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jensmith

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Hello,

I am a 28 year old female. For the past month, I've had weakness in my left leg. It started the day after I wore heels all day (I'm usually a flats person), so I brushed it off, but it has not gone away. My left leg feels the kind of weak that you feel after you've had a hard workout, but all the time. Standing up is hard/annoying, but walking isn't as bad. When I do lunges, my left thigh starts burning, with muscle strain, after just a few, while my right is fine. (I'm a righty, so my left side has always been weaker, but never to this extent). I also feel some fasciculations in my thigh, but when I put my hand on it, I can't feel it. It's easier for me to stand with my left leg completely straight, than bent at all--weakness increases then. I have an appt at the end of this month with my GP, so I am doing something about, but I'm quite worried in the meantime. I've been lurking on these boards for weeks!
'
Any advice or comments would be great. Thank you so much.
 
Stop worrying. Since you can point to the start of the problem, high heels, you really know it's not ALS. It's more likely muscle strain--high heels can easily cause trigger points and trigger points don't always go away without treatment. (My wife stopped wearing heels years ago because they were an open invitation to trigger points and a lot of pain in the following days.) The kind of weakness you are experiencing is perceived weakness and does not sound like clinical weakness.
Josefowicz wrote an excellent piece on Differential Diagnosis of Weakness and he goes through scores of possible causes--including toxins, drugs, systemic diseases, systemic infections, entrapment neuropathies, myopathies and on and on. The chances of it being ALS or anything other than high heels is very, very remote. But, yes, see your doctor and discuss it with him. In the meantime, stop worrying... and stop reading this forum.
 
If this feeling in your leg occured after wearing high heels, then it would be natural to think that it was related to that rather than a muscular disease.

If you injured your leg during your high heel session, please let it rest from lunges, workouts etc. Go see a GP if it persists.
 
Thanks for your replies. Yes, I wasn't concerned at first, but considering it's lasted for over a month, I started doing research. Would a general practitioner know how to perform the clinical weakness test, or is that more of a neurologist technique?

Thanks so much!
 
My GP performed a short strength and reflex test, but due to other issues for me he referred me to a neurologist.

It is probably from doctor to doctor, but I have to say, even though I am no doctor, if you can do lunges, that is not clinical weakness.
 
I cannot be as gentle hearted with my opinion. For goodness sakes! A GP is indeed qualified to examine and assess a person for weakness. If the findings are beyond the scope of his/her expertise, you will be referred.

You've had a sore peg for a "month" but you've been lurking on this site for "several" weeks? Why you would even suspect you have a fatal disease is beyond me.
 
I know, I'm sorry to bother you. The reason was because after a week or so of absolutely no improvement and continued weakness, I googled the symptom, and ALS came up in the first page. I know the danger of googling and webmd, but it's hard to avoid the idea once you've seen it. Again, thank you for your reply, and I'm sorry to have bothered you.
 
Muscle strains take 6-8 weeks to clear, and longer if you screwed up your back wearing heels. Go see your GP and stop looking for a zebra when this is just a horse.
 
Jen, I don't think you posted to bother anyone. And if I can help people who are a bit freaked out by this ridiculously scary disease, then I'm happy to do it. Anxiety causes more symptoms than MND could ever generate, so calming anxiety seems pretty worthwhile.
Hopefully those who are bothered will just move on to another thread and another post.
 
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