Bi lateral hand/leg weakness, fasiculations etc

[speechgeek]

I am a 38 year old female..healthy. About a month ago I started having vertigo triggered with eye movements, burning stabbing pain behind my eyes and significant fatigue. vertigo mostly with driving. I always feel better lying down no spinning.I thought maybe a sinus infection. My PCP thought differently due to the fact I had simular symptoms 3 years ago that was ruled virual menengitis. three years ago I had Neck pain, eye pain, dizzy,light senstivity, pain that started in lower back and slowly radiated up to my neck. .I had a normal MRI 3 years ago, repeat in 6 months due to cyst thought to be congential that was normal.

So now my  PCP referred me back  to the neurologist and he did do basic blood work first ( thyroid tec) all normal.  2 weeks later I had weakness in both hands and legs. Difficulty with precision, burning in my muscles, muscle twitches, fasculation, my neck muscles felt fatigued. I have had   2 MRI's Brain and c-spine all normal tons of blood work lupus, lyme, sojrens, mysthenia gravis, B12 sed rate, SSr and SSB etc  all normal. I have been put on amytriptyline at night for the muscles twitches and 1/4 xanax every 4 hours for the anxiety ( that's all I can tolerate). I have difficulty with fine motor tasks such as typing, missing keys, problems with balance,standing for long periods dizziness without the eye stabbing pain, nubness on the right side of face and neck, left side of my nose that comes and goes. My hand  arm muscles  fatigues holding a bowl.  Joint pain that comes and goes from one had to the other. Sometimes i feel like when i am talking my words get stuck.. a little dysfluent (FYI I am a speech therapist) I feel fatigue in my jaw at times when talking and sometimes when chewing.Of course my biggest fear is  ALS and MS. I have not had an EMG. I will say that with rest I feel better. Always better in the morning. Pleae help.

[chochmeh]

You should have your thyroid levels checked again...A low thyroid can cause all of your above problems including the twitching...
If your levels are fine then, i would ask for an EMG/NCV the gold standard for diagnosing ALS/NMD...also a spinal tap if you have had viral meningitis...i have found with doctors you need to be your own advocate in wellness.
c

[gtbradford]

A related discussion, To vanann was started.

[vanann]

I have gone back and read all your symptoms and i can relate too all someone please chat with me because all my friends and family and doctors say that there is nothing wrong with me. I know i am not making this up. I have too many things in life I want to accomplish in life. Also if I mispell words please fogive i do not have the energy to correct them.  Thank you. PLEASE SOMEONE CHAT WITH ME>

[vanann]

Please respond to me. I have the same symptoms and some others. I do not know what is wrong with me. Doctors don,t either. I have had all the tests you have had and tons more. All normal. I have got to find out what is wrong. This is ruining my life!!!!!!! My daughters life with me!!!!!!! Somebody please help me.  I get so weak like i am gonna pass out. pain in neck, glands swollen for months. antibiotics dont help but a little if at all. weird side effects from medications. never had before. stiffness, spasms. burning, tingleing, joint pain, feel better after rest, but as time goes on rest helps less and less. dizzy mild headache sometimes like a cramp. I am scared I am gonna die. Never had anything like this before. always been pretty healthy. 33 years old. mouth doesnt want to work sometimes. have to think about my movements and what i am going to say. have memmory losss sometimes. fingers dont want to work sometimes. slight jerking. feel shaky and muscles get very fatigued as if I have been working them out and I havent, just over brushing my hair or something. hair is falling out thinning dramatically. The hair on my leggs does not hardly grow anymore, dont have to shave but once a month if that. use to have to everyday.  feel heavy like gravity is pulling me down. feel like i am gonna b sick to my somach but then goes away. shortness of breath feels like it is controlled by my muscles. All of this of which comes and goes. sometimes it feels it like it cycles, heart seems to have started to join in with all the muscle stuff too now. skips and carries on now too. sometimes i feel as though i am just going to passs out and go away from here. the loss of energy is unbelievable and my body feels as though it does not have the strength to fight whatever this is anymore as if i will just fall asleep and never wake up. like when you go under anastishia. you just go out and u r gone. Pleaser someone tell me something. I keep praying and believing that God is gonna pull me through this. My armpits itch and my breast sometimes feel as though they have been filled with milk too long and need to b expressed. with out the swelling and milk. I am not pregnant for sure. have no men in my life for that to happen. Please help me!!!!!!!

