Need help

[Bocu911]

Hello 36 year old male
About a year ago I started having twitching in my right middle finger and after a few months I started having muscle spasms all over my body head to toe really bad in my arms and legs. As time has progressed my muscle freeze in place if I move in a certain postion for a period of time, muscles hurts to touch in my arms legs.  I also having my hands and legs tingle and going numb.  The numbness is usually half of my hand or foot.  I have had bladder problems after I go to the restroom from time to time.  Some nights I can't sleep mybody hurts so much and I have to get up and move around just to get the pain to let up.  I been to a neurologist and a rheumatologist.  I know my total testerone level is low but my out put is normal and my vitamin d level is low. I can't walk more than a hundred yards without having to stop and take a break do to soreness and tiredness.  Nobody seems to be able to give me an answer and just bounce be back and forth between the two. I had an MRI done on my brain and it came back normal.  I had an EMG and the only thing I was told was that it was not normal. I don't know were else to turn to get help.  Getting harder and harder to work and I just want help so I can get back to normal and be a father to my 15 month old.

[Dr Sharma]

Hi there. There are certain causes responsible for muscle twitching like diet deficiency, drug overdose, and side effects of diuretics, corticosteroids, estrogens, exercise, benign twitches, and nervous system conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, muscle dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy and myopathy. Your neurologist needs to look into these conditions one by one. The other possible cause could be multiple sclerosis and is a diagnosis of exclusion. The symptoms of multiple sclerosis are loss of balance, muscle spasms, numbness in any area, problems with walking and coordination, tremors in one or more arms and legs. Bowel and bladder symptoms include frequency of micturition, urine leakage, eye symptoms like double vision uncontrollable rapid eye movements, facial pain, painful muscle spasms, tingling, burning in arms or legs, depression, dizziness, hearing loss, fatigue etc. The treatment is essentially limited to symptomatic therapy so the course of action would not change much whether MS has been diagnosed or not. Apart from clinical neurological examination, MRI shows MS as paler areas of demyelination, two different episodes of demyelination separated by one month in at least two different brain locations. Spinal tap is done and CSF electrophoresis reveals oligoclonal bands suggestive of immune activity, which is suggestive but not diagnostic of MS. Demyelinating neurons, transmit nerve signals slower than non-demyelinated ones and can be detected with EP tests. These are visual evoked potentials, brain stem auditory evoked response, and somatosensory evoked potential. Slower nerve responses in any one of these is not confirmatory of MS but can be used to complement diagnosis along with a neurological examination, medical history and an MRI in addition, a spinal tap. Therefore, it would be prudent to consult your neurologist with these concerns. Take care

[Bocu911]

I am working on getting a copy of the report. The doctor did not tell me much other than it was not normal.  I should have asked more questions, lesson learned.  I have an apt mid next month with the neurologist and I am going to see if they will refer me to the IU School of Medicine.

[Robynn145]

I'm sorry you are having these problems. Did they tell you what was abnormal about your EMG?? If not then I would make it your goal to find out. Usually if an EMG is abnormal then they will send the patient of for more testing. How were your strengths and reflexes when they checked them??

Robynn :)