nprr
New member
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2013
- Messages
- 7
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- PA
- City
- Philadelphia
Hello,
Like many others I found this forum to be invaluable in getting some much needed answers. I'm not trying to self diagnose but rather fit together puzzle pieces I feel my neuro may not be seeing or simply ignoring. I'm trying to determine if these pieces have any significance or are coincidence.
I'm a 43 yr old male. About 7 months ago I developed a finger drop in my right hand, general hand weakness, partial wrist weakness and I believe partial arm weakness followed around the same time. All of a sudden it became impossible to use a mouse (couldn't click), write, open a bottle of soda, untwist the gas cap. Even turning the ignition key was difficult and I had to use the palm to help turn it. Shaking hands became awkward as my index finger curved in so much and got in the way.
All seemed to happen overnight. It had a "strange" start with a lot of pain in the forearm and wrist soreness for a few weeks after the occurrence. The pain went away but some soreness in tendons still remains. Over the next few months I had a NCS/EMG done and both were abnormal with NCS showing inflammation of nerves. Over the past month there's atrophy in the tricep and deltoid muscles. Admittedly, I've been favoring my left arm and hand.
The puzzling piece is that over the course of the last three months, these symptoms began to improve. The finger drop is still there but much less pronounced. I can now shake hands once again. Dexterity has been improved but not by more than 50%. I can write once again and with some speed (handwriting is not back to normal but looks like my own), I can use the mouse better, I can open a soda/Snapple bottle, untwist the gas cap and, with some effort, turn the ignition with 2 fingers. Progress has been slow but measurable. I mentioned this to my neuro but he seemed to gloss over it. Yet, he's not making the ALS call just yet. However, when I pressed him to guess at a diagnosis, ALS was his guess.
Are the improvements I'm experiencing are even within the realm of ALS? I've had no other symptoms in other limbs and generally feel fine (maybe not so fine mentally).
Thank you in advance for your help. I can't tell you how much respect I have for and how much I admire those that contribute to this forum. You are making a difference in people's lives daily whether they come back to thank you or not. On behalf of all of them-Thank you!
Like many others I found this forum to be invaluable in getting some much needed answers. I'm not trying to self diagnose but rather fit together puzzle pieces I feel my neuro may not be seeing or simply ignoring. I'm trying to determine if these pieces have any significance or are coincidence.
I'm a 43 yr old male. About 7 months ago I developed a finger drop in my right hand, general hand weakness, partial wrist weakness and I believe partial arm weakness followed around the same time. All of a sudden it became impossible to use a mouse (couldn't click), write, open a bottle of soda, untwist the gas cap. Even turning the ignition key was difficult and I had to use the palm to help turn it. Shaking hands became awkward as my index finger curved in so much and got in the way.
All seemed to happen overnight. It had a "strange" start with a lot of pain in the forearm and wrist soreness for a few weeks after the occurrence. The pain went away but some soreness in tendons still remains. Over the next few months I had a NCS/EMG done and both were abnormal with NCS showing inflammation of nerves. Over the past month there's atrophy in the tricep and deltoid muscles. Admittedly, I've been favoring my left arm and hand.
The puzzling piece is that over the course of the last three months, these symptoms began to improve. The finger drop is still there but much less pronounced. I can now shake hands once again. Dexterity has been improved but not by more than 50%. I can write once again and with some speed (handwriting is not back to normal but looks like my own), I can use the mouse better, I can open a soda/Snapple bottle, untwist the gas cap and, with some effort, turn the ignition with 2 fingers. Progress has been slow but measurable. I mentioned this to my neuro but he seemed to gloss over it. Yet, he's not making the ALS call just yet. However, when I pressed him to guess at a diagnosis, ALS was his guess.
Are the improvements I'm experiencing are even within the realm of ALS? I've had no other symptoms in other limbs and generally feel fine (maybe not so fine mentally).
Thank you in advance for your help. I can't tell you how much respect I have for and how much I admire those that contribute to this forum. You are making a difference in people's lives daily whether they come back to thank you or not. On behalf of all of them-Thank you!