venerable
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2013
- Messages
- 40
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Diagnosis
- 12/2013
- Country
- UK
- State
- The South
- City
- London
... and I know you have all got your own stuff to be getting on with but I just wanted to say thanks at the outset for taking the time to read my question.
I've had problems with my legs for about a year. It started with pain inside them, cramping pain, LOADS of charley horses at night, then it progressed to my legs feeling heavy, all kinds of weaker - like I was having to work harder to make THEM work, you know?
No longer getting charley horses at night. Man, what I wouldn't give for an old school horsey. Felt for a few months there like I was on the verge of one 24/7 but just mainly numbness now.
I started getting fasciculations about 5 months ago, confined to my calf and ankle muscles. Pretty constant. Feels like I have butterflies in my legs when they're really bad, although mainly these days I feel like the inside of my legs are shot full of novocaine right down the bone. The fascs are there whether the muscles are at rest or whether they're tensed and active - I'd say with a 25% reduction in fascs when tensed / active.
Left leg tends to be a bit worse than the right.
No fascs anywhere else (other than intermittent blepharospasm of left eyelid and socket for a few months about 6 years ago which went away on its own), just calves and ankles. Over past few months, calf muscle has "receded" (no other word will really do) up my leg, like it's bunching up, so there's now a visible thinning of my leg at the ankles where they meet where my calves used to reach to at full muscle volume - I'd say I'm down to about 10% calf muscle volume at that area.
I don't drink coffee or anything with caffeine in it. I'm in my late 30s and just under six feet tall with a BMI of 26. My legs get really tired these days, more than they used to, and it can be difficult to get up from the floor when I play with my infant son.
I've seen my doc who did a full blood work - no issues. Saw and felt fascs for himself and saw cameraphone video I shot over recent weeks and months. Will be doing a magnesium blood test next week and have been referred to neuro. Recent ECG prompted by sporadic chest pain reveals abnormally slow sinus rhythm which is being pinned on pericarditis even though I generally get the pain in my right side.
Paternal grandmother had ALS.
Does this sound like ALS to you guys? Does my account match your early symptoms in any way? Thanks in advance for reading and (hopefully) answering. Peace
I've had problems with my legs for about a year. It started with pain inside them, cramping pain, LOADS of charley horses at night, then it progressed to my legs feeling heavy, all kinds of weaker - like I was having to work harder to make THEM work, you know?
No longer getting charley horses at night. Man, what I wouldn't give for an old school horsey. Felt for a few months there like I was on the verge of one 24/7 but just mainly numbness now.
I started getting fasciculations about 5 months ago, confined to my calf and ankle muscles. Pretty constant. Feels like I have butterflies in my legs when they're really bad, although mainly these days I feel like the inside of my legs are shot full of novocaine right down the bone. The fascs are there whether the muscles are at rest or whether they're tensed and active - I'd say with a 25% reduction in fascs when tensed / active.
Left leg tends to be a bit worse than the right.
No fascs anywhere else (other than intermittent blepharospasm of left eyelid and socket for a few months about 6 years ago which went away on its own), just calves and ankles. Over past few months, calf muscle has "receded" (no other word will really do) up my leg, like it's bunching up, so there's now a visible thinning of my leg at the ankles where they meet where my calves used to reach to at full muscle volume - I'd say I'm down to about 10% calf muscle volume at that area.
I don't drink coffee or anything with caffeine in it. I'm in my late 30s and just under six feet tall with a BMI of 26. My legs get really tired these days, more than they used to, and it can be difficult to get up from the floor when I play with my infant son.
I've seen my doc who did a full blood work - no issues. Saw and felt fascs for himself and saw cameraphone video I shot over recent weeks and months. Will be doing a magnesium blood test next week and have been referred to neuro. Recent ECG prompted by sporadic chest pain reveals abnormally slow sinus rhythm which is being pinned on pericarditis even though I generally get the pain in my right side.
Paternal grandmother had ALS.
Does this sound like ALS to you guys? Does my account match your early symptoms in any way? Thanks in advance for reading and (hopefully) answering. Peace