.
Also, I should end this by saying that I have been diagnosed with anxiety but am only posting this cause I’m afraid it could be something more sinister than my anxiety. Thanks for reading.
