Hi - went to the ALS clinic yesterday. Had my 4th emg and some sort of electric shocks.
I was worried as my thigh has now atrophied and my right foot is smaller. (Calf atrophied three years ago.)
The Dr. was pleased that there was so little change in a year. He says I have PLS with a big question mark as I do not have stiffness?? I asked what that was and I am still not sure what he meant. I thought that you did not have atrophy with PLS.
I go into the office with a list of questions but still have more a few hours later.
Can anyone explain what stiffness is? Can I have atrophy with PLS?...............ruby from vancouver (surrey)

Hi Ruby. Stiffness in the lower extremities is one of the markers for PLS. If you have the same symptoms for 2 years or more with no worsening they usually say it is PLS. Atrophy is not mentioned as a thing normally happening from the source I looked up. I'll check a couple of others for you. Good thing about PLS is that people with it live longer and it is usually not as debilitating as ALS.

Hi Al - I knew you would answer - thank you. I have had continal change for 3 1/2 yrs. but no stiffness. I thought it was a lot of change but the Dr. thinks it is small. Good! I still feel like an old woman (of course I am - 67) doing the penquin walk and loss of balance, but, I can still walk! - which I am very thankful for.....................ruby from vancouver (surrey)

can someone tell me if als can affect your eyes

It's not one of the more common signs or symptoms but what did you have in mind? What effects are you worried about?

no, as far as I have read about ALS, eyes arent the victims.

Betty,
Exactly how has his eyes been affected? My eyes have been hurting me since sept.05 about every day and especially at the end of the day.Al, have you heard of any cases where the eye muscles are affected? Can the muscles around the eye be a cause sometimes, I had so much twitching in the muscle under each eye that it irritated the surface of my eyes so much I had to use eye drops all day long! Not much twitching now but my eyes still hurt bad by the end of the day.Doctors have given me no answers as to why I'm having this problem? Never had any problems before ALS started?Barry