Matt G
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- Jan 8, 2016
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39 y/o male, veteran, with neurologist documented muscle atrophy, fasciculations, and hyperreflexia.
- No plantar reflex whatsoever
- All blood tests normal except Vitamin D at 12 (with 30 being the lower limit)
- MRIs this coming Wednesday (brain, cervical, and thoracic)
- EMG scheduled for February 08
Greetings,
Thank you for your time and assistance! Many apologies for the length of my post; I realize it is a massive wall of text that may be difficult for many to get through. The bulk of my symptoms (that I noticed) started in October 2015 if you’d care to skip ahead:
- 2014: Extreme cramping in calves. Ribs/shoulders started feeling crunchy and started popping whenever I moved.
- Jan 2015: Rear ended in a car accident. Had whiplash with electrical shocks that ran down both arms for over 8+ weeks. Numbness in both arms and head/scalp when laying down that persisted for months.
- May 2015: Twitching in my shoulders and shins. I chalked the upper body twitches to the recent accident, and the lower body ones to previous L4-5 surgeries (2005).
- June through Sep 2015: Fasciculations now body wide. Increasing exercise intolerance. I also noticed my left collarbone was starting to stick out, but since I was actively working out and trying to get in shape, I didn’t worry too much about it. Overall though, my body felt like it was falling apart. Cognitively I began to feel like I was dissociating at times; when walking down stairs I would feel like I was about to fall through the floor.
- October 2015: I felt like I was getting the flu for 3+ weeks, but it never developed into that. Extreme night sweats. Right foot and right hand started cramping up. All my facial hair started falling out.
- November 2015: Another car accident, this time somebody front ended me, and left me with whiplash (again) and pain in my ribs. Fasciculations continued, my right hand continued to cramp, and the pads on my feet were really starting to shrink. Started getting wiped out by simple things like grocery shopping.
- December 2015: My hands and feet were now visibly smaller, both collar bones were sticking out, and overall it looked liked I had only 1/3 the muscle mass I used to. Every time I would use a muscle and then rest, I would have both unseen twitches and visible fasciculations. Additionally, my tendons/joints kept popping everywhere, and simple fine motor tasks were becoming more difficult.
- January 2016: My muscle is wasting away extremely fast. It seems to be mostly symmetrical. My skin has become really loose now since nearly all of the underlying adipose tissue and muscle is gone. My limbs are becoming extremely boney. My fingers, hands, arms, and legs are now having massive spasms that contract. I have no energy, diminished balance, and I keep walking into door jams and dropping things. My knees feel like they have strings connected to them when I walk, as I tend to get bouncy at times. Everything is becoming progressively harder to accomplish. My thighs are sticks, my shoulder muscles are just about gone, and they seem to be deadening. Often when I go to move my arms there is a noticeable delay between thought and action, and it’s getting worse. It seems like I’m about to lose use of my right shoulder altogether. Additionally, my cognitive dissociation is increasing, and I have this persistent feeling of a mind/body disconnection.
The rate of my decline from December to January is astonishing. I’ve read in multiple posts that the atrophy only begins after a person loses their ability to move a muscle set, while in my case, the atrophy seems to be raging through me like a wildfire. Do my symptoms/progression seem congruent with your ALS experience? Thanks again.
Regards,
Matt
- No plantar reflex whatsoever
- All blood tests normal except Vitamin D at 12 (with 30 being the lower limit)
- MRIs this coming Wednesday (brain, cervical, and thoracic)
- EMG scheduled for February 08
Greetings,
Thank you for your time and assistance! Many apologies for the length of my post; I realize it is a massive wall of text that may be difficult for many to get through. The bulk of my symptoms (that I noticed) started in October 2015 if you’d care to skip ahead:
- 2014: Extreme cramping in calves. Ribs/shoulders started feeling crunchy and started popping whenever I moved.
- Jan 2015: Rear ended in a car accident. Had whiplash with electrical shocks that ran down both arms for over 8+ weeks. Numbness in both arms and head/scalp when laying down that persisted for months.
- May 2015: Twitching in my shoulders and shins. I chalked the upper body twitches to the recent accident, and the lower body ones to previous L4-5 surgeries (2005).
- June through Sep 2015: Fasciculations now body wide. Increasing exercise intolerance. I also noticed my left collarbone was starting to stick out, but since I was actively working out and trying to get in shape, I didn’t worry too much about it. Overall though, my body felt like it was falling apart. Cognitively I began to feel like I was dissociating at times; when walking down stairs I would feel like I was about to fall through the floor.
- October 2015: I felt like I was getting the flu for 3+ weeks, but it never developed into that. Extreme night sweats. Right foot and right hand started cramping up. All my facial hair started falling out.
- November 2015: Another car accident, this time somebody front ended me, and left me with whiplash (again) and pain in my ribs. Fasciculations continued, my right hand continued to cramp, and the pads on my feet were really starting to shrink. Started getting wiped out by simple things like grocery shopping.
- December 2015: My hands and feet were now visibly smaller, both collar bones were sticking out, and overall it looked liked I had only 1/3 the muscle mass I used to. Every time I would use a muscle and then rest, I would have both unseen twitches and visible fasciculations. Additionally, my tendons/joints kept popping everywhere, and simple fine motor tasks were becoming more difficult.
- January 2016: My muscle is wasting away extremely fast. It seems to be mostly symmetrical. My skin has become really loose now since nearly all of the underlying adipose tissue and muscle is gone. My limbs are becoming extremely boney. My fingers, hands, arms, and legs are now having massive spasms that contract. I have no energy, diminished balance, and I keep walking into door jams and dropping things. My knees feel like they have strings connected to them when I walk, as I tend to get bouncy at times. Everything is becoming progressively harder to accomplish. My thighs are sticks, my shoulder muscles are just about gone, and they seem to be deadening. Often when I go to move my arms there is a noticeable delay between thought and action, and it’s getting worse. It seems like I’m about to lose use of my right shoulder altogether. Additionally, my cognitive dissociation is increasing, and I have this persistent feeling of a mind/body disconnection.
The rate of my decline from December to January is astonishing. I’ve read in multiple posts that the atrophy only begins after a person loses their ability to move a muscle set, while in my case, the atrophy seems to be raging through me like a wildfire. Do my symptoms/progression seem congruent with your ALS experience? Thanks again.
Regards,
Matt