Could it be anything other than ALS
Posted , 51 users are following.
Wondering if anyone has has similar issues and what it turned out to be?
started for me in March when I noticed to get muscle twitching all over my body arms, legs, feet, lips, buttocks etc. Some twitches were quite strong and would repeat 3 or 4 times rapidly then stop others were seen but not felt.
within a week one of my legs felt odd not sure how to describe it. Then the leg dealt weak but I still use it.
i went to the doctor who scheduled an EMG and NCS. The EMG was done on 2 muscles in the calf of my good leg for some reason and I was told all teats were normal. They suggested BFS. I was happy with that.
Nothing changed, in fact I now have thigh Atrophy - outer quad muscle. Doc confirmed the atrophy and is sending me back to the neuro. At this time I get a rush of muscle twitching in my upper abdomen after I cough or sneeze which is keeping my ALS fears on my mind. I can still walk, my leg gets tired fast and aches most of the time and the muscle has a burning feeling in it occasionally sometimes it even feels like it is vibrating. There also seems to be a tremor of my skin on the thigh, the wohle area between the knee and hip. Looks almost like the skin it shaking slightly from side to side. Not my leg shaking just the skin or muscle. I am also exhausted all the time and when I wake up I am mort tired then when I went to sleep.
My doc admits he is confused and says he has no idea what it could be - this obviously leaves me quite frustrated and scared. I asked him about ALS and he said he doubts it but can offer no other possibilities as all my blood work and tests are fine.
Hopefuls someone out there may be able to shed some light on this.
Thank you.
2 likes, 191 replies
mesme sean73
Posted
Hey guys, just posting to say that if you've had symptoms for more than a year, and you haven't lost the use of any of your limbs/fingers/etc then you can be pretty assured you do NOT have ALS. There are MANY neurological conditions that can cause the symptoms that have no connection to ALS what-so-ever and are very common. If you're concerned about it, it doesn't hurt to get a professional opinion, but diseases like ALS and MS are progressive, with ALS being pretty aggressive.
Weakness/Weird feelings in the muscles such as tingling and burning are sensory symptoms. With ALS you would in most cases feel normal, but lose the use of your limbs/fingers/etc relatively suddenly, ALS generally does not cause a lot of pain or discomfort until it gets to the stages where a person cannot swallow properly which is in the late stages.
Muscle twitches can be anything from pinched nerves, anemia, anxiety, hyperthyroidism, among many other things.
As I said, if you are really worried about having ALS, go to a doctor and see if they will refer you to a neurologist but you really can pretty much relax because the likelihood is very, VERY small, and if you pass your neurologists motor skill tests to their satisfaction, and they don't see signs of ALS or MS by the end of their exam, you can trust them in that. Ever since the ALS ice bucket challenge, there has been a huge surge in people being anxious that their symptoms are ALS.
Saisai sean73
Posted
How r u feeling now? I am suffering from muscle twitches since 5 months now, it’s everyday. I feel so low and my life has stalled.