1987hunter1987
New member
I've been lurking on this board for a while now, and figured I would share my story with everyone.
It all started around three months ago when I had some intense twitching in my right eye. As I am prone to do (aren't we all), I researched the topic and concluded this must be due to stress/sleep issues. The problem subsided, but a week later I awoke in the middle of the night with my right index finger twitching back in forth. I thought, "no big deal", and went back to sleep. Of course, I researched the topic, and what do you think I found. I woke two days later and felt a numb spot on my face. After going to the Emergency Room and having a CT scan and blood work, they said, "You need to see a neurologist".
Well, I got an appointment with a Neuro. He noticed the visible tremors in my hands. After having a normal exam, he asked, "Do you have any muscle twitches?" I told him that I had had a few, but nothing substantial. He told me that the twitches were an indicator of ALS.
Well, I'm sure you know what happened next:
Twitches from head to toe.
Deep depression for weeks where all I concentrated on was my mortality, and I lost interest in almost everything.
Hundreds of hours of research on ALS.
Strange symptoms that turned out to be transient (i.e. difficulty swallowing, burning sensations in palms and down arms and legs, difficulty raising arms, etc.)
Tons of medical tests (EEG, EKG, Echo, MRI, LFT's, Liver Sonogram, Lots of Bloodwork, and an EMG that was completely normal on my upper extremities)
This should make me feel better, right? Well, no. In fact, after receiving a diagnosis of "benign tremors" (whatever that is), from my Neuro, I have seen a specialist at a teaching hospital. After the specialist gave me a normal exam (he opined that it was stress/exhaustion), I have been experiencing constant twitching in my left foot for the past two weeks along with a weak feeling in my left leg (which I did not experience pre-fasciculations). My GP has started me on Lexapro, which has helped my mood, but not alleviated my twitching.
So, here I am just like the rest of you, wondering about my fate instead of going ahead and living life. I wonder if my symptoms are entirely pshychosomatic, or if I have a real disorder with only a few psychosomatic symptoms. Also, it seems like every time I read something comforting about the progression of ALS, and how my situation is completely different, I will also read the exact opposite information from another source.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks for posting on this board. This is a haven for information and optimism. I appreciate any replies.
Chris
It all started around three months ago when I had some intense twitching in my right eye. As I am prone to do (aren't we all), I researched the topic and concluded this must be due to stress/sleep issues. The problem subsided, but a week later I awoke in the middle of the night with my right index finger twitching back in forth. I thought, "no big deal", and went back to sleep. Of course, I researched the topic, and what do you think I found. I woke two days later and felt a numb spot on my face. After going to the Emergency Room and having a CT scan and blood work, they said, "You need to see a neurologist".
Well, I got an appointment with a Neuro. He noticed the visible tremors in my hands. After having a normal exam, he asked, "Do you have any muscle twitches?" I told him that I had had a few, but nothing substantial. He told me that the twitches were an indicator of ALS.
Well, I'm sure you know what happened next:
Twitches from head to toe.
Deep depression for weeks where all I concentrated on was my mortality, and I lost interest in almost everything.
Hundreds of hours of research on ALS.
Strange symptoms that turned out to be transient (i.e. difficulty swallowing, burning sensations in palms and down arms and legs, difficulty raising arms, etc.)
Tons of medical tests (EEG, EKG, Echo, MRI, LFT's, Liver Sonogram, Lots of Bloodwork, and an EMG that was completely normal on my upper extremities)
This should make me feel better, right? Well, no. In fact, after receiving a diagnosis of "benign tremors" (whatever that is), from my Neuro, I have seen a specialist at a teaching hospital. After the specialist gave me a normal exam (he opined that it was stress/exhaustion), I have been experiencing constant twitching in my left foot for the past two weeks along with a weak feeling in my left leg (which I did not experience pre-fasciculations). My GP has started me on Lexapro, which has helped my mood, but not alleviated my twitching.
So, here I am just like the rest of you, wondering about my fate instead of going ahead and living life. I wonder if my symptoms are entirely pshychosomatic, or if I have a real disorder with only a few psychosomatic symptoms. Also, it seems like every time I read something comforting about the progression of ALS, and how my situation is completely different, I will also read the exact opposite information from another source.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks for posting on this board. This is a haven for information and optimism. I appreciate any replies.
Chris
. Bizarre neurological symptoms are almost a hallmark of BFS rather than the exception. I remeber when I first came down with it back in '98 one of the first really weird symptoms I noticed, after the all-over body tingling but before the twitches was a big patch of numb skin on my back. I had almost forgotten about that before reading your post....I asked my GP about it and she blew it off.
)