Twitching and aching muscles question

[Guest]

Dear all,

I am a 25 year old male with some symptoms that have kept me worried over the last few months. The situation I have been dealing with in chronological order is the following:

1) Noticed an enlarged lymph node on my clavicle in December (painless and still enlarged at the same size today). Kept an eye on it but was worried sick it was cancer,especially after noticing enlarged groin nodes as well.

2) Had a couple of episodes of night sweats

3) Feeling of fatigue, lack of appetite for a couple of weeks, followed by a couple of weeks of being fine

4) Pain under right ribcage, slightly elevated temperature..feeling of fatigue and loss of energy for another couple of weeks

Had blood tests and thyroid tests, all fine - drs sent me home and said there is nothing wrong with me

5) Sleeping problems..difficulty sleeping for a couple of weeks. Difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep. This has since improved

6) For the last month I have been feeling fine, normal appetite, normal energy, still some trouble sleeping but not as bad.

7) My main concern at the moment is that I have been having muscle twitching for the last month. Started at my right arm triceps has since spread all over (calfs, forearm, back of thighs, above knees, biceps - weirdly enough no longer at triceps). Most noticeable when resting.

8) Muscle aching especially on the arm that started the twitching. No muscle weakness as such, only pain and some fatigue. The limbs that I feel are most affected is my right arm and my left leg

9) Buzzing feeling on left foot when sitting/lying down

10) When in bed at night before falling asleep I can feel my legs spasm and an electric type feeling all over my body. Occurs a few times before finally stopping and I can then fall asleep

Blood tests, thyroid tests fine. Went to the dr a couple of weeks ago regarding my twitches, he had me push against his arm and used a reflex hammer on my two arms and said I was fine and nothing else was needed, probably just anxiety.

Im worried I might have a neurological condition such as ALS or MS but am too embarassed to go to the drs again (been 4-5 times already in the last 3-4 months)

Has anyone got any ideas (sorry for the long post!)

 

[Guest]

What did your doctor say about your enlarged lymph nodes? ... Night sweats can be caused by a number of reasons, including sleep apnea and hormonal imbalances.

If I were you, I'd ask for a more complete work-up looking for endocrine disorders as well as possible autoimmune inflammatory causes. If you've not been tested for Lyme disease, that, too should be checked. What you describe does not sound like ALS (I'm not a doctor, of course). But, it really doesn't, and on top of your symptoms not fitting, your age is way out of the spectrum for someone who has a MND.

Try not to get discouraged, it is typical to take quite a while to find out what is causing many conditions. However, most illnesses nowadays are very treatable, so that's as good a reason as any to find what is causing your symptoms. Good luck to you.

 

[Guest]

Dear Rose,

Thanks for your reply. I had blood tests and nothing out of the ordinary was found. Also had my thyroid checked which seems fine. I have not had any hormonal tests.

As I was initially concerned about my lymph nodes i asked for a number of tests and all came clean, thats why i'm worried its something that might be neurological.

Thank you for your helpful comments and God bless..

 

[Guest]

Dear Mike,
Sorry your health is causing you this stress and worry. Nothing I've read would indicate the lymph nodes being enlarged would have anything to do with ALS. I'm not a doctor...just a layperson with just enough medical knowledge to make myself nuts...But, my understanding is the lymph nodes would point more to some type of viral or bacterial infection or auto immune disorder.

If the lymph nodes don't go back down, you should get a follow-up appt.
Peace.

 

[Guest]

Hello Mike,

I wanted to let you know that I've experienced similar symptoms over the past 7 1/2 months. It started following a bad GI virus and quickly progressed to....widespread twitches, muscle aches, perceived weakness/muscle fatigue, vibration feelings (especially when laying down to sleep), and so so so much more! I have been thoroughly tested for neuro conditions (5 MRI's, 3 EMG's, evoked potentials, and so much more) and had loads of bloodwork. I have been followed by a neuro and had several second and third opinions (to include the Mayo clinic) and all have concluded that this is not a neurological disease, but instead a condition called Post-Viral Syndrome (AKA Post-Viral Fatigue or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I, too, had enlarged cervical lymph nodes for several months. I'm only sharing b/c I did not think my diagnosis of Post Viral Fatigue made any sense (in the beginning...since I wasn't tired, but instead had this odd onset of acute and progressive neuro symptoms). The doctors have assured me that this is a real and common condition that mimics neuro conditions. I'm no doctor either....but perhaps this is something that you are going through. Something as simple as the common cold can trigger PVF.

