Questions Amid Progression with BFS

[InvisibleItches]

That I have come this far yet still have many questions. I was hoping that I'd be a major contributor to helping others at this point in my BFS progression However, I've had a major concern over the past 3 months. I have a constant, constant tingling in my left knee. It hurts when I run and I always feel it when jumping. My hope that it isn't ALS is ihat I can in fact still run, jump, and play basketball. But I feel much weaker and if I run for just a little bit there is pain. Not a normal pain, but that something is running through my veins and stopping at that part of my knee. Almost like a constant pressure.When I lay or sit, I can also feel a pressure running through it and it often tingles. Is this the start of ALS? Does this resemble anything similar......I feel like I'm going to soon lose normal function with this knee

 

[MarioMasher]

Yeah it sounds like a trapped nerve or some other type of structural issue. If I were you I would get a referral to physical therapy and see if they can loosen it up. It isn't going to be anything any more ominous than that.

 

[InvisibleItches]

thanks Mario and Raindog.Trapped nerve, hmm that would make sense. My hope that it is nothing serious is that I can still run, jump, etc. etc. on it. So, if I had ALS or was starting to have it I don't think I would be able to do that. Also, some days it feels worse, some days better, which again I think is evidence that it isn't ALS....but, for some reason it still really scares me. It is just very unusual. I'll do plyometrics at the gym, where I jump up and down on a 5 foot box 10 to 20 times. Every time I jump I feel the nerve in my left knee, and every time I land I feel it tingle. It scares the sh*t out of me. I feel like it is going to explode if I land on it wrong. At 1st I thought little of it, thought maybe just a common injury. That it started to tingle when I wasn't using it. And my mind went there....I was like, oh *beep*, maybe my muscles and fibers in the knee are wasting away.

 

[InvisibleItches]

Also wondering....my new symptoms don't sound anything like ALS, correct? I don't think ALS normally starts with symptoms in the knee....I thought it started at the extremities.....But I did a "knee" search last night on this forum, and it scared me.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Forget about whether or not it can start in a knee....Does ALS ever appear on the scene by causing tingling and/or pressure in a knee or anywhere else? Does it cause someone to "feel much weaker"? Of what you described, is there anything that remotely would indicate ALS? No. No. And no. From the start months ago, your symptoms have already shown to be caused by a benign source (just like everyone else here). Is it possible for ALS to "start" from a benign source?No.

 

[MarioMasher]

Yeah 100% confident that isn't ALS. If it was ALS you just couldn't stand anymore. It won't mess around like your knee is doing to you. Although I hate to say this, but it could just be that you are getting older. Sometimes you lose cartilege if you overuse your knees too much, like through stuff like basketball or running. It could just be nothing more complicated than that. We all get older.

 

[herty18]

The pressure could be from any number of things. I remember straining my knee at one point in time and getting that "pressured" type feeling. I think that there was some small swelling, stiffness and I didn't have a full range of motion. That type of injury could also put pressure on the nerves and cause the tingling sensations. At any rate, if you are doing pliometrics you do not have ALS! Those exercises take enormous strength and stamina. Pliometrics are also very hard on your knees (and every other part of your body for that matter).

 

[InvisibleItches]

Thanks for the knowledge and insight guys. I do agree, I'm getting older! Maybe that could be the simple answer to this. I hope so!AND I agree that since I'm still able to do these things, run, jump, and play baseketball at a pretty high level, that ALS isn't the cause. But for some reason, even after all this time and what I thought was some progression and self reflection, I still feel that, "*beep*, maybe it is just sneaking up on me."That is the final frontier of my thought process. I've come along way though since 1st coming here scared out of my mind last June. But, for example, I just saw a commercial about ALS. The ad said something like this, "Joe was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 22...." etc. etc. All I heard was, "at the age of 22...." and I immediately had a spike in anxiety and started to think again, that all of these weird little bodily sensations I've been having over the past few years are indeed something sinister....The start of something. This is a thought I still can't escape.

 

[Gracer]

HI, I am not a veteran, maybe just in terms of my age But I am a hypermobile person. Joint hypermobility is often assosiated with all symptoms called as BFS - twitching, pain, cramps, percieved weakness etc. it is inherent condition related to the insufficient collagene formation. Knees are one of the weak point for hypermobile persons.Have you ever suspect hypermobility in your body? It is easy to check. If you could easily press your thumb to the wrist, easily bend from full standing position down touching the floor with the palm of your hand or if you have any EXTRA FREE moving joints (fingers, shoulder, ankle, elbow...any joint really)- then probably you are hypermobile to a certain degree. This is NOT RARE condition and often is not very noticeable unless it causes pain. Knee pain might be of that origin. and of course it could tingle.I would suggest to check this with a surgeon or any other related specialist (and check for possible nerve entrapment). I had heard about young people suffering from joint pains (sometimes all over the body) which finally was attributed to hypermobility.my best regardsYulia

 

[InvisibleItches]

Thanks Gracely! I'd gladly take that. I hope that is all this is.I can't believe how scared I'm getting again. Today my inner left knee, where all of my pain has been, was twitching, tingling, and making weird sensations all day. Then to moved down the calf and also in the surrounding joints in the left knee, as if all my muscles in there are dying or something or talking to each other, saying, "hey guys, it was a good run, but this is it. We are all about to just stop on him soon, just because." And I'm almost back to square one. I can't believe it. I'm getting to that stage again where it isn't so much being scared, about almost convinced that something terrible is about to happen or is in the process.

 

[Gracer]

I am going through the same fears every morning. hello legs, how are you? Hi left hand, are you Ok? Finergs moving smoothly? Heh, right one, you are NUMB! Holy crap! Aaaah, soft palate - are you in place? ETC. ETC.ETC. I take antianxiety drug, B-vitamines and come and do my stretching and come to work and still fear and still struggle as all of us. So I KNOW how do you feel. And I also know how do my mind can paly bad games with me. I live with deep anxiety disorder for 35 years already (not with BFS) and I know it could be a real disaster interms of physical body things. sudden sharp pains between the ribs. lump in the throat. esophagal pains (really nasty, caused me to go through unpleasent endoscopy diagnostics with no slight sign of damage etc.). dizziness. weakness. obsessive fears and thoughts. emotional instability. panic attack because of stupid movie. etc etc etc. My opinion is your knee really wants your attention, but not your fear. And it need medical attention because, as I told you, it is very vulnerable part of body and you could not even notice how easily it could be damaged. As I see you agree with all suggestions given to you in this tread but they do not bring you to relief. I think, it's because you knee is talknig to you - not about ALS but about some cetrain damage/trauma you have to deal with.And of course you feel weaker. Because fear causes every muscle of your body tense in well known fight or flight reaction. IT IS EXHAUSTING. Your adrenal glands fill your blood with adrenaline. IT IS EXHAUSTING. Your body for sure is really poisoned now with fear chemicals usually intended for quick release, quick work and then elimination, but not when you are under chronic fear press. It's like self-poisoning. Yur body is too busy with removing adrenaline to make you fill happy and healthy as before your fears started.Regarding your fears about young people diagnosed with ALS... As far as I can remember, there was a quote from neurologist here in one of the messages saying that there are certain conditions mimicking ALS in youngsters but they are inherited and very very rare. If no one in your family history had died young of neuro disease, you could be quite easy about this. So do not worry in any case about HORRIBLE DISEASE. think about something more realistic - about medical examination of your knee. if doctors will found trauma or blood vessels problem or nevre entrapment - it is curable. if they will found nothing - it is persumably BFS and you would have to treat it as BFS - with anitanxiety drugs, healthy life, mind therapy and patience.have a good luckYulia