Need some help... Scarred this may be a fatal disease of some sort.

[jdmbarista]

So this might be a long one.

I'm a 24 year old male who takes good care of myself.  I don't smoke, or do drugs and I have a good workout regimen. Over a year ago i woke up one morning and had a case of extreme dizziness. I went to pick something up off the floor and when I came back up, the whole room started to spin.  Ever since then I haven't been feeling my best.  I haven't experienced dizziness since then which I'm sure is good. However, a series of strange symptoms have been plaguing me.  One of them is in my head.  Recently it came back after a while of not feeling but the sensation feels like if someone is pushing down on the upper left or right side of your skull. It does not hurt, it's just uncomfortable. That sensation moves around different parts of my head from time to time. I had an MRI for this, but when the results came back it stated that i had a sinus infection on the left sinus.  

Another symptom I've been having is the feeling that I have a weak throat. I eat food fine and swallow without difficulty. It's an uncomfortable feeling. My physician checked if I had a hyperactive thyroid but the results were negative. I don't always have this feeling but sometimes it will go away and then return all of a sudden. However, i remember a few days after I felt dizzy that it made me feel nauseous. It wasn't really a nauseous feeling but it was something along that line. Sounds weird but I really can't describe it.

And now, a few months ago i started noticing certain aches around my body.  They weren't aches in my joints but i would feel them in strange parts of my body. For example, in between my fingers, at the very tips of my fingers, on my tricep area, around my legs, chest, shoulders, and sometimes my abdominal section.

A third symptom i've been experiencing is muscle twitching. They aren't large muscle twitches to the point where my legs hands or any other part of my body would move a lot but they are very tiny and i'll feel them all over my body, even in my head. I thought it might be a lack of calcium so I started to take calcium vitamins and multivitamins and eat more bananas but i still feel them.  

I recently went to my physician a few weeks ago for the aches in my arms. I got a blood test and was notified that everything was fine. Is this just a basic blood test that wont detect any disease i may have or is it one that I can rely on to tell me if I actually do have something? Can someone please help me figure out what i may have? I'm thinking of going to see a neurologist on his thoughts about all this.  I get scarred and stressed out sometimes because I type in my symptoms in a search engine and I'll get a list of diseases that I may have, from Fibromyalgia to Multiple Sclerosis to ALS. It turns me into a bit of a hypochondriac and can't help but think "I may have (insert disease name here)".  Some people have told me the muscle twitching is due to stress/anxiety, same with the body aches in certain parts of my body and i hope this is true because i do live a stressful life but yet I try not to let it affect me so much. But if there is any doctor viewing this please just let me know what i should do. Thanks in advance.

[ggreg]

I'm not a doctor, but I have a few thoughts on this.  First, if you have an ongoing sinus infection, which was found on the scan, that can cause some of your head and throat symptoms.  So, you need to get looked at by an ear nose throat ENT guy and get that under control and regularly monitored.  

Second, as you know, if you have a vitamin or mineral deficiency, particularly with the B vitamins, you can get odd neurological sensations and twitching.  Related to that is you have to get enough protein every day, or it can make you feel weak.  I might add that you said you work out, and if you are not staying well hydrated, you can get dizzy.  But keep in mind if you drink a bunch of water, it might lower your electrolyte levels, so I think that's what Gatorade is for.  Also, lifting weights without resting a day in between, that can cause your muscles to twitch and the aches you report.  I mean, unless you're trying to lose weight or are in competition, you should only do weights three times a week!  Add aerobics in between, it'll help release tension.

Next has to do with your heart.  If your heart is not working right, or let's say you have anemia, or high cholesterol or high blood pressure, or not enough oxygenation in your blood, you'll get some of your symptoms.  So, ask your doc to do a more involved blood test, to include anemia and other stuff I said, and ask him to really take a good listen at your heart and doublecheck oxygenation levels in your blood.  

Also, I hope you eat plenty of food and really fill up.  You can eat lots of food without gaining weight, and you need to eat from ALL the food groups, which to me are protein, carbs like whole grains, milk products and eggs, fresh fruit for snacks, all colors of vegies, plus some mostly vegetable fat is okay.  Usually eggs three times a week is sufficient, by the way.  

If you drink alcohol, since you left it off your list, it will drain your body of everything, your brains and money included, plus it has long-term effects on health; so pay attention to that as closely as you do your workouts and eating habits.  If it's actually a problem situation, switch to one glass of red wine with dinner, and on the weekends, stay home and watch a good movie; otherwise you'll have to quit.  Alcohol can cause ALL of your symptoms and it only gets worse.

By the way, as for having MS or ALS, while it may sound like you have those from reading symptoms, until you see what those people look like and read their amazing histories, you cannot understand that each symptom listed has to be multiplied by ten, to get a real picture of it.  I mean, a "rash" can be anything from redness, all the way to a gigantic corrosive-looking contagious skin disease all over the torso.  Also, some oncology docs will say they can tell a person who has cancer just by seeing them in the hallway.  It's that way with general docs and specialists, they usually know pretty quick if you're way out of the "normal" range of health issues.

Hope this helps, let us know if they figure you out!

[jdmbarista]

Thanks for replying. I find some comfort in your knowledge about everything. Just to respond to a few things that you mentioned. I do drink alcohol but not daily, as of now the last drink i had was probably about a month ago. When I workout I always follow up with a healthy protein shake for recovery, also I'll admit to the fact that I don't drink enough water but have started to.... Still feeling those muscle twitches.

