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Leesaw73

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I first want to say how sorry I am for those of you who have been diagnosed with this horrible disease and those of you who are facing possibilities of having it. This is a horrible thing and I know it is very terrifying. Even if I do NOT have this disease I want to become a supporter and do everything I can to find a cure.

I am a 36 year old female with 3 kids and the thought of having this is wreaking havoc on my life. I feel like I have not spent any time with my kids since I started researching this and I feel really guilty and horrible about that. I have been having some symptoms for a few months now:

1. The first symptom I noticed was a localized pain in my left calf muscle. Just a slight pain, almost like an internal bruise but I could not feel it when I tried to feel around. I honestly thought it was a DVT.
2. Then that same calf muscle started twitching and now the twitching is pretty much non-stop. Now I have twitching in my other calf muscle and my quads and hamstrings. I also notice twitching everywhere else now that I am aware of it.
3. I also notice that I hold my muscles rigid sometimes without knowing it, my primary doctor was trying to test my reflexes and he had to tell me to relax my muscles. (had no clue I was tensed up)
4. I do not have any weakness that I have noticed (and neither did my primary Dr.) but now that I am so scared I think I may have "percieved" weakness in my hands. My hands are not weaker physically but they feel like jello and almost shaky but not physically shaky. Does that make sense?
5. For the last couple of days I feel internally shaky like I am having internal tremors, especially when I wake up in the morning and from a nap. ( I am not physically shaking, just feels like it.) When I do wake up my physical twitches are like a symphony of twitches everywhere.
6. I am terrified because my mother had a undiagnosed neurological problem 20 years ago. (My mom passed away at the age of 44) She had occasional seizures and a muscle in her left cheek and one in her left back collapsed and was sunken in. She never had any loss of function and again they did not diagnose anything specific. She had NUMEROUS health problems including kidney disease and/transplant.
So judging by my symptoms and history what do you all think?
All I know is that I have never been so terrified in my whole entire life. I am getting an MRI of my lower back today because my primary doctor thinks maybe I have a pinched sciatica. I hope that is all it is, that would be so nice........ Thank you in advance for anyone reading this, I appreciate your time.
Lisa
 
hi lisa, don't waste time reaserching and worrying.....i know that is a tough request. whether or not you have a serious medical issue or not, your time with your kids is so important. the fact that you feel guilty says you should make yourself focus on them more and your symptoms less.

let the docs sort it out...you will never find definite answers on the net......keep us informed on what the docs say.....and in the mean time...life is precious.....take advantage of it!
 
Leesaw

If you came to me with the story you just shared, ALS would not enter my mind at all. The only reason you think you have it is because you twitch and you obvioulsy googled "twitch" and the incomplete, stupid internet led you to ALS. Twitching happens for a gazillion different reasons . . . and . . . twitching IS NOT used as a criterion for an ALS diagnosis, even though you were fooled into thinking that it is. Get off of the internet because it is leading you down a very dark path that is not warranted in the least. In the meantime, relax and go enjoy your kids. I'm sure they need you.
 
Thank you for responding both of you. I know I should not be on the internet researching but unfortunately I have a yellow personality and I research everything to death. ( I wish I was NOT like this trust me) I'd rather be blissfully ignorant but my personality does not let me. I have to "know" everything. Also, I think it is human nature to want to know what it wrong with you when you are having abnormal symptoms. Sometimes I wish it was still like it was in the 80's, we did not have all of this information at our fingertips. It can be helpful at times but it can also be detrimental.

I also forgot to mention 2 other things:
1.) My balance is also off majorly. I have not been falling or tripping but I have been losing my balance alot.
2.) My primary doc did a Babinski test on both of my feet and it was negative. My big toe went down. Does a negative babinski test rule out ALS?

Thanks.
 
The Babinski sign is used to detect upper motor neuron lesions/problems. If the toes go up and there is an accompanying triple flexion response (ankle, knee and hip), it is usually indicative of upper motor neuron trouble.

With ALS, weakness and atrophy of muscles are hallmark. As Wright pointed out, twitching is caused by a myriad of things, stress and anxiety being among them.

ALS should be at the bottom of your list of possible causes and it usually does not cause global (or body wide) twitching so quickly.

Just my input - I'm no doc.
 
The Babinski sign is used to detect upper motor neuron lesions/problems. If the toes go up and there is an accompanying triple flexion response (ankle, knee and hip), it is usually indicative of upper motor neuron trouble.

With ALS, weakness and atrophy of muscles are hallmark. As Wright pointed out, twitching is caused by a myriad of things, stress and anxiety being among them.

ALS should be at the bottom of your list of possible causes and it usually does not cause global (or body wide) twitching so quickly.

Just my input - I'm no doc.

Thank you Zaphoon, So since your saying the Babinski reflex indicates an upper motor neuron problem and ALS is both upper and lower I can pretty much rule it out for now since mine was good? I just got back from having my MRI of the lower spine so hopefully that will tell me something. I hope it is an obvious back problem and I do not have to go any further with testing.
 
Most neurologists won't bring up the possibility of ALS until they have done several tests to rule out a whole host of other possibilities.

ALS requires both upper and lower motor death.

I'd breath a big sigh of relief.
 
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