ALS? Parkinsons? MS?

[jordan080303]

My girlfriend has been having some problems lately and I figured I bring it up on here so I can stop worrying so much for now. She has epilepsy, and she has been medicated for that for years with no problems. About 2 months ago she noticed that here middle 3 fingers were twiching a little bit, up and down and side to side. We thought that this had went away, but about a month later we had noticed that it is still doing it. It's pretty constant, and it shows whenever she extends her arms out. The middle finger is the most prominant. This has been mostly only on her left hand. On top of this, her right hand has been experiencing a lot of weakness and some pain. There is a clearly some weakness there when compared with the other hand. Some other symptoms are headaches that have been going on for a year of so, and of course her epilepsy.

She went to her general doctor who scheduled a spinal/brain MRI for next week. I am just wondering, do these symptoms sound like ALS? Or something else?

[jordan080303]

Here's the way she describes the fasciculation:

"Even when I am using my hands or contracting my fingers I can still feel the jittering in my bones. It's like my fingers are constantly moving but I don't want them too."

I just wanted to give you a sense of how it feels to her.

[jordan080303]

Thanks for the reply! It's good to hear that it may not be a major disease of any kind [that you think]. Obviously the MRI/neurological visit are key at this point.

New update: She noticed yesterday that her thumb on her right hand is also moving now. It's really hard to descrive this moving." The fingers are constantly twitching left and right when the arms are extended. There is only weakness in the right hand at this point. It's mot major, just more present at night that anything.

Thanks again.

[ggreg]

Sorry no one has jumped in and answered your post, lots of people visit this site daily, and not every post gets answered, as this is all volunteer, and some folks don't know about all the neurology things people can get, and even then, responses can be slow because of volume of inquiries.  

The MRI of the spine next week might show something amiss in her cervical spine, which those nerves reach down into the arms and fingers.  You can get the symptoms she has if a nerve is pinched for some reason in that part of the spine, so once you get the report from the MRI, you can go from there.  If that is indeed the problem, usually physical therapy and medication are the treatments.  In the meantime, you can give her a firm but gentle massage of her shoulders and neck, keep it up for about a week, see if that helps her symptoms.  

So far what you are describing does not sound like a major neuromuscular disease of any kind, but that's what the tests and neuro visit are for, to rule out anything serious.  

[jordan080303]

Hello?

[jordan080303]

Anyone?

[jordan080303]

We just made an appointment for the neurologist for June 11th as well.

[jordan080303]

She also has some anxiety, which has been present longer than the other symptoms (years), as well as some slight tingling in her hands every once in a while.