Hello all.
Back again, but really scared at the moment.
Over the last couple of days I noticed dents on both arms where my muscles are like stretch marks, I googled this and noticed immediately ALS / Muscle Wasting / Motor Neurons Disease etc coming up, so I totally freaked out.
I phoned the Out of Hours Dr who said over the phone, it wasn't a red flag symptom and nothing that she was concerned about to even look at, and she said she was reluctant to tell me what those symptoms would be (as I said I had Health Anxiety) but she said, it wasn't of concern to her.
I relaxed a little, but then went to A&E that day, I told her about all my symptoms (which she knew as I'd been in 13 times previous!), and she said, there were no problems with my muscles (she couldn't even see the marks) and that I wouldnt be having random twitches, and all these other things coming and going if it was a serious muscle disease.
I relaxed a little, then spoke to yet another out of hours Dr who said he was 99.9% sure that I didn't have any kind of muscle disease just from speaking to me.
I then went to A&E the next day and saw two Doctors (joint session) and told them everything and they examined the marks on the arms and said they looked like stretchmarks, and had I lost weight, and I said no, not really, that's why I'm worried about muscle wasting.
They said it would be very rare and the fact that all my blood tests were normal, I walked to the hospital fine, I can still do normal things, etc, all pointed against anything serious going on in my body. They said I should get psychiatric help, which they arranged for me, as I pretty much broke down in the Drs office.
I've also been getting loads of weird marks on my arms, like lines when I lean against something, which will stay for quite a while then go. The Dr said this is most probably benign, but I don't know why I'm noticing it all of a sudden everyday!
I then went finally to A&E last night at a different hospital with chest pain, and muscle stiffness.
They took blood samples which were all normal, they did a neurological exam which was all normal, and they did an ECG which was normal.
I said I was convinced I had muscle disease or something else terminal, and he smiled at me and asked why I thought that. I said about the marks on my arms, and the muscle stiffness, and he said it would be very unlikely, and all my muscles look fine, but he said I can see my GP to rule it out, but with no family history, no neurological signs, it probably wasn't anything.
He said the marks on my arms were just creases by the muscles, but i'm not convinced. He also said if I'm not eating and drinking properly marks on the skin will show up easier.
He also said something about a certain blood level which may raise suspicion of muscle problems was normal, as was my liver and everything else.
I realise this is a really waffly post, but despite everyone saying the unlikelihood of my having ALS / MND I'm totally convinced I have it.
Reasons I think I have it:
Muscle pain
Occasional pain in back of legs
Dents on both arms
Being very thin
Twitching (which I've had for some time)
Weird lines and marks on arms
Reasons I don't think I have it:
It's very rare
It's very rare in people under 40/50
My neurological exam was normal
All muscles look the same size
The stiffness is all over, not just in one join
The twitching jumps around, and hasn't got worse in one place
I can still run, jump, walk, wave my arms around normally
4 people have told me how unlikely it is.
I don't know what to think really.
Also, a quick question:
What defines muscle weakness? I can still do everything as normal, just my arms and legs seem to ache, or be more tender.
I don't know if all the tension and stress and not eating properly is causing this, or if its my muscles failing.
Would appreciate any thoughts, sorry to go on
Chris xx
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Originally Posted by Gazman
