Anyway, here is my story, I am not sure I belong in this exact forum as I have so many problems but the thing that scared me to death was fasciculation so... I am writing after I read for 3 days all possible and impossible topics on various forums.
I have many health problems for 7 years. Up to last week I've had urinary tract infections without infection, stomach problems without anyvisible problem on gastroscopy, big colon problems from constipation, diahhroea, mucus, burning for months etc... Nothing was found on colonoscopy. I have mental problems in terms of health anxiety. I do have health anxiety and I fear cancer the most. Well, not any more, but let's go slowly... I have (had) cancerophobia, I thought I had colon cancer, stomach cancer, bladder cancer...
I do have another problem and this seems is not in my head, but real. Unfortunately. I have some wierd join pain for years. Better to say "movement pains". First my shoulder hurt me for 3 years! Nothing was found. Then my ring finger was stiff and I couldn't move it very well (but no inflamation was seen), and that subsided in a year. I have left hand middle finger that I can not bend so that the cracking sound would be heard, it hurts so much. There doesn't seem to be any inflamation but the joint that connects it to hand is very stiff... 6 months ago my leg started to hurt. I have trouble bending, my knee hurst on the outer side up to my back muscle (I don't know it's name). So it is half muscle pain and half knee pain, but you guesed it: no swelling.
Ok, so I went to orthopedic to show the leg. He found nothing wrong (see the pattern) and said it was ilogical to hurt when bending not when walking. Send me to x-rays because the problem could be in my spine he told me.I went and they took 14 pictures, 2 of the hip/spine region and the rest of the fingers and wrist. Why is that? Becaused for 4 months my fingers on both hands hurt. More on the left but some days also on right some days right is Ok. Same pain both hands. I wouldn't call it joint pain at all (except for the middle finger that is still and hurt when contracted fully). I can not pintch with thumb and index finger, but the pain is no in joint, it hurst me from index finger to wrist somehow when I try to grab something or press with index finger (like a button).
Anyway, X-rays showed some suspicious enlarged joint membranes in 5 joints of the fingers. But wierd is, none of them except thumb is the joint that hurts. In the hip they found suspicious erosion of the bone that wasn't there 7 years ago when I took first x-ray for something else. Ok, so that explains my right leg problem? No. Because problem hip is the LEFT one. I feel like I am crazy or from space somewhere.
They suspect me of Rheumatoid arthritis

I do have other problem that brought me to this board (thank you for bearing with me, I wanted to share my whole me, not just one piece). Last 3-4 weeks I am having apart from the obvious finger pain in hands "neurological problems". First started the tremor, shiver, I do not know how to call it. My hands up to elbow tremble at night. Not all the time, but this wakes me when happens. After waking up it soon stops. This 2 night I didn't sleep mostly none because I gor so scared but I felt it is I guess in both arms and if I touch hand by other hand I can feel the tremor.It is like tremor, shivering, not very intense, like small electic current in my hand. But it is not twitch, because this tremor happens like 3 times a second, it is really more like some kind of rest tremor (Parkinsons

The hand pain and the tremor didn't scare me yet to death. Reading this you have to think I may have Carpal tunel (on both hands, wierd?) because my thumb, index and middle finger are involved right? Yes, but I do have another symptom. My little finger and ring finger get numb and stiff at night usually and I have problems with this. After much reading this could be another nerve entrapment in elbow. But can I have 2 nerves pinched? And why the tremor in both hands?
Anyway, to come to the scarry part. 3 days ago I didn't wake up because of tremor, but of fasciculation / twitch in my left thumb. The fasciculation made my index finger jump right. This happened all night long with no sleep. Tremor stops at day but this isn't. I was watching the twitch it was very nice seen when the current moved the muscle. It is like fasciculations that are on youtube, exactly like that. Now that was scary. I was afraid of stroke or something so I made my big mistake

I have typed in google "finer twitching". My eyelid of course twitched many times when I am nervous. But in 42 years of my life, finger didn't twitch. I thought I had something bad. And google brought me a million links about ALS.
When I first read about ALS it was not some bried text but fir the practitioners how to handle patients, about feeding and decision dilemmas when to turn them off. Instead of the "What can help" that even rheumatic artritic has some sort of "cures" to prolonge better life, ALS has none. To make things short, I have never EVER read about such a scary disease in my life. RA, cancer and AIDS seemed to me like flue compared to ALS. This seem to have no hope and what a way to die.
From what I told you about me you can figure out what happened to me now

And this is my problem. To not deal with things the proper way. I mean, I could have ALS, but there is no reason yet to picture myself how my son will grow without me, I think it is not a way to go to think I have a 2/100.000 disease. I have some twitches (the finger one is not there now but I don't dare to say it is gone), from the moment I read about ALS I got more thitches and my eyelid twitches since. And my left half of face feels not right, half numb. No, it is not numb, but... strange feeling, like skin would be too tight for my face on the left side. Ok, scared even more, but this is no ALS sign I guess... I panicked and I lifter some weight with left and right hand, I can not see any weakness. Maybe there is, I can not see it. My left hand it is of course harder to open jar than with right, it is not dominant and I have hard time with pintch and opening jars, but not becasue of weakness but because of this wierd pain that goes from my fingers to the wrist

And of couse I know none of you know what is wrong with me (apart from anxiety), I have to go to rheumatologist and nheurologist. But here in my country you have to wait ... few months. And I am literaly dying in my head of fear. I have "face problem" since I read about ALS, that's the truth. I have arm twitches since then, I only had the finger twitch before.
Anyway, this is my story till now. I find some relief in running, I run 4 km a day, my legs are ok apart from the painfull croutching because of my knee. I don't have twitches here at the moment and mostly no pain. I have some back pain, if I am in bed more that 7 hours mychest rib cage hurst me and my pelvis does hurt sometimes. I have bad posture for decades...
I've searched for some answers if any of you have any clue about this:
1. Are twitches in ALS permanent? I mean if I had a twitch and I don't have it for 2 days (maybe tommorow I don't know) is this typical for ALS?
2. Are your hands look equal? My right hand seems... as I told in detail but in one word: thicker in general, thicker palm, more "meat" around thumb... is this worrysome?
3. Anybody have or know what could night tremor mean? It is only at night (till now, never say never...) and I haven't found this info on internet. As I read, if I am correct, tremor is not a ALS sign. And pain in my fingers is not ALS sign? And numbness and tingling in my small finger is not ALS typical sign? This seems to be sensory problems (except for twitching).
I even manyged to scare my dear wife

Thank you for listening, take care
Jerry
PS - If anybody want's to know, I am 42, male, work on the computer (programming) for half my life.