Voice/swallowing/palate symptoms on right side... ALS a concern?

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ConcernedFloyd

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Hello, like many others I suffer great anxiety over symptoms that may or may not be attributable to ALS. So I've come here to learn.

I'm a 33 year old guy. For the past two months, whenever I swallow with my head bent down, my hyoid bone pops out to the right with an audible sound. Around the same time, I started having a crackling noise in my voice whenever I raise it. And if I sing or hum, my voice becomes airy. I've looked in my throat and I see that my soft palate and uvula go more to the left than the right when I say aaah, indicating my right side muscles aren't doing their job - I don't know if this is new or was always like this. My swallowing also feels somewhat weaker on the right side, often leaving food in that side of the mouth. Other symptoms include excess saliva and postnasal drip - I've had an unexplained stuffed nose for half a year whenever I lie down. I also have acid reflux, but an ENT didn't see any damage from that in my throat or vocal cords.

The main thing I'm wondering about is whether ALS can present with that kind of popping effect when swallowing, and only on one side. I know ALS sometimes starts with dysphagia, but I don't see any good explanations of how that actually feels. I don't feel like I can't swallow, just that when I do, something goes out of position. I have a lot of popping in other muscles too when moving them - especially the muscles in my arms and shoulders pop, snap and crack with every big movement, and I have tremors/vibrations when I relax them from a flexed position. As with swallowing, I don't actually have trouble moving them, but something goes wrong when I do. My legs also have feelings of split-second weakness when I'm standing, as if my muscles are letting go for a very brief moment before catching themselves. Are these possible ALS symptoms, or maybe something like MS?

I feel like ALS is probably not the most likely cause of my issues since it's so rare, but it still scares me. If anyone knows any more common diagnoses that might potentially apply to me, please let me know.
 
Hi-

This forum is specific to ALS. We don't do general health stuff or help people with self diagnoses. We ask that people also read here first: Read Before Posting to make sure their questions aren't answered there. If you have general health questions, your doctor is the person to ask. As you will read in the link provided, ALS is not in the running for you.

Take care
 
My husband died of bulbar onset ALS.

Please don't swallow with your head bent down, might not be such a good idea.

Swallowing difficulties with the start of ALS don't feel like anything. You just can't swallow. You feel normal.

I think you need to have a good discussion with your doctor and go over all these things that are happening. It sounds nothing like a neurological issue really. I wonder too if you are becoming hyper vigilant. Get a good all over exam, take all these concerns in writing and hopefully you start getting to the root of this.

That's all we can suggest as noted already, this isn't a general health forum.
 
Thanks. Some of you are probably tired of "obviously not ALS" posts, but questions are what this forum is for after all, and I'm sure I speak for many when I say that hearing "it's obviously not ALS" means a lot more in terms of relieving anxiety when it comes from people who know the disease, rather than from random people on a general health or anxiety forum.

Also, since a lot of people have come here with symptoms that turned out to be something other than ALS, I figured if it's not ALS maybe one of them could point me in the right direction if their symptoms were similar, as my doctor doesn't really know. For now, I'm going to go to a physiotherapist and see if the problems can be worked out that way.
 
Hi Floyd,

While you think it's reasonable to ask people who have been seriously affected by an ALS diagnosis and who come here for support themselves to provide you answers and options about other, non ALS conditions, this is not what the forum is for. There is a partial list of some of the conditions that share some similar symptoms on the Read Before link that you can look at. Some people who have been diagnosed with other things have come back to provide a follow up post on their threads. But for actual helpful diagnostic assistance for your concerns, you must continue to work with your doctor. If your doctor doesn't know, you have every right to ask them what your next steps should be. They have your full medical history and records, can examine you in person, and can provide you with options for what to do next, as well as possible referrals.

I hope you find some relief with your physio appointment. Take care
 
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