Hello, my name is Anna, i'm 37 years old and was hoping to get some opinions on my situation. Thanks you very kindly in advance for taking the time to read, I will try and keep it short. I have been having progressing symptoms for 6 months:
- twitching inside, below and on top of feet in the beginning, now also in many other muscles all over my body, constantly
- discomfort and pain in shoulder/biceps upon lifting my dominant arm
- discomfort in corresponding shoulder blade
- a shrunken looking flat and dented muscle on palm, below thumb (no idea what it looked like before)
- breathing issues: frequent urge to take full breaths
- and the final straw that had me really worried: a really weak uncomfortable jelly feeling inside my outer calves, above the ankles. Started on the right, now on both sides. It feels horrible, almost like restless legs or and intense itchy sensation in the muscles. Walking on tiptoes and heels luckily works, but the feeling is always there and getting worse by the day.
Now, I've had a neuro exam in December which went ok. Reflexes were 3+ but considered normal and symmetrical. Last week I had an EMG which left me a little insecure. When he neuro stuck the needle in my troublesome biceps muscle there was a lot of activity and sound. She kept telling me to relax, but I was relaxed.. She told her colleague there was 'activity', but concluded the exam by saying she can't see enough evidence of a neuromuscular condition. I guess the word 'enough' threw me a bit. She said if it were ALS there would be a lot more going on. I didn't really ask anything after that, just felt momentarily relieved. But I wonder - shouldn't there be nothing at all going on in a healthy muscle? I keep wondering if I should have maybe gone to a neuromuscular specialist as I hear that interpreting an EMG is somewhat of an art.
My questions, if you don't mind me asking, are:
- do you think with my symptoms a visit to a neuromuscular specialist would be advisable?
- does the outer calf/ankle issue sound like ALS or is it really quite unusual to present symmetrically within a couple of months?
- is it generally all about much for ALS onset? I heard respiratory issues were quite rare to begin with.. Still I don't understand why I have all this going on.
Sorry this did turn out to be lengthier than intended.
I thank you for any advice or opinion.
- twitching inside, below and on top of feet in the beginning, now also in many other muscles all over my body, constantly
- discomfort and pain in shoulder/biceps upon lifting my dominant arm
- discomfort in corresponding shoulder blade
- a shrunken looking flat and dented muscle on palm, below thumb (no idea what it looked like before)
- breathing issues: frequent urge to take full breaths
- and the final straw that had me really worried: a really weak uncomfortable jelly feeling inside my outer calves, above the ankles. Started on the right, now on both sides. It feels horrible, almost like restless legs or and intense itchy sensation in the muscles. Walking on tiptoes and heels luckily works, but the feeling is always there and getting worse by the day.
Now, I've had a neuro exam in December which went ok. Reflexes were 3+ but considered normal and symmetrical. Last week I had an EMG which left me a little insecure. When he neuro stuck the needle in my troublesome biceps muscle there was a lot of activity and sound. She kept telling me to relax, but I was relaxed.. She told her colleague there was 'activity', but concluded the exam by saying she can't see enough evidence of a neuromuscular condition. I guess the word 'enough' threw me a bit. She said if it were ALS there would be a lot more going on. I didn't really ask anything after that, just felt momentarily relieved. But I wonder - shouldn't there be nothing at all going on in a healthy muscle? I keep wondering if I should have maybe gone to a neuromuscular specialist as I hear that interpreting an EMG is somewhat of an art.
My questions, if you don't mind me asking, are:
- do you think with my symptoms a visit to a neuromuscular specialist would be advisable?
- does the outer calf/ankle issue sound like ALS or is it really quite unusual to present symmetrically within a couple of months?
- is it generally all about much for ALS onset? I heard respiratory issues were quite rare to begin with.. Still I don't understand why I have all this going on.
Sorry this did turn out to be lengthier than intended.
I thank you for any advice or opinion.