[Sonaya]

I was reading your post and I am also 38yrs old female and going through EXACTLY the same thing as you right now.  Its been 5mths, 2mri's, & a lumbar puncture and tons of blood also.  Im still waiting on the spinal MRI results but I have not had an EMG/NCV do not even know what that is.  All I know is that I have had to start taking notes/diary and researching and basically asking my doctors to check this and that.    I agree with chochmeh that you have to start advocating its your body and its happening to you.
For me It use to happen once or twice every couple of weeks these "attacks" or whatever they are and now its nearly every single day.  I too feel better in the morning.  Just out of curiosity were your MRI's done with or without contrast?  I have had that many differing opinions from doctors and specialists alike because my MRI's were done without a contrast and I think it should have been with contrast.  Mind You I dont particularly want to go through them again because I am claustrophobic but I will always wonder now should it have been done with contrast.
One thing that has been fairly consistent however is with diagnosing MS.  IF the brain MRI/spine MRI has come back with nothing then my specialists says that usually means you don't have it.  Love to hear other opinions about that one.  But just through reading some of the posts here and talking to different doctors they all seem fairly clear that MS does show up on MRI if you have it.
Don't give up, if you have a good neurologist keep searching for answers to find out whats happening to you.
Good luck

[gismatrix]

Thiamine deficiency is a possibility.  I have it and it causes alot of the symptoms that you mention (especially bilateral).  I do not know the root cause yet, but it is a start.

[sunglasses]

This is the first time I have replied to a site and reading your symptoms and having very similar problems. I was in hospital 2nd Nov and sent home with ? encephalitis. Im frustrated that my emergency appointment is not till Feb and have just been poping painkillers and unable to go back to work. Im sleeping 16 hours a day and have to wear sunglasses all the time.
Hope u will chat with me

[Aggie1]

I have had some puzzling symptoms as well that I wanted to see if I could get some answers to.  I am 46 take synthroid for hypothyroidism (strong family history) and developed Raynaud's syndrome about four years ago.  I have had transient burning pain in my muscles (arms and legs) but no numbness in hands or feet. On a bad day I do not feel as coordinated as usual either and fatigue more than usual.  I feel better if I take a hot bath or do rest but when I do rest I feel pulsing in my muscles and something that feels like spasms or cramping.  I will also jerk myself awake after I have fallen asleep at night.  Mornings are better and then I get progressively worse by midday.  During times when I feel more normal, I cannot sit still for long periods of time and will feel the urge to shake my legs if lying to watch a movie for a while.  I have had this acute phase occur four times in my life over the last 15 years and it will just go away usually after a few weeks.  This time it has lasted a month with not much let up. My dad has restless leg syndrome (the periodic leg movements at night) and Raynaud's and there is also a history of anxiety/depression in the family.  I had a normal MRI five years ago of the brain and my primary just performed a reflex test and checked muscle strength, all normal.  He put me on a Mirapex for RLS and I have had no relief after three days.  Am I loosing my mind?  Thanks for any comments you may have.

[chochmeh]

Your symptoms sound a lot like my symptoms.  
Why haven't the doctors performed an EMG/NCV on you yet??? Do they think it might be MS?
ALS is ususally diagnosed when all other possible diagnosis have been ruled out so it is a tedious and very difficult waiting game. In ALS the symptoms (weakness) doesn't come and go...it comes and gradually gets worse...Usually muscle atrophy and weakness are very apparent by the time diagnosis is made.  Some suffering with ALS find the symptoms of twitching and spasms the first notice that something is wrong.  Others find themselves clumsy and trip a lot.
I am three months into this waiting game...i do have muscle twitches (body wide) but, mostly in my legs, muscle spasms, fatigue, and some muscle wasting...