Twitching plus hand issues

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Jwen

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Hello,

I would like to preface this by saying thank you to everyone on this forum. I really appreciate everything you guys do regarding ALS and helping people with their symptoms. I have read the "Read before posting" posts and I will try my best to follow the guidelines.

I am a 17-year-old male with no familial history of ALS. I am very active; I play tennis competitively and I go to the gym 3-5 times per week. My twitching began at the end of last November in my left shoulder, which quickly spread to everywhere in my body, from my feet to my butt to sometimes my face and hand. Now, the most common twitching locations are my thighs and calves. My shoulder twitches would last for 5-10s, while my twitches elsewhere last for no more than a couple of seconds. I was extremely stressed out around this time (November and December) due to college applications. It's been about 45 days since they began, and the twitches have not really gotten any worse. (If anything, they have become less frequent).

My main concern is that I've had stiffness in the fingers of my right hand, and some random dull pain. The stiffness and pain began a few days ago and have progressed since. I've had some pain along the pinky side of my hand and forearm (which my doctor said was ulnar nerve entrapment), as well as stiffness and pain in my thumb (which I believe to be trigger finger bc it consistently gets stuck and makes a cracking noise). I'm just worried that the stiffness in all the fingers and pain of my right hand could be early signs of ALS, since its only occurring on my right hand and not my left. Also, I feel a constant pressure/tightness in middle of the back of my right hand, which I think is a hand cramp, but I can't see any of my muscles moving.

I have no weakness in my right hand, or anywhere else in my body, and I've had steady positive progress with weightlifting since my twitching began. My right fingers still have full range of motion, but they just feel stiff/tight. I still can write and type normally at the same speed.

I've had two doctor appointments so far. I'm currently scheduling my neurologist appointment and my doctor has ordered an EMG for my twitching, but she says my symptoms are most likely caused by the overexertion and overworking of my muscles while working out. I've also been anxious and stressed on a daily basis for the past few weeks, so maybe that contributes to it?

Do I have reason to be concerned about my stiffness? If I had ALS, would it be probable that I had twitching for over a month before other symptoms arrived? Also, is my hand actually cramping if I can't see any kind of involuntary muscle contractions?

Thank you again for all the help. I know I haven't displayed have any weakness, but I've been so stressed out lately that I can't even focus on school or anything else.
 
Hello there-

We always refer people to this post first: Read Before Posting as it contains a lot of information about twitching, etc. It sounds like you've already been given a reason for your symptoms and the EMG/neuro is for reassurance only. Hopefully you will be able to address the nerve entrapment with physio.

If your worries about your non-ALS symptoms are affecting your daily function, it's probably a good idea to find some help with that too. There are some really excellent online resources and apps that can help with this. Anxiety can absolutely cause a whole variety of issues- from muscle tension to twitching and many other things too. MindShift app is excellent, as is the forum NoMorePanic.

Please take care. Hopefully you will find some relief from the worry while you wait for your neuro appointment and while working with your doctor to reduce your physical symptoms.
 
I would certainly say your issues are likely to be overuse than ALS.
Let us know the EMG results - nothing so far would indicate ALS.
 
Thank you so much for the replies and advice. I truly appreciate it. I will return with my EMG results once I obtain them.
 
Hello,

Just a small update on how things have been.

I had my EMG today. It was only of my right hand, which is okay because that's where I've been having twitching and the other worrisome symptoms. The doctor said my nerves were very healthy and the conduction speed was great.

Just one question: Will an EMG rule out ALS before weakness appears?

Other than that, I think this EMG has given me as much closure as I can get. Again, thank you so much for everyone in this forum and all you do to help the ALS community, and worriers like myself.
 
Yes, an EMG picks up ALS muscle failure long before the individual feels it. Congrats on not having this awful disease.

Good luck and take good care.
 
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