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Savage02

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Joined
Jul 27, 2017
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Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
Uni
State
VA
City
Blacksburg
I have been reluctant to post anything here (have been reading for a while) because i felt that it would just fuel my anxiety, but now I feel like it may be beneficial. I realize that I may just be suffering from medical anxiety, however, i do have a few symptoms that i know are not just in my head.

Around January of '17 i started noticing my left leg (knee down) feeling a little "funny" at night. It was mild so i simply ignored it. Around March I started feeling my leg all day. The feeling would kind of shift from knee pain (sometimes) to a slight sunburn/indian burn/ as if I had a sock on behind my knee and down the inside of my leg.

My GP said that it was probably just a pinched nerve (since it was so localized), and to keep an eye on it and that I had nothing to worry about.

I had some bouts of pretty bad back pain between the GP and neurologist (became painful to stand at times, carried a stool around with me for about a week at work), however, the pain was not in correlation with my leg. The leg was a constant feeling, if maybe worsening slightly occasionally. My foot also developed a feeling as if my gait changed. My left foot felt a little clunkier when walking. No tripping, stumbling, toe stubbing, toe dragging etc... Again just a sort of feeling that you cant quite put your finger on and no visible differences.

The neurologist reiterated what the GP had said about a pinched nerve in either my knee or lower back. (He advised against spending money on tests to figure out exactly what it was since it seemed so minor and would probably go away spontaneously). He said that my gait was fine, strengths were fine, and that I passed all of the reaction and sensitivity tests with no red flags.

Now I am dealing with what seems like post nasal drip (Looking back it has been for quite a while on and off, i can't peg when the random coughs started, but its gotten more noticeable now). I have had bouts of constant throat clearing and coughing in the mornings or while eating. I am taking antacids to see if they help at all. I do have speech impediments, so it is hard to tell if i am slurring, but I have not been asked or noticed anything. Everyone says I have a "unique voice", so i would think any change would be obvious.

Lastly, I have noticed at least two muscles that are smaller on my left side. Now, I am very thin. 6'3 and 145-150lbs. Despite a healthy appetite, being fairly active, and attempts to gain weight, I have never been able to, so seeing my muscles is quite easy. My left peck is noticeably smaller than my right , and my left thigh just above the knee on the inside of the leg is smaller than my right. My gf of two years has said that my peck has always been like that, but i don't know about my leg. It wouldn't surprise me if it was simply dominant/non dominant differences.

I am a 23 y/o male (I know the odds, but i just cant shake the anxiety)
I work for PetCo ( Lift/Carry/Move large bags of dog food/litter all day, walk upwards of 5-6 miles a shift, have had no strength/walking issues)

I apologize for the long post, any response would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
 
There is not one thing here that sounds like ALS.

Everyone has smaller muscles on one side or the other.

With ALS, you don't feel anything. Things just don't work.

Post nasal drip.... Probably allergies

Clearing your throat... Probably allergies

Funny feeling in your leg and back pain, neither sound like ALS.

Besides the funny feeling in your leg, I have all of these symptoms as well. I DO NOT have ALS. My husband does.
 
What's up with the post nasal drip being ALS. You are the second person who has asked about this today. Here's the test for do I have ALS? Do I have something that does not work? Not it feels weird, burns, tingles, tires easy, shakes, etc. DOES NOT WORK. If everything works but it feels different, luck you, you do not have ALS. I have ALS and i feel fine, I just have things that do not work no matter how hard I try. see the difference?

Vincent
 
Of course I see the difference. But it's not hard to find people recalling that initial symptoms were "funny feelings", muscle soreness, I saw one guy who said knee pain brought him to the doctor, another few that said that post nasal drip was an inability for the throat to swallow the swallow saliva/mucus. I have seen others saying a first sign was waking up with "no hand muscles" or falling down the stairs. There are huge gaps.

The "please read" post at the beginning was very helpful and it did clarify a lot of things, but there are many testimonials of people linking pain and feelings to initial symptoms. They may mean something different by "feeling", but to someone who doesn't have experience with it, a "feeling" is what they interpret it as being.

I mentioned my foot drop. To me it feels like my walking has changed. Now I get that since I've felt the change and it's not happening without me knowing, it can't be als. But that was by no means an initial thought.

I do appreciate the frankness, I'm the type of person that needs to be knocked out of a mindset. So thank you for giving my post a read and taking time to respond.

Thank You,
 
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