warpigsquad
New member
Hi everyone I am new to this forum and just wanted to introduce myself. I am a 38 year old female and have been suffering from fasciculations for about 6-9 months now. It started in my temples probably around March time and then moved to my throat - this continuous twitching in my throat continued for about 3-4 weeks during which time I had a bad cold/throat and thought that the twitching was a result of it and when it stopped in my throat I thought that was that. Well, how wrong was I?! From that point the twitching spread all over my body. Actually if I think back I then started to experience a strange 'buzzing' like sensation in my groin and around my back passage (sorry sounds awful). Then I began to twitch - my calves (especially the left) my feet, my thighs, the top of my arms, my stomach and sometimes my face. Interestingly my forearms don't seem to be effected. All of these twitches are the classic small fasciculations that you can feel and see under the skin and generally as soon as I move that muscle it stops. I now experience twitching every single day without fail somewhere in my body. Nearly everyday it will happen in my calves (again the left mainly) plus it appears to choose one or two other specific places!! eg stomach, butt, thigh etc etc. It is driving me to distraction. After putting up with it for a month or so I realised that these annoying twitches were not going to stop, so I did the stupid thing - googled it! Of course, I had diagnosed myself within 5 minutes of having the dreaded 3 letter abbreviation or if I was lucky maybe it was the lesser of the two - MS. However, although I do go through periods of extreme health anxiety (I have already had a breast cancer scare this year which fortunately ended with a clear mammo) I am able to rationalise things and read and reread how many people were suffering from very similar symptoms as myself (especially on this forum) and from a bit more research realised that ALS involves muscle weakness and atrophy of which I very luckily have neither. Anyhow, 6 months or so on and finally I have plucked up the courage to see my GP who initially referred me for blood tests, all of which came back clear - although rather annoyingly the ONLY one (and believe me they tested for practically everything) that I wasn't tested for was Magnesium. Following the results of these tests, I went back to see my doc - she examined me quite thoroughly with the usual strength test and then quite simply said that she needed to consult with the 'experts' - she's very honest my doctor and if she doesn't really know what is going on she will always say! Then as predicted (by myself), today I received a letter from my doctors with a referral to a neurologist - earliest appt - 7th December......and now begins the wait. A few other things that might be relevant to my story - I am a healthcare worker having just qualified as a paramedic following four years of training. When my GP asked me if I was under any stress I told her that actually all the stress had just come to fruition so no, actually I am the least stressed or busy I have been in four years! A friend of mine believes that all this twitching is a culmination of the past four years!! During this past four years, apart from the stress of completing my foundation degree, I have had a house to run with two kids, one of whom has a severe speech and language disorder, I have moved 3 - yes THREE times, my husband and I have ended up in 'Relate' due to reasons that I rather not discuss, my mum ended up in a hospital in Fuerteventura having heart surgery and my dad has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer (plus of course my own breast cancer scare). During all these stressful times I have carried on my studies, focused and determined to get to the end - which I am now at having just started my full time permanent position as a Paramedic.So that's my story. I would just like to add that I am thrilled to have found this forum. It is reading the posts here that get me through the particularly bad days of which there have been quite a few.....Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story, any comments or advice, especially in regards to what I should expect from my neuro appointment, would be so gratefully received. I'll say goodbye for now, no doubt checking in after the 'dreaded' appointment in December.With thanks and regardsM x
Anyhow many thanks for your kind words of support. Will keep you posted.M xx
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I go through so many ups and downs. As I am a Paramedic I found myself face to face with a MND sufferer the other day. He had PLS - primary lateral sclerosis which isn't 'the killer' as his wife so sweetly put it - but all the same..... His life was such a struggle and I found myself asking his wife about a hundred and one questions about how long he'd had the disease, what were his symptoms, what else had happened in his life, what was his health like beforehand, how quickly had it progressed.......gosh the poor lady!! she was so lovely though as was he but it was a chilling experience. Anyway, I will no doubt give you an update after the appt. tomorrow - I just hope I get some answers, however I fear all I will get will be referrals for more tests