Status
Not open for further replies.

beepboop

New member
Joined
Sep 25, 2015
Messages
8
Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
US
State
va
City
Virginia beach
Hi, I'm a 25 year old female with awful anxiety over recent ALS-type symptoms. It all came to a head about a month ago when I woke to feed my baby in the middle of the night and found myself unable to move my right arm or leg, this passed after a minute or so but since then I've had a heavy feeling in my right limbs. I teach yoga and have noticed my right side will fatigue much easier. The most concerning symptom would have to be what I suspect is muscle atrophy near my right elbow, when I contract my muscle the muscle in my forearm will almost slide back to relaxed, it's very strange. I have fasciculations that have I intensified and I really hope they are from anxiety. I have an aunt who passed from ALS years agoand I am extremely worried this is the only explanation for these symptoms.
 
Also I'm having dexterity issues with my right hand and a CT scan came back normal, I am so worried and would appreciate any advice
 
Beepboop, there's no need to think of ALS with your symptoms. In ALS, muscles don't feel weak or heavy, they just don't work, with no feeling at all.

Twitches can be anything at all or nothing at all. They are so common they're not diagnostic of anything.

Let your doctor investigate this, but don't worry about ALS.
 
Thank you for your reply Atsugi, I think I need to calm down before my Neuro appointment... I've been patching myself out thinking the problem with my arm movement will just turn into immobility one day. I'm hoping this could all be from an autoimmune thyroid I've been dealing with
 
Mike is right - your symptoms are not consistent with ALS. The muscle weakness with ALS is not transient, and doesn't strike suddenly as paralysis and then pass. One potential cause of such symptoms is nerve entrapment either in the peripheral nerves, which is not uncommon during sleep and dependent upon sleeping posture, or even posturally dependent compression in the spinal cord due to a bulging disk. Nerve compression could also explain your lingering dexterity difficulty - even after all or most of the pressure is relieved it can take a while for the nerve to return to normal. Another potential cause, especially since both your arm and leg on one side were temporarily paralyzed, is a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA). These are also known as mini-strokes, which are temporary blockages in the brain. You didn't specify what part of your body the CT scan covered, but I'm guessing your Dr. considered this possibility and tested for it.

I wish you well, and hope your anxiety about ALS is relieved.
-Phil
 
Just one more question for clarification and I'll stay off for awhile... is it normal to notice atrophy before immobility like I see in my forearm muscle near my elbow, it just looks so different from the right side
 
Neurogenic muscle weakness will eventually be accompanied by atrophy of the affected muscle. But there are many potential neurogenic causes. One of the most common is nerve root compression at some level in the spine. This is by far a much more common cause of muscle weakness and accompanying muscle atrophy than ALS. People with herniated lumbar disks often have leg weakness, e.g., foot-drop, and the affected muscles atrophy. Likewise, if a cervical disk is pressing on a nerve root enervating the arm, then arm weakness and atrophy can result. If a cervical disk is pressing on part of the spinal cord, then any functions enervated below the level of compression can be affected, such as arm, bowel, bladder, leg, etc.

The main point is that there are numerous potential causes muscle weakness and accompanying atrophy that are much more common than ALS.

I hope you're doing better.
-Phil
 
Thank you Phil, I have to remind myself it's not at the top of this list for potential problems, it's just scary right now
 
...it's not at the top of this list for potential problems,

ALS shouldn't even be on any of your lists. Go see your doctor.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So I hate that I'm back here today, but I feel I might have mistaken my own symptoms after talking to a friend who pointed out that I had complained of my right side tiring out before this incident last month. She also says she can see the atrophy in my right arm, now I'm terrified that I missed it progressing over a time period and now its moved to my right leg? Does this sound more like ALS?
 
Please go to a doctor. Is your friend a doctor? If not they are not qualified to diagnose atrophy or anything else. Even if you do have atrophy there are many many causes so to jump to ALS is not appropriate. One aunt with ALS does not FALS make. I have lost 2 aunts, an uncle and my mom. My sister and I have ALS. That is what FALS looks like
 
Thank you for your reply, I do appreciate the help. I'm very sorry about your family diagnosis.... I think I've just got caught up with all of this since the twitching became body wide (including belly and tongue) when I noticed the other stuff. I've made myself sick with anxiety ,I see a Neuro on Tuesday
 
What's really troubling me now is that my brachioradialis is very hard to contract, and when it does it is definitely much smaller compared to the left side. This is the muscle that takes a lot of exertion to keep it contracted and it still will slide back to relaxation without continuous exertion, and will feel immediately fatigued afterwards. Is this what muscle wasting is?
 
Beepboop, this is not a general health forum to discuss problems other than ALS, which you do not have. We're not doctors, so don't take our advice on anything except ALS.

We have limited time and some of our members are terribly disabled, trying to read each post. Most of the people here are dying or caring for dying spouses. We need to concentrate on those folks we can help. You need to go elsewhere.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top