I went back to the doctor for a follow up after going in for another visit on Monday. I explained to him about the muscle twitching and the aches that I've been having in my arms/hands.  I explained to him that I had an odd spell on Saturday where my hands had felt strange all day and when I woke up the next morning they felt really tired. They took an EKG and a Xrays of my spine because the he believed that I had a nerve under pressure. Examined one or two of them and said they were going to send them to a radiologist for further inspection. Today he told me that I had tendonitis on my back and to keep taking the 220mg of Naproxen sodium pills he gave me (twice daily).

I told him that lately i haven't been feeling too great and the twitching hasn't let off. Asked for a Neurologist referral and he agreed it wouldn't be a bad idea. I have an appointment for Sept. 20th. He also gave me a referral for an ENT specialist which i still need to set up an appt.

But I'm wondering if this is something to do with anxiety? I had a weird spell yesterday where after walking downhill from school, my legs were really shaky and so were my hands. I didn't feel like i had lost my grip or anything and I felt like that all through work which was really uncomfortable. I hope i get a definitive answer from the neuro. I'll admit... I'm scarred.

[ggreg]

I am glad you will see a neuro, and are considering seeing an ENT, both good choices, and I'm relieved you got an EKG.  Interesting about the tendonitis, hope you study up on it.  Your last paragraph, no, I don't think your weak legs and shaky hands point to anxiety, rather sounds more like dehydration or lack of protein.  I'm glad you're now paying attention to your water, keep it up.  Also, in case you think this, the protein drinks after workout do not replace real protein, like hamburger, eggs, and a juicy steak.  I know, because when I get low on protein, I get the shakes and weak legs (I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian).  Even a subway sandwich with lettuce and tomato and lunchmeats is better than nothing, so have at those, yum, plus they are considered among the healthiest fast food you can eat.

Now, not to throw anxiety out the window, but if you feel anxious, you won't breathe as deeply, your adrenals will wear themselves out, and it kind of wrecks your day.  I had said something about aerobics, becuz regular exercise will keep you in shape, keep your breathing nice and deep, and yet it releases tension and relaxes the body.  The whole world runs down the street, so too should you.  

Dancing is also a fine thing, too, great aerobics, among other activities.  You can learn how to do some popular dances and it will move you up the scale of interest from those you date or are married to.  Beats the heck out of the gym.  Just alternate the gym with outdoor stuff or fun aerobic activities.  Learn how to bake bread, by the way, get you a machine that does it, friends will love you for it.  The B vitamins in it are soooo good for you, good for your nerves and fresh bread gives you a buzz.  So do fresh vegetables, make you a garden, even in pots on the deck work fine.  Hope some of all this ramble helps, glad my info gave you some comfort.

[jdmbarista]

Well the weak body feeling was probably cause of the Naproxen. I searched up some possible side effects and noticed that nervousness and muscle weakness were some possible side effects so i stopped taking those yesterday. My body felt like it was shaking internally but i feel better now that my body seems to be getting rid of it.

I've noticed my arms are really weak in the morning and sometimes they feel numb.  I woke up in the middle of the night and both of them felt a bit numb/weak. It's the feeling you get after your legs or arms fall asleep. Ive also noticed they feel a bit warrmer. Can this be something due to poor circulation, and if it is would it have shown up in the EKG? The feeling goes away after a while. Could i have damaged something in my hands? At work i often switch back from using hot and cold water so could this finally be something catching up to me after do long?

[ggreg]

Gosh, the numbness in your arms after sleeping, I suppose it could be cardio, which is how come I said your doc should check your heart real good, which they gave you an EKG, so while there are other exams to check on how your circulation is doing, at least you're not about to go into cardiac arrest.  But then again, the drug you've been taking, Naproxen has all sorts of warnings about heart problems developing from it.  I'm glad you're off it now, in case that was a factor in all this.  Probably your arms were feeling warm because circulation was indeed slowed at rest, and then when you got up and moved around, blood came back in your extremities and thus they felt warmer.  I don't think your arm symptom has anything to do with hot and cold water.

Next time you go in to see your doctor, ask him to check your pulse and blood pressure again, and listen real good to your heart.  You can check your pulse right now, should be around 80 to no more than 100 at rest. You put two fingers between your wrist bone and the inside tendon there, and push down until you feel the beats.  If it's REAL low, like 60 or less, might indicate low blood pressure, which would make you feel kind of dizzy.  There's machines in some pharmacies, not exactly accurate, but you can self-check your actual BP, it's supposed to be about 120/80.  I need to emphasize again that your doctor should also do some new bloodwork and check for anemia, also vitamin and electrolyte levels, protein too, and maybe doublechk your hormone glands like the thyroid.

I hope you will indeed see the ENT guy, to check up on your sinuses, they can get blocked and you won't necessarily know it, but it can affect your breathing when you sleep, thus make your arms maybe fall alseep, and an infection can also make you feel wore out.

I hope you are eating really good and drinking enough water and adding aerobic activity into your workout program.  But that tendonitis in your back is real interesting, glad you'll be seeing the neuro on that issue.  I wish I knew more about what exactly is going on, but I'm not sure.  I'm just throwing out everything I can think of that might be doing this to you.  I'm sort of thinking you may need to take a few days off from work and just rest, but try to get in to see the ENT before you do that, in case your breathing is goofed up from an infection in there again.