BandersnatchF
Well-known member
I've been twitching for about 5 months now - ever since I saw that first twitching ring finger in mid-June. The good news is that the twitching seems to be diminishing, though I still have occasional roaming twitches and the background twitches in the calves and feet.
My neurologist has reassured me that I don't have ALS, but she doesn't know what I do have, if anything. EMG in the right arm in early August was totally clean (no fasciculations or anything else), EMG in both legs in October turned up fasciculations in four muscles (calves and tibials) and a single complex repetitive discharge in my right leg, so she did an NCV study there as well. Nerve speeds seem normal. We discussed autoimmune blood tests to explore the possibility of other diseases, but I put it off for now. I also assured her that I didn't have adult-onset Tay Sachs (one of the possibilities—I had no idea there was such a thing!) since I was already tested and I'm not even a carrier.
If that were it, I'd be well on my way to anxiety disappearing, but I had another symptom at my last visit (the NCV): a few (2-3) beats of clonus in my left heel in response to the tap on the bottom of my heel (the CRD was in my right tibial). She thinks it's normal, and my other reflexes (arms and legs) have calmed down since my last exam. I did tell her that I've been able to induce clonus in my lower leg (not that I knew what it was called until recently) when sitting by raising my foot onto its toes and bouncing my leg. Since I've been able to do this since high school, I figure it's not going to kill me any time soon
. She thought the few beats of clonus is just "one of those things," but she did make a comment about my usually having a clean exam except for one (different) minor item each time.
I'm still dealing with the feeling of clumsiness in my hands, but no noticeable weakness there. I've also got a stiff right knee and the usual joint pains, but that's hardly surprising given my age and size.
The good (?) news is that clonus is a UMN disorder, and that UMN disorders run in my family (two brothers with MS) and are unrelated to twitching, which has been diminishing. No sign of LMN malfunction of any sort, either on EMG or exam. Anyone else have a neurologist dismiss a few beats of clonus? It didn't seem like a hyper reflex compared to the right foot (not much more motion), just a few pulses rather than a single pulse.
My neurologist has reassured me that I don't have ALS, but she doesn't know what I do have, if anything. EMG in the right arm in early August was totally clean (no fasciculations or anything else), EMG in both legs in October turned up fasciculations in four muscles (calves and tibials) and a single complex repetitive discharge in my right leg, so she did an NCV study there as well. Nerve speeds seem normal. We discussed autoimmune blood tests to explore the possibility of other diseases, but I put it off for now. I also assured her that I didn't have adult-onset Tay Sachs (one of the possibilities—I had no idea there was such a thing!) since I was already tested and I'm not even a carrier.
If that were it, I'd be well on my way to anxiety disappearing, but I had another symptom at my last visit (the NCV): a few (2-3) beats of clonus in my left heel in response to the tap on the bottom of my heel (the CRD was in my right tibial). She thinks it's normal, and my other reflexes (arms and legs) have calmed down since my last exam. I did tell her that I've been able to induce clonus in my lower leg (not that I knew what it was called until recently) when sitting by raising my foot onto its toes and bouncing my leg. Since I've been able to do this since high school, I figure it's not going to kill me any time soon
. She thought the few beats of clonus is just "one of those things," but she did make a comment about my usually having a clean exam except for one (different) minor item each time.I'm still dealing with the feeling of clumsiness in my hands, but no noticeable weakness there. I've also got a stiff right knee and the usual joint pains, but that's hardly surprising given my age and size.
The good (?) news is that clonus is a UMN disorder, and that UMN disorders run in my family (two brothers with MS) and are unrelated to twitching, which has been diminishing. No sign of LMN malfunction of any sort, either on EMG or exam. Anyone else have a neurologist dismiss a few beats of clonus? It didn't seem like a hyper reflex compared to the right foot (not much more motion), just a few pulses rather than a single pulse.