Teen Muscle Weakness, daytime sleepiness

[ajsmom]

Hi, I am the mother of a girl age 17. She is very athletic, high school swimmer and plays other sports as well. She is very strong, works out 2x's a day, most days, smart, plays guitar, piano, sax, has friends. Basically, has been having a great childhood. All the sports etc have been her choice, I've supported but never pressured. Anyway, a few months back AJ started telling me "my muscles don't feel right", "my muscles won't do what I want them to do", "my muscles feel weak" etc. As time went on, she was not performing near her ability and she said she felt tired along with muscle weakness. She said her muscles don't hurt, they are not sore, they feel weak. These are the muscles in her legs and arms. I really didn't think much of it but I had her cut out the club swimming and get more sleep/rest. Things did not improve, they got worse. In the last 2 weeks she has not worked out at all, her friends give her piggy-back rides to class etc. She has come home from school and fallen asleep. When she is resting she has told me "my legs feel like they have lactic acid but I haven't worked out or even been moving". She's also said her arms feel heavy. Last night after she woke up from her nap, she was laying down at the top of the stairs and talking to me, I asked her to come down and she said she was worried about having to go back up the stairs. AJ is very strong and is nothing but muscle in her arms and legs. I've asked her if something is bothering her and she said only that she doesn't know what is wrong and she is missing out on "fun stuff". Her high energy is gone but at times she is still chatty, just not moving around like she use to. Her friends take the notes in class and make copies for her because her arm did not have the energy to write. I would estimate that she is getting more than 12 hours sleep in a 24 hour period. I've watched her sleep and she is out. When she wakes either she doesn't feel rested or within an hour feels fatigued. We have been to the doctor twice, both times they took blood, once urine and the doctor says everything looks great. Please help us, AJSMOM

[retty]

NON EXPERT RESPONSE


i know absolutely nothing about neurology, but i was wondering if she could have something like glandular fever? (if this was not triggered by a bout of illness of the flu or something, but you did not state any "triggering" episode, such as change in medication or anything (ie for example if she had any treatment with antibiotics, hormones, vaccines or antidepressants or whatever) ) some people say glandular fever should resolve itself in a few weeks but i have known people that have been effected by it for about a year or so. I am just throwing it out as an idea until you get an opinion from the doctor.... im sorry to hear your daughter is suffering. also, after i was treated with antibiotics i was always very muscularly weak for some reason and it drove me mad because i was missing out on all the fun too... but that was caused by digestive problems left over from the meds. i hated the fact that no one could tell me what was wrong or said it was in my head or whatever. i have great sympathy for your daughter.

[clinicalguru3]

Has she had aneurological examination?
Does she snore or wake-up often during her sleep?