Neuro Cleared Me but My Foot is Shrinking

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redneckrock

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I have not been on for a while, I started seeing second neuro who did single fiber emg which was fine. He said my emg in oct and december were normal and cleared me. Does not want to see me back. My problem is my left lag has felt wierd when i walk on it since early december, 3 weeks before my last emg. I have been saying all along that my foot is shrinking. My left foot is smaller in width than right, smaller in thickness and just looks plain compared to right. I am left side dominant. I know this is why my leg leg feels weird. It just feels odd when i walk. Now i have been through 2 neuro's and they think i have anxiety. When I try to explain the foot thing they dont even want to see. I dont know what else to do. My family can clearly see difference. Dr says clean emg = no neuromuscular disease. What else can cause this? I should note that all of my muscle seem to get tired fast. Like my arms ache from typing this. Anyone else have anything like this. This has been going on for 7 months.
 
Is this something that you just noticed or has it been this way?
Have you lost weight?
Everyone has one foot bigger than the other. I know this because I
asked my GP about it mine is the same way when I put my shoes on
one foot is sloppy and the other is snug I also can see it but he says it
is normal. I know where you are coming from this kind of stuff will
drive you out of your mind. I am also weaker on my left side though
it is not my dominate side my right side is but I have read that the
nondominate side can be bigger or the dominate side can be bigger
it can go either way. Dont let this get the best of you it will if you let it.
I would go see my GP and see what they had to say they know good
good from bad and it will ease your mind.

DStar :)
 
See a rheumatologist if you have not already done so.

You can expect to experince some small amount of atrophy now that you have BFS. Though not caused by BFS it is in my experince due to our reduced activity level especialy in the early months. Lack of use usually results in diminished muscles etc...Moreover, you are more than likely just noticing the subtle imperfections of your body now that BFS has made you hyper aware of every facet of your body.

Now, on the rheumatological route...there are diseases that can shrink your fat layers resulting in reduced limb size. This mostly happens in scleroderma. However, if you had scleroderma and had fat layer reduction you would more than know it. I mean it would be out there like ALS. Not subtle by any means if you had severe fat layer reduction. In reality I hate mentioning this since I don't want to make you worry about something you probably don't have by any means. Osteoperosis can also make this effect be visible in the limbs. If you are male the chances of you having either disease is even smaller! But your symptoms don't come close to either of these diseases. Throw in twitching and it almost shatters both mentioned diseases but nothing in the world can be gauranteed 100%. In your case maybe 99.9% that you don't have either! Anyways the tired arms easily falls under BFS. How long have you had BFS? What test have you had performed other than EMG. Look for ANA blood work, muscle enzyme disfunction etc...How old are you? I went back and looked at many of your old post and they seem in-line with BFS.

I would suggest that you schedule an appointment with a orthopedist and a rheumatologist if you have not already done so. As you already know neurologist can only see as far as their neurological training. So more than likely you problem has very little to do with nerves, neurons etc. In reality I don't know how you could have progressed past PCP then neuros without noticing weakness then atrophy as your chief complaints. Moreover there is no reason why you could not have two or more free standing illneses. Say BFS and arthritis. Some BFSers have this! Of course you have anxiety! That is nothing new especially to BFSers! ALS is possible as I have read some literature deviating from the normal progression of the disease. However, these are obscure cases and they normally point out that EMG was very revealing of ALS patterns before noticible atrophy. MY understanding is that you have had a clean EMG. I just don't see ALS as a possibility for you. In my reading you would be the first case ever reported or made public that had this pattern of disease development since EMG have been administered. As you know I am far from being an MD. So seek out those doctors mentioned above!
 
Just another note when I was in counseling over dealing with this BFS
stuff :mad:. I had everyone there with the measuring tape out
taking measurements and everyone had some difference somewhere.
This has helped my mangeld mind alot. So dont immediately panic
it is just wasted energy.

DStar :)
 
HI,
try not to worry. I have had twitching non stop in feet and my left foot is ALOT smaller thanmy right. It also has a dent in the arch. I spent ages measuring it and it is much smaller in many ways. I think it may have always been like this. My neuro was so imressed he spent all of 1 second looking at it then laughed.

Your foot was probably always like this

Robert
 
I have had soooo much bloodwork, mri's , 2 clean emg's, clean single fiber emg, catscans....... All show normal, but I have twitching, muscle aches, and tired muscles and my smaller left foot and calve. I dont know if it has always been like this. But I am very aware of it now.. Had a bad day yesterday.I have never been diagnosis with bfs, neuro could not catch twitches on emg. But it has been 7 months and I am frustrated. I used to think no news was good news until I read about A*s. Now I am terrified Everytime other tests come back normal.
 
One foot smaller than the other? No big deal. Many of us have that. That's why we all try on both shoes when buying a new pair. It would be pretty tough for your to have atrophy in a foot without very noticeable problems with your gait. In order for you to walk properly, the muscles of each foot need to be strong enough to support and your whole body weight while working in coordination to maintain balance and propel you forward. Atrophied muscles, even mildly so, would be weakened enough to compromise their ability to perform these tasks leading to a noticeable change in gait.

You may have fat pad atrophy which has nothing to do with muscles or neurological problems. Some people experience this with aging or wieght issues but there are other causes as well. You may want to consult with a podiatrist.

Phil
 
The reason I noticed the size difference was because I felt like I was walking different like the balance was off in that leg. Ruemitoid Dr. never looked at it but I told him and he watched me walk and said that I walk off side of right foot and that why muscle are bigger. When I got home and thought about it I realised I never did that until I had trouble with that foot, so to compensate I must walk like that. my whole foot looks smaller, around the ankle, the muscle on top and the width. I am still walking without anyone else noticing the difference. but it feels weird when I walk on it and thats brought all the attention to size.
 
Hey
I really cant add to what has been said over all the other posts other than
remember stress and anxiety will make your symptoms worse- if your stressin and the anxiety level is high look out! for most of us its when the symptoms turn on and its hard to shut them down- Perhaps the anxiety thing may be somethng you want to look into further as someone was tellin me the older we get the less seritonin and dopamine and neo-somethingorother) is produced in smaller amounts creating the imbalance in our brain the older a person gets Now i dont know if this guy is correct but hes a good friend of a dr who specializes in this field- who knows just thought i would throw it out there
best regards
David S
 

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