Feel free to ask any questions....I've learned a lot about this over the past 7 months. Oh ya....I should note...my condition continued to get worse during the first month, stabilized at "bad" for 3 months, and has progressively gotten better since the end of January.....so much so that I can now run for around 60 minutes a day. I'm not symptom free by any means (right foot buzzes frequently), have random twitches (not that frequent anymore), and other symptoms....but nothing as bad as it was 5 months ago.

 

[Guest]

Hi, Mike,

I have to agree that what you probably have is post- viral syndrome. I had that 20 years ago after a bout of pneumonia. Twitches all over, unable to get up out of a chair without pulling myself up with my arms, extreme fatigue. Have known a few others with the same symptoms after a viral infection - and in light of the swollen lymph nodes, that would be a good guess.

ND

 

[Guest]

Everyone, thank you for your replies

Edspec: Thanks for the information, never knew about post-viral syndrome but it seems to make more sence than everything else. Do you have any suggestions on what might help (vitamins, supplements etc?) or does this just slowly improve?

 

[Guest]

You should go back to the doctor and ask about the post-viral syndrome. They will then be able to give you some strategies to help decrease your symptoms and regain strength & energy.

Good luck

 

[Guest]

Ok Mike...I reread your post and can only say that ALL of your symptoms sound like me to a T (even the onset and progression). Having said that, after getting cleared of neuro diseases by my neuro and receiving the diagnosis of Post Viral, I joined an actual Post-viral Forum in November 2009. I can tell you, there are so many people on there with the EXACT symptoms you speak of (fatigue, difficulty sleeping despite fatigue, aches, pains, widespread twitches, buzzing and other sensory issues, eletric feeling in body (especially at night), pulsations, temperature regulation issues, and so much more. Seriously, the first three months were very bad for me....primarily b/c all of these "weird" symptoms came on so fast w/o really any explanation that I could accept. What I can share is this....there are a lot of theories out there about PVF and possible solutions. In the end, time is really the cure. I know it's hard to literally just sit back and wait....but I'm sitting here almost 8 months into this and telling you with confidence to just know it takes a long time, but you will make gradual progress over the next couple of months. My sleep issues improved by month 2-3. Generally my symptoms overall started to improve around the end of month 3 and it has been all up hill from there. I had a CONSTANT feeling of swollen cervical and submandibular lymph nodes for the first four months. For the past two months that has not been an issue at all. My doc did find (around 6 months into my illness) that I was several allergic to fish and shell fish...so I had been triggering an immune response daily b/c since I got ill, I had been taking loads of fish oil pills and eating fish almost every night for dinner. The onset of new and severe allergies are quite common with Post-viral...so make sure that you get checked out, so that you aren't eating something that is inducing an immune response daily.

Ok...the buzzing foot (mine happens to be my right) drives me CRAZY! How ironic that you have one too....many people with post-viral get the buzzing issues. It's also ironic that you have specific limbs that are more impacted than others....that is exactly the same for me. Anyhow, doc's have been more than thorough with the EMG's.....all clean. It never hurts to at least request an MRI and EMG....I know that's easier said than in some countries. The U.S. is great about running lots of tests and exams....seriously I've had more MRI's and EMG's done in the last 8 months than most people have in a lifetime! Good news, though, the UK knows a TON more about Post-viral and Chronic Fatigue, so I'd definitely talk to your docs about it.

Sorry to talk so much about myself on this post....but was hoping that I could portray to you that I CAN relate and your stuff sounds so much like myself and others that I've met with post-viral. One more thing...post-viral seems to take a natural turn for the better around months 3-5, but it still make take at least a year or longer to get rid of a majority of the symptoms. The Mayo Clinic explained this to me in a way that really made sense....it's like your central nervous system switched on to fight the virus, but never switched off; hence , the overstimulated CNS is causing the muscle fatigue, malaise, twitches, aches/pains, anxiety, inability to sleep, and everything else. The goal is to CALM that CNS....what has worked best for me is good ol' yoga, meditation, and deep breathing exercises. Oh ya, it also helps to stop paying attention to every little symptom and assigning meaning to those symptoms....I literally have had to retrain my brain to ignore symptoms and not attach meaning to them. Yes, this all sounds very weird, but you know what...it works.

Good luck.

 

[Guest]

Just wanted to check back and see if you were able to talk with your doctor about the possibility of post-viral or Chronic Fatigue? As I expressed, the UK seems to know a lot about those conditions and the neurological and immunological involvement in both. Best of luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Guest]

best of luck to you edspec77 i would make sure to keep on it to find out what is really going on.the post viral and chronic fatique you would think they would be able to figure it out ,im praying you get this answered and its nothing to serious that it can be cured