I had to have an EMG because I had the muscle twitches and muscle cramps. I was sure I had ALS. I had a clean EMG and neuro visit and of course I do not have it.
Anyone else here have that fear before their correct lyme dx?
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
clint,
there are MANY on this board who went thru what you are going thru!!
if they don't respond....do a SEARCH found at top. show
als diagnosis medical subject any date leave membership no. blank; hit send
read all posts/replies ...
if none found, hit BACK button and show text vs. subject. hit send good luck.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
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Some people who had been diagnosed with ALS have test positive for lyme and other tick-borne infections and then, with treatment, the "ALS" diminished.
Not all cases of course, but there have many many cases of ALS and MS that were wrongly diagnosed and mysteriously disappeared when the chronic infection was treated.
Infection can be the underlying root cause of many neurological diagnoses.
One doctor was sure that I had MS and said (in his words) that "it would be fun to do a spinal tap and find out" but I decided to opt out of his idea of fun.
This article discusses the relationship between MS and lyme:
CONTROVERSIES IN NEUROBORRELIOSIS by Audrey Stein Goldings, M.D.
Updated October, 2002
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Posted by Dawnee (Member # 15089) on :
Goodness...before I found out about Lyme I looked up my symptoms online (the muscle twitches especially, tremor etc...) and after reading about ALS I was on the couch for nearly 2 weeks bawling and freaking out in general. EMG was only done of one arm (and because I basically forced my old neuro to do it) It came back clean and I was told to see a psychologist Posted by Just Julie (Member # 1119) on :
Yes, me. I developed muscle twitching after having 3 separate psychological upsets within a month's period of time.
I went online (this was May 5, 2000) and of course what came up in my search was ALS and MS. I am a nurse, so these were what I was expecting to find.
I did the doctor merry go round, eventually finding the name of my LLMD on this message board by another long timer whose name was Sarah. She is not on this board right now due to a separate issue with her family, but she was on here not too long ago . . .
If it were not for Sarah, and this message board, I (as well as both my sons, who have lyme also) would not be as well as I am today.
I continue to come to this message board for the information I find on every single symptom that I had, and some that I still have.
One thing to consider is that the typical life expectation of surviving a diagnosis of ALS is 5 years. It's been 8 years for me, and no ALS!
My muscles still twitch. There are lots of us that have this symptom, and continue to have it, no matter what abx we take, or treatments we try.
Not dead yet, Julie Posted by Troup Brazelton (Member # 6297) on :
I have never heard of a test that either eliminated or confirmed ALS as a dx.
I have seen and heard of several cases where ALS was dx and it turned out to be lyme.
If I were you I would do everything I could do to eliminate lyme as a dx and forget ALS as there is no treatment for ALS anyway.
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