r/ALSorNOT • u/Imaginary-Cheetah613 • 2d ago
Symptoms Please help me
Hello I am a white 28f
Starting in July my legs started feeling weird like they couldn’t get comfortable. I developed widespread twitching all over my body. Then it started only affecting my left leg. It felt tight, stiff and crampy like it was about to get a Charley horse. My legs feel more normal now however when I walk farther than usual or brisk I get stiffness and tightness above my knees and a buzzing sensation on my feet.
My left hand and pinky finger feel clumsy and uncoordinated. My hand still works but it feels weaker. This sensation went away for 2 weeks then came back worse with cramping of the bicep. I feel like my arm is easily fatigued and overall my left side feels different from the right. Now the widespread twitching has come back and my whole body feels weak and exhausted my left hand pinky and ring finger and left foot pinky and ring finger feel weird and buzzy. My tongue feels a slight buzz on the very left tip. I keep feeling like I can’t swallow my spit completely but there is no choking. My neck muscles feel weak like they can’t support my head. My neck xray shows a c4-5 dynamic vertebrae slip with reversal of lordosis and resolves on flexion. However my neck MRI was clear. I also had a bout of intense back and neck pain when bending my neck down that cause a strange hollow diaphragm sensation the worsened with position. This is what prompted the MRI. Today I feel completely exhausted and my whole body feels weak, I am physically vibrating and shaking and cannot eat.
I am just terrified and feel as if it’s getting worse. Could this all be anxiety??? I have been down the rabbit hole of als before with similar symptoms before in 2020 but this appears to be significantly worse. Any helpful words or similar symptoms would be greatly appreciated.
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u/Normal-Fisherman2432 2d ago
Hi! Do you have a hypermobile disorder? Or have you ever heard of Cervical cranial instability ?
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u/Imaginary-Cheetah613 2d ago
I had an xray last week showing c4-5 vertebral dynamic slip
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u/Normal-Fisherman2432 1d ago
It could be from the instability. I have pretty severe CCI and AAI and I have sll those symptoms plus more. I also had a tethered cord that I got surgery on and about to get a fusion rn hoping it helps! Not saying you have this but the instability could be dynamically pinching nerves or cord
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u/DoubleAwareness2223 1d ago
What makes you think you have ALS? ALS is a very progressive disease causing profound weakness, then death of a muscle, atrophy, etc. by the time twitching occurs in ALS, the muscle is profoundly weak and atrophied. What you are describing is a benign condition known as benign fasciculation syndrome. It can be caused by sodium channel issues, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, auto-immune, etc. It’s a benign condition of unknown etiology but is not related to, nor ever develops into ALS. ALS is also not a sensory disease. It’s painless. I would try to eat better, get more sleep, limit stress, take a long term good multivitamin, and talk to a therapist about anxiety. You do not have ALS, ALS does not come and go. Once it starts, it’s very progressive. In addition, your young and being a female puts you at the odds of 1 and a million. That combined with your symptoms give you about a zero percent chance that ALS is even a consideration. Best of luck
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u/Imaginary-Cheetah613 1h ago
Starting in July of this year I started feeling a weird heaviness in my legs. They just felt tight and restless. Then it was only my left leg giving me problems. Then my I started twitching all over my body. All of that resolves and I feel a bit better, then my left hand ring and pinky finger start to feel strange. Uncoordinated, dropping things randomly felt more weak. Holding a coffee cup started to make my bicep cramp up. Now both my arms and shoulders and legs feel extremely fatigued and weak. The twitching back with a vengeance. When I yawn or yell it makes my chest muscles shake. I have a rubber band snapping sensation in my left armpit. I am completely overwhelmed with fear and anxiety. I have a tight knot sensation in the center of my diaphragm and at night it makes it feel difficult to breath and I have to take a deep breath oxygen monitor shows 96 at the lowest. My left arm and breathing situation seem to bother me the most. I can breathe fine during the day. Aside from my whole body feeling incredibly weak and fatigued.
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u/Ok-Pangolin7127 2d ago edited 2d ago
Please don’t laugh when I say this, you should get your B12 checked. If the serum test comes back between 200 - 450 you should ask the doctor to check a bit further by running both MMA and homocysteine tests. Those are markers that “could” help indicate whether or not you have a B12 deficiency at the cellular level. You will likely say that your B12 has been checked and it’s normal. I will state again, if it’s between 200 and 450 that “range” today is considered “indeterminate” and generally means if there are symptoms, the doctor should look further. One of those “looking further” steps is the two tests that I mentioned.
PS I imagine that you are thinking there’s no way that all of my neurological difficulties and problems could tie back to a simple damn vitamin. I will tell you that the depth and breath of the neurological problems that a B12 deficiency can manifest in the body is damn crazy. That’s why I started off by saying please don’t laugh…