Could this be early ALS?

[Jessareus]

Hi I’m new here but I’ve been having some odd symptoms for about a month. I’m a 34 your old woman. I haven’t felt like myself for 2 months. In December I was diagnosed with Vertigo which I’ve never had before. In January I took steroids for about a week for inflammation.

Before then tho I had weird tingling sensations in my legs. I usually felt them before I went to bed. That feeling came back after the steroids. A week after the steroids I was laying in bed to go to sleep and I started having wide spread body twitching. In my arm, thighs, legs, bottom of feet. Also my fingers tingled and twitched on their own. Another night I felt a terrible either cramp or sharp pain go across my right foot. Since then the fourth toe on that foot twitches almost all the time. Of course this was concerning cause it feels like out of nowhere. I

went to the doctor and they did a bunch of bloodwork and everything was normal, including electrolytes. During that visit I heard the young male doctor go outside and talk to his attending cause he didn’t have an answer for me. I heard his attending kinda quiz him on diseases that could cause this and I heard ALS and MS.

Obviously that freaked me out and I started googling. Saw a neurologist but he did a super low key exam and didn’t check anything but my legs. He said oh you are a woman it’s not ASL. So he wrote me a prescription for restless leg syndrome. I don’t have clinical weakness but my right arm feels so heavy and tired feeling. I’m terrified this could be the beginning of ALS.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Hello-

Please make sure to read this: Read Before Posting. It explains why having sensory issues points away from MND and towards something else. You state vertigo, tingling, pains, etc, all of which are not part of the spectrum of symptoms that would cause a neuro to think of a disease that affects motor neurons. Unfortunate you overheard the fellow being quizzed, as it placed ALS in your mind, when the attending was actually helping your examining doctor eliminate it from the list.

Take care

 

[Jessareus]

Thank you for being so kind. I’ve been worried sick. I wanted more test done but my doctor felt like since I’ve had twitching in multiple places that it’s not ALS. I’m not a doctor so I need to trust his opinion. My arm is very heavy weak feeling but maybe I’ve exerted myself too much. Again I thank you for your reply.

 

[lgelb]

RLS if you have it can also show up in the arms. I would give the med a chance to work. But if it doesn't, I'd seek a second opinion bc any neuro that connects ALS to gender isn't thinking very hard. Maybe he was acting alpha in front of his trainees, but...

Still, RLS is pretty common so as I say, you could act as if and see how far that takes you. In addition, iron, B vitamins, magnesium and other electrolytes are all worth looking at and counting up in your diet, esp. if you have a high-stress life.

 

[Jessareus]

Thank you. I plan on getting another referral to see a different neurologist. He was an older man and I couldn’t even understand him. My electrolytes have been checked and that’s normal. B12 too. I would like my iron checked it’s always borderline. I’ve been taken the restless leg medication and haven’t seen a difference. I’ve had less body twitching but still when I go to bed my leg or arm will randomly jerk and keep me from sleeping. I do have one more question tho. My right arm still feels really weak. Today at work it even started to cramp and I had pain in my arm. Is this typical to ALS? I’ve heard it’s not a sensory disease but I’ve heard people diagnosed complain of cramping. Again I do know that I need to see another doctor but figured I would ask. I also get weird tightness like sensations in my legs. As if they wanna cramp.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Please make sure to let your doctor know. They are the person in a position to provide you feedback based on exam and health history. They are also the person to discuss your iron levels, etc.

Clinical weakness is the hallmark of ALS- something that can only be properly assessed for by a medical professional. You're still listing sensations- of feeling weakness, pain, tightness. People get cramps for a whole variety of reasons, so asking if it's typical to ALS is not really an appropriate thing to consider. It would be like assuming a brain tumour because you have a headache.

 

[Jessareus]

I went to another neurologist and he did a thorough exam. He doesn’t think I have ALS because I don’t have any clinical weakness and he saw no muscle twitching while checking my body. He said he can offer an EMG if I want one. I said I did. In early March I go. I felt like I needed to so I could get answers either way. Been having more muscle fatigue and cramping in my right arm. Hopefully all goes well. Thanks again for responding.