Hello all, I am a 37 year old male. I have lingered around this site and various others for about 5 months. I always convinced myself that I was fine and never got to the point where posting was essential. Until now. My newest symptoms have me frozen with fear.
9 months ago I separated from my wife of 16 years. Over the next two months I lost 20 lbs of what I perceived to be stress weight. All my life I was known for having a big butt. Buying jeans was tough as I wasn't ever fat. In February of this year I noticed that my butt was essentially gone. Flat as a board. I was down 2 jeans sizes because if it and now had to wear a belt. It seemed sudden, but I wasn't exactly checking for I don't know how long. In March I started to have a persistent twitch in my left thumb. I had noticed slight twitches in certain parts of my body for some time but never thought twice about them. The only reason this one had me interested was because physically moved my thumb and was annoying. This went on for two weeks before I saw my doctor. I had also developed some tremors in the hand and arm when weight was applied. My doc thought it was stress related, but prescribed me Propranolol to see if it helped. Between this time and my next visit in May my thumb twitch stopped but I had some other things pop up. Bad back pain, bad sleep starts, I had a bad migraine with aura. Twitches seemed to pop up everywhere on my body. My stomach muscles seemed to just go flabby. I was never super fit, but I was always solid with no real definition. Just built that way. My stomach started to droop and it became painful to suck it in all the time. I had the same drooping in my upper arm muscles and my legs as well. The dr. suggested an MRI and a neuro visit. My MRI was clean other than chronic sinusitis. Doc prescribed antibiotics. My first neuro visit was in June. At this time I had started constantly having to clear my throat all the time, but didn't think much of it. A 10-15 minute clinical was performed where I never left a small chair. He didn't have me walk or really anything he quickly checked my reflexes with my feet flat on the ground, asked me questions, typed some stuff into his computer. He said reflexes were good everything seemed fine but ordered an EMG and nerve conduction just to see. At the end of June my EMG on my left arm and left leg came back as my legs are fine but he saw slight CTS and ulnar neuropathy. Not serious and he said, "I wouldn't worry about ALS". Cool. In that time I really started to notice exercise intolerance. Carrying grocery bags would cause my arms to hurt for a couple days. One night on vacation I could move my index finger in my right hand due to a muscle cramp in the forearm. Went to the doctor, he took me off the propranolol and said come back in a month. That appointment is Tuesday.
My new symptoms:
The throat clearing never subsided and only got worse. Went from mainly after eating and drinking to all the time. I feel a change in my voice. I'm a pretty good singer and there is a high tone that is just gone. I can't hit it. I'm having to clear my throat to talk a lot. And the last couple days it just seems like such effort to speak. I can speak without slurring, but seems I have to work at it and takes effort. Last night I was having really weird sensations where it seemed difficult to breath. My rib cage is tender and my chest hurts. I had asthma as a child and seems similar to that feeling. I woke up biting the tip of my tongue yesterday. My back and shoulder pain along with pain around my stomach area was pretty bad a couple days ago as well. I've found it difficult to maintain s smile without effort. I don't have problems swallowing and my tongue is pretty agile.
I know this is long and I assure you it could have been longer. I left out so many symptoms that I have just attributed to anxiety. My biggest concern is weakness, my inability to do any exercise, the loss of muscle tone and now my throat and breathing issues. I've also had weeks here and there where I feel good, only to be brought back to earth when I try to do too much. I don't even know why I'm posting as I know nobody can diagnose me, I guess it just feels better to type it out and that probably somebody will know how I'm feeling. It seems everybody in my life is tired of hearing me talk and complain. But it's real. If you've made it this far, thanks for listening.
Good day.
9 months ago I separated from my wife of 16 years. Over the next two months I lost 20 lbs of what I perceived to be stress weight. All my life I was known for having a big butt. Buying jeans was tough as I wasn't ever fat. In February of this year I noticed that my butt was essentially gone. Flat as a board. I was down 2 jeans sizes because if it and now had to wear a belt. It seemed sudden, but I wasn't exactly checking for I don't know how long. In March I started to have a persistent twitch in my left thumb. I had noticed slight twitches in certain parts of my body for some time but never thought twice about them. The only reason this one had me interested was because physically moved my thumb and was annoying. This went on for two weeks before I saw my doctor. I had also developed some tremors in the hand and arm when weight was applied. My doc thought it was stress related, but prescribed me Propranolol to see if it helped. Between this time and my next visit in May my thumb twitch stopped but I had some other things pop up. Bad back pain, bad sleep starts, I had a bad migraine with aura. Twitches seemed to pop up everywhere on my body. My stomach muscles seemed to just go flabby. I was never super fit, but I was always solid with no real definition. Just built that way. My stomach started to droop and it became painful to suck it in all the time. I had the same drooping in my upper arm muscles and my legs as well. The dr. suggested an MRI and a neuro visit. My MRI was clean other than chronic sinusitis. Doc prescribed antibiotics. My first neuro visit was in June. At this time I had started constantly having to clear my throat all the time, but didn't think much of it. A 10-15 minute clinical was performed where I never left a small chair. He didn't have me walk or really anything he quickly checked my reflexes with my feet flat on the ground, asked me questions, typed some stuff into his computer. He said reflexes were good everything seemed fine but ordered an EMG and nerve conduction just to see. At the end of June my EMG on my left arm and left leg came back as my legs are fine but he saw slight CTS and ulnar neuropathy. Not serious and he said, "I wouldn't worry about ALS". Cool. In that time I really started to notice exercise intolerance. Carrying grocery bags would cause my arms to hurt for a couple days. One night on vacation I could move my index finger in my right hand due to a muscle cramp in the forearm. Went to the doctor, he took me off the propranolol and said come back in a month. That appointment is Tuesday.
My new symptoms:
The throat clearing never subsided and only got worse. Went from mainly after eating and drinking to all the time. I feel a change in my voice. I'm a pretty good singer and there is a high tone that is just gone. I can't hit it. I'm having to clear my throat to talk a lot. And the last couple days it just seems like such effort to speak. I can speak without slurring, but seems I have to work at it and takes effort. Last night I was having really weird sensations where it seemed difficult to breath. My rib cage is tender and my chest hurts. I had asthma as a child and seems similar to that feeling. I woke up biting the tip of my tongue yesterday. My back and shoulder pain along with pain around my stomach area was pretty bad a couple days ago as well. I've found it difficult to maintain s smile without effort. I don't have problems swallowing and my tongue is pretty agile.
I know this is long and I assure you it could have been longer. I left out so many symptoms that I have just attributed to anxiety. My biggest concern is weakness, my inability to do any exercise, the loss of muscle tone and now my throat and breathing issues. I've also had weeks here and there where I feel good, only to be brought back to earth when I try to do too much. I don't even know why I'm posting as I know nobody can diagnose me, I guess it just feels better to type it out and that probably somebody will know how I'm feeling. It seems everybody in my life is tired of hearing me talk and complain. But it's real. If you've made it this far, thanks for listening.
Good day.
