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JustinL3

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Learn about ALS
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US
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Mi
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Howell
First of all, this sight has been very informative - thank you to everyone.

I am a 32 year old male, health conscious and into fitness - at the same time, married, father of 2 little girls, very high stress job, suffer from anxiety and horrible low back pain for years from heavy lifting/loading the spine.

Back in April, my job became very hectic and I was out of the gym for 2 months. During this time I suffered from anxiety, sleepless nights - basically had to drink a few beers to fall asleep each night...also ate like crap during this time - almost nothing during the day but a big meal at night...in the end, lost about 10 lbs. Also during this time, I started to notice some weakness in both my legs - not while walking, or going up stairs, but mostly when going down stairs...a weak/rubbery feeling in both. I thought nothing of it and just thought, "man, I need to get back in the gym - can't believe my legs feel so weak."

2 months later I'm back in the gym and obviously lost some strength which I expected. I got back on my nutrition kick and back in the gym 5 days a week, weight has climbed back up. However, my strength is still down in particular areas (legs and arms/shoulders). About 3 weeks ago I've been experiencing some weakness in my arms/forearms/hands/grip. I initially thought nothing of it - again, just need to rebuild my strength. However, strength has not improved for a few weeks and I feel like my hands/fingers have gotten worse. For example, I sometimes have trouble unscrewing the top off my toothpaste with my index and thumb (if it's closed tightly)...or even pinching the top of a Listerine bottle for the child lock. Both my thumbs feel completely weak. I can still push buttons, open ketchup packets, type, turn key ignition, etc. but w/ definite weakness while doing so. Another good example is when I snap my fingers, my thumbs feel weird. When I say, "feel weird", I think it feels weird...I'm not sure if they're just entirely weak or leading to paralysis. Keep in mind, my symptoms are in both hands and thumbs, forearms, biceps and shoulders and still weakness in both legs. Is this ALS? I am freaking myself out. Could this be a pinched nerve since it's even everywhere in all limbs? Or my anxiety playing a role? I worked out today and I THINK my thumbs are twitching afterwards but I'm not sure what's real in my head anymore or what...how does limb onset work, am I showing signs of this in my legs and hands/arms?

My wife and I went to my physician yesterday and I could walk on my tippy toes, walk on my heels. However, he did say my legs are weak (tested by laying on my back and he would push down on my legs). He also said my arms are very weak also (tested by arms straight out and pushing down on them). I told him I was extremely nervous being in there and I have major anxiety issues so he said that could be playing a role too. On the reflex test, I had no reflex in both knees/legs as well as arms. I did however have reflect in both feet. What does this mean? Are my hands and legs leading to paralysis?

I have a scheduled MRI on Saturday and an appointment w/ a neurologist in a few weeks but I wanted to ask this forum board for their opinion? Could this be ALS w/ these symptoms in all 4 of my limbs and even/parallel in each?

Thank you to everybody - I'm hoping I can somewhat calm down.
 
Sorry, forgot to mention 1 other thing. The other day while playing outside w/ my daughter, I was chasing her and felt off balance while running/sprinting that I hadn't experienced before (both legs). After running, I tried just jumping around in my driveway and could barely get off the ground - this was very frustrating as I used to play basketball in college and could dunk. However, I will say while running/jumping, I would feel some sort of something in my low back which I mentioned above I've always had pain with - but this feeling is completely new.

I'm just not sure if this a sign of both my legs getting worse...

Thanks again guys. Paranoia and anxiety is at an all time high ever since googling my symptoms of "weakness in arms and legs".

Thanks again, guys.
 
No, that's not ALS.

Everything you said doesn't concern me at all. None of it mattered except that a doctor said the word "Weakness."
But even so, ALS doesn't come on all four limbs at once. Must be something else, probably curable and nonfatal.

In ALS, a nerve in the brain is destroyed, so the corresponding muscle doesn't get the signal to contract. That muscle lays limp and paralyzed. That's the kind of weakness we're worried about.
Then the next nerve is destroyed, and the next. Over a period of months or years, the ALS destroys nerve in turn in serial fashion. Typically the first muscles paralyzed are the hands and arms, and the paralysis moves down the body to the legs. Or it will start in the foot and move its way up the body to the arms.

Importantly, in ALS there is no tired feeling, no weak feeling. The muscle simply doesn't get the signal to move, so it doesn't.

So no, you haven't described ALS to me. It could be something simple, so don't worry about it while waiting to see your neuro.
 
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