Krackersones
Well-known member
I just returned from a visit to a new neurologist. I had to go because I changed medical insurance and needed my Klonopin prescription renewed. I saw the ALS specialist from Kaiser. She was very familiar with my previous neurologist, Dr. Engel. She said he was the one who teaches everyone else. She said if I had ALS he would have caught it. Engel says I do not have it. This new doctor looked at the muscle biopsy report that Engel wrote and said it seemed normal to her as everyone has some denervation and reinervation. I never once considered it normal but she did. She also said my slowing of my sensory nerves was due to being cold based on her reading of the report. She was very insistent that I did not have ALS. She did not deny I have something going on that is making my nerve membranes overly excited but said it is unclear what causes this. She said she gets twitches everywhere from time to time and ALS crosses her mind too but she also said she sees so many people complain of these twitches and knows they are not predictors of ALS but rather a benign syndrome. The down side to the visit was the reflex testing. She noticed my brisk reflexes and when I asked her lots of questions about it she said I had a bit of hoffman sign, jaw jerk, and a beat of clonus on both ankles. I was freaked out and said that the findings are pointing to ALS. She said no they do not and feels they are anxiety related. She said she has the same small bit of clonus and some hoffman sign too. She said it can be normal especially women. She said the jaw jerk finding with the symmetrical hyperactive reflexes made it clear to her this was all due to a generalized anxious state rather than a bad sign. I looked this up and her assessment was confirmed by something else I read on the Internet in a neuro text book. The book said symmetrical hyperflexia with jaw jerk means the person is anxious. She also said my eyes were extremely dialated even though the room was incredibly bright which also pointed to my anxiety level. I was trying not to be anxious but it is hard not to be. Before my appointment, I spoke to a young man in his mid twenties who has had MS since he was 11. He is now in a wheelchair. He said he gets depressed and when he does he gets another tattoo. He then showed me his tattoos. He was there with his mom who was taking very good care of him. I also spoke to a 66 year-old female dentist who had slurred speech and showed me her tongue which pointed to the side when she stuck it out. She said they ruled out ALS in her case but they did not know what was wrong with her. I mention all of this because maybe this hyped up my anxiety before I went in for my appointment. The new doc suggested I give this board and the Internet a break. I think I have to agree with her. I still want to help others but think I need a break. If there is something urgent, you can pm me but otherwise I will try to lay low. My goal is to give myself a year away from analyzing and thinking about this stuff and see where I am at that point. I will check responses to this post but after that I will try to stay away.