Muscle weakness

[wsn104]

I have had a stuttering jittery feeling in my upper back muscles by my shoulder whenever try to use my arms. It is on both sides. I also have tired muscles in my legs and arms constantly. Everything just feels tired. When I use my arm/elbow to prop my head up, in a few minutes my arm starts to shake uncontrollably. My legs feel jittery as well when I go down stairs. Is this ALS weakness?

 

[Kohler]

Hi, my sister has been experiencing leg weakness like you describe for some months now, as well as hyper-reflexes. She just had a "clean" EMG, still waiting for MRI, but that means no ALS. Weakness is a symptom of many things, others on here with more experience with these things will weigh in soon with more info, but what does your doctor say at this point?

 

[Twinsmom]

There's really no way for us to answer that unfortunately. You should get to a doctor/neurologist. There are lots of things that could be causing the weakness-and things that can be treated. Diagnosing ALS is done by ruling OUT any/everything else it could possibly be. There are symptoms that the neurologist will look for to help him/her diagnose you as well as blood & urine tests to run to help with diagnosis. An EMG will detect damage that could indicate ALS, but also can clarify if it's some other neurological illness, of which there are many! One of our senior members very wisely said "It's not ALS until it can't be anything ELSE BUT ALS"

Peace,