Muscle weakness

[Thingirl]

Hello everyone,

I am so sorry to ask for some of your time. I am a 36 year old but my health has declined greatly in the last 8 months. A lot of simple things have been ruled out by my GP and after sleepless night and oh not so helpful googling - MSA looks like the one that fits everything that is happening with me, together with my symptoms and timeline.

Could I ask if it is common to experience muscle weakness, muscle tiring easily, muscle wasting and extreme fatigue with the condition? That, plus laxity in all of my body is my main concern but I feel so unwell it’s becoming near impossible to care for my young baby.

Thank you for your time,

And my thoughts are with everyone affected by MSA

[LadyLins]

I would recommend asking your Gp to refer you for tests as your sypmtoms could be related to something else other than MSA which would be a start. It must be very concerning and worrying for you but whereas google is a wonderful informative tool it is also very scary so seek medical advice from a consultant as fingerscrossed it could be related to fatigue surrounding something entirely different

[Yanno in reply to LadyLins]

I know you have spoken to your GP but I would keep pushing there for a solution. LadyLins is very right, Google is a wonderful tool but not to be relied on for a diagnosis of this sort.

At 36 you are exceptionally young to have MSA , I understand it’s very unlikely at this age. Also whilst fatigue is a factor with MSA you don’t report any of the other classic symptoms one would usually associate with it.

Good luck with your search for a diagnosis but let’s celebrate with you that it’s probably not MSA. Take care, Ian

[chester2107]

you seem very young to have MSA but it is very rare , I agree with ian that it is probably something else , elaine xx

[Amethystina]

I agree with others that it's more than likely due to something else. I'd ask your GP for an opinion starting off with blood tests. The fatigue could be due to something as simple as a Vit B deficiency. Wishing you all the best 🙂

[Thingirl]

thank you all, the vitamin deficiencies, thyroid and anemia has been ruled out but I am having more blood tests done. I also have urinary urgency and frequency, fasciculation, my muscles shake upon use and I am breathless because my chest muscles are weak (x ray clean). Hence, worried about MND. and with urinary urgency it made me think of MSA but of course it could be two issues going on.

Thank you all for reassurance and encouragement, I will be pushing for answers as feeling extremely unwell but it is good to be able to chat to someone about this so I appreciate your time and the replies, so kind of you:

[Morganthreewheeler in reply to Thingirl]

MSA comes with a multitude of symptoms including muscle fatigue and weakness. The most common symptoms are dizziness; slurred speech; impaired writing; high blood pressure when lying down and low blood pressure when standing; impaired dexterity; shouting in your sleep etc

You seem to have only one or two symptoms of MSA so a brain scan where they can see signs of “hot cross buns” would be a better way of getting a diagnosis of MSA.

My wife got MSA aged 68 and I have met people with it aged 50 so you seem very young to have it

Can I suggest you also contact the MSA Trust for more advice

Best of luck

[GreenJo]

So sorry you're having such problems. Agree with others - need to let doctors run tests. Know couple people who have had some similar symptoms with undiagnosed Lyme disease. Hope you get answers soon

[ReverendBadger]

Multiple symptoms in different functions of the body could be suggestive of a neurological problem but, as my consultant said, there are over 100 different neuro conditions and the vast majority only have a clinical diagnosis i.e. no blood test or other biomarker to give a definitive answer. Commonly the experience of the vast majority of those of us on here with MSA is that we consume dozens of hours of experts time before we get anywhere near MSA even being mentioned. The chances of your Google symptom match being acccurate are perhaps rather slim and if you approach the problem from a different angle then chemical/metal poisoning could be equally convincing for Dr.Google

I suggest you badger your GP for a consultation with a neurologist and ask them about MRI and CT head scans. Good Luck with it.