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saliena934

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Mar 18, 2014
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Learn about ALS
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UK
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Birmingham
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Birmingham
I'm scared I have als. In December my lower back felt warm and then my leg started going weak on my right side. The doctors did blood tests and everything came back normal and it went away. For the past month I have started feeling twitching in my muscles (especially in my right thigh) and then my leg would go weak and then it would go back to normal. This was only at rest though. My period also started a week early and it was very weak. On Tuesday I felt really bad and upset and I've felt terrible (which is weird cause im always happy) until Saturday when I started to feel weakness in my left side. Then the whole of the ledt side of my body including my face felt weak (I could still do everything normally but it just felt weak). We called an ambulance and they told me everything was fine. They did some basically neurological and strength tests and said that was normal. Then the next day I woke up and it was fine but then as the day went by the right side had that weakness too. It eventually lessened by the end of the day. Yesterday most of my body was fine apart from my left calf which felt a bit tense and weak, and this increased throughout the day and even more so when my mum tried to massage my calves. Today I both of my calves feel weak, I can walk around and walk on the balls of my feet but it feels really weird, and kind of stiff and weak, especially at rest. Everyone keeps telling me it's anxiety for my exams but I haven't been worried about my exams and I highly doubt this is anxiety. My muscles also twitch around my body when I'm resting (especially in my legs). My anal muscles feel a bit weak as well and I have been going to the toilet more often. I've been exercising all day to test the strength so now my legs are killing me. I'm just wondering if this is anxiety a real problem. A Google search pointed me in the direction of als. I'm a healthy 19 (female) and I've been freaking out and crying for the past week and I haven't been able to sleep and I'm starting to lose my appetite but I'm still forcing down food and I am losing a bit of weight and I only weight 7st 11 before. I'm going to see a neurologist on Tomorrow but the wait is killing me and I can't tell if this is precieved weakness or actual weakness because it felt like I was walking funny today.
My neck is also stiff at times and also writing with my right hand feels a bit funny. Does the onset symptoms progress so quickly because the numbness started on Saturday.
 
Also my skin has been really dry recently (I have oily skin) and my mouth is really dry.
 
You have none of the symptoms of ALS!
Nothing you describe sounds at all like ALS.

Twitching does not mean you have ALS. Maybe stress, maybe too much caffeine, maybe too much exercise, maybe too much worrying, maybe lots of other things. Those things are common, ALS is not.

Perceived weakness is a sign of anxiety, not ALS. Clinical weakness is a potential sign of ALS. Go back and ready the "Sticky".

Clinical weakness does not come and go as you describe. ALS is progressive with no backtracking.

Like so many others, the Google search of a non-qualified, non-medically trained person has pointed you in the wrong direction.
Why is it you believe a Google search, but not your doctors or the paramedics in the ambulance?
 
It is a good thing that you are going to see a neurologist. He/she may be able to put to rest some of you fears. The symptoms that you have described do not mirror the symptoms that I have experienced.

Rick
 
But my legs feel so weak. As if I have done lots of exercise but I haven't done anything. It's worse at rest and it stops me from sleeping. I also got my blood tests back and I was slightly low in iron. The ambulance team tested me before I started to feel weaker.
 
I'm also starting to see muscle atrophy in my rib and upper back
Area. It's starting to look like the skin is hanging. I'm so scared
 
Dear "I'm a healthy 19 (female)",

You wrote, ("Everyone keeps telling me it's anxiety for my exams but I haven't been worried about my exams and I highly doubt this is anxiety.") Bingo! The you wrote, ("I'm going to see a neurologist on Tomorrow but the wait is killing me...) And... if the neurologists tells you it is NOT ALS but good old fashion stress and anxiety will you accept it? If not... don't waste your money and his time. Maybe you'll feel better during Spring Break.
 
But I can see atrophy in my back and where my ribs are. And my muscle burns there when I try to flex it
 
Let the neurologist diagnose if it s atrophy... unless you're a med student. But, even then... let the neuro make the call before your do.
 
Sounds nothing like Als. Lucky you!
You seem glued to your computer, shut it off and go out with some friends.
19 year olds don't need to worry about this kind of anxiety.
 
Saliena, if you get anxious and start looking over your body, you will see bumps and changes of your skin in many places. And if anxiety got hold of you, and you are not eating and/or sleeping right, that can cause weight changes, which in itself can cause changes to your body.

Iron defieciency counts for around 25% of mild forms of Restless Legs , and RL can hit other parts of the body as well. GP's generally stay away from iron supplements because iron overdosing is dangerous to some degree. But maybe try to drink blutsaft or another herbal iron remedy to see if you feel better.

I am however NOT trying to to diagnose anything, nor am I implying that you got any chronic form of RLS. ( Just wanted to make that clear, no googling allowed! )I am just suggesting that iron deficiency could play a part in what you are experiencing.

Please stay away form Google. Let me give you an example; a friend of mine googled a mild exczema of hers, typed in her symptoms, and google suggested lupus or gangrene. Hydrochortisone solved her issue in 5 days, and well, you see what I am getting at.

To me, this sounds nothing like ALS.
 
I'm finding it difficult to sit up straight (the muscles in my back and below my breast hurt) and I just brought up all of my food.
 
Please listen to these people. Stress causes lots of the things you are describing. Do some of the things you know will relax you. Then trust that the neuro knows best.

Tracy
 
Saliena, many of the people on this forum who do have ALS expend a great deal of their very precious energy reassuring people like you that it sounds like they do not have ALS. They do this as an act of kindness because they live with the effects of this monster that has you so terrified. They don't lie, and they shouldn't be asked to expend that energy when you've already been given the reassurance I assume you were looking for. Your new symptoms are no more convincing than your original post. Stop making yourself sick with worry and let the doctors do their jobs.
 
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