Anyone have any idea what my issue is

[AmyR440]

I am a 31 yo female. I have three boys, ages 9, 11, and 8 months. I lead a busy life, as both older boys are active in sports, and I work full time. The baby has yet to sleep through the night, so I haven't had a solid night's sleep in 8 months or more.

I have been given several EKG's in the past few months due to heart palpitations. I have had an event monitor, two echos, a stress and a regular, and all of these have came back normal. My muscles ache most of the time, it moves from one place to another, but mainly in my left and right chest muscles, sometimes in my shoulderblades and in my ribcage. I have a stiff neck and a headache most of the time. I have had bloodwork done to check for autoimmune disease. My RF and ANA are both negative, and all of my blood counts are normal. Lately, I have had muscle twitches, which are freaking me out. My upper eyelid twitches quite a bit, usually four or five twitches in a row, at least a couple of times an hour. Every once in a while, I will get twitches in my arms or legs, sometimes in my hand or foot, these are usually just one or two twitches lasting no more than a second. I am worried about ALS because of this. I have no family history of any neurological problems. I have an appt. with a neurologist on Monday. The twitches have just started in the past week. My GP is leaning toward fibromyalgia and anxiety, but I want to rule everything out before we give me this diagnosis. I am not sure muscle twitches are a fibro sx. Should I be overly concerned that this could be ALS?  I am very anxious about this

[Cindee56]

A lot of your symptoms sound like mine and I have fibromyalgia.  The other thing to check is your thyroid.  An underactive thyroid can cause aches and pains, also a low Vitamin D level.  Make sure when they take blood tests, they check your Vit. D.  Not all doctors do this.

For the longest time, I had a feeling I called *the shakes.*  I would also get the muscle twitches, mostly at night.  I went to a neurologist and he ordered some MRI's.  It turns out I have two herniated discs in my neck which could be causing this and also the upper body pain.  I went to PT and it helped some, but I still have problems.

Try not to worry.  I really doubt you have ALS.  

[AmyR440]

Since I posted I have had weakness in my right leg. I can still walk on my heels and toes and hop on the foot. I can still drive, but sometimes it feels uncomfortable like my leg is weak. I know there is a difference between that type of weakness and actual clinical weakness, which is in ALS, but I am still freaking out...I go to see the neurologist today. I have also read that sciatica can cause weakness in the lower limbs, and I have had some lower back pain. I think the back pain is shooting down my legs, which is causing them to ache. This would explain the weekness in the leg, but not all my twitches...I'll keep you updated.

[doctornee medical]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
I would suggest you get the blood levels of the following checked if they have not already been checked: potassium, calcium, sodium, vitamin B complex, or vitamins B1, B3, or B6 and Vitamin D. Generally deficiencies of any of the above can cause muscle twitching and spasms in localized or generalized areas of the body. Get your kidney function, parathyroid gland function and adrenal function tests done because these affect the electrolyte balance in the body. Stress, alcohol, and fatigue all cause similar symptoms.
It is difficult to comment beyond this at this stage.  Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[AmyR440]

Thanks! I went and saw my neurologist today. He did a full physical and a neurological exam, and tells me that everything is normal, I should not worry about ALS, as it is very rare, and even rarer to get it at my age, although he does acknowledge that it happens. However, twitching from ALS happens AFTER the muscles start wasting and getting weak. I have aggravated my sciatic nerve, which is why my legs and back are aching and my right leg feels a little weak and funny. But I passed all of the neurological exercises that he gave me. He did several range of motion exercises as well. He sees no evidence of any muscle wasting AT ALL, anywhere on my body. And since the twitches are everywhere, not just in one area, that is a sign it is not ALS as well, because ALS would not come on that fast! I am so relieved...he gave me some Lexapro for anxiety, because he can tell just by looking at me that I am very anxious and that I do not sleep well at all. Also gave me Alprazolam to take if I start having panic attacks. Thank you for your input. I do tend to have low potassium, so I guess I should go back to eating a banana a day. My mom also gave me some magnesium supplement from the health food store, so I will be taking that as well. I'll keep you posted!