Status
Not open for further replies.

Winston

New member
Joined
Jul 3, 2016
Messages
1
Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
US
State
New yoek
City
New toek
Hi All - I'm a 30yr old male and have been coming to this forum for the past month researching some symptoms. Just wanted to say how impressive the community is for both compassion and knowledge. I've read several threads and the stickies, apologies if I've missed anything that makes this duplicative.

Seeking a few thoughts from knowledgeable folks about some symptoms and tests I've had.

I've had chronic neck stiffness and headaches/pressure back of head and ears for a long time (1.5yrs?). I've also had jaw stiffness and popping even longer. I've seen several doctors over the past year including TMJ specialist, ENT, primary care, and now neurologist, haven't yet seen a rheumatologist. I've also had several tests (all of which have shown normal), including MRI/MRA head/c spine, brachial plexus ultra sound, blood work including ANA and lyme tests, and EMG. EMG twice (Nov'15 and Jul'16) both showed normal except nerve irritation both times in neck C5/C6 region. I think both tests were only arms and back of neck. I also tried a round of oral steroids in early June which seemed to help a bit.

Symptoms have changed over the past month and have gotten a bit worse and include: continued neck stiffness/popping, feeling of weakness in jaw and almost like lip quivering, hoarse voice, muscle twitching both arms/legs/scalp/shoulders, feeling of tightness/weakness in muscles on front of throat just above collarbone and a few episodes of difficulty dry swallowing, perceived weakness in both left arm and leg (specifically forearm/hand and ankle) and general hand tremors, feeling of less dexterity in left hand (definitely dropped some stuff). I haven't had anyone else notice slurred speech, but definitely have noticed some difficulty articulating a few times and think it could be related to the jaw weakness.

Apologies for the longer post. Generally, I have a lot of faith in the Dr's I'm seeing and feel fortunate to have access to good healthcare. The neurologist also doesn't seem overly concerned but isn't much of a talker. However, more than a year of tests with nothing abnormal except the neck nerve irritation and more recent seeming worsening of symptoms have me a bit anxious. Main question is based on your experience does this combination of symptoms and tests seem concerning and are there things that could cause neck nerve irritation (twice noted on EMGs) but not show in either spine MRI or ultrasound?

Appreciate your thoughts.
 
Not a chance it's ALS. I can't see why you would entertain the thought it is.

No ALS symptoms whatsoever and 2 clean EMG - you can make this a very short stop here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top