Quick Question

[worried2014]

Hello, I was a very concerned member last year, but through guidance on here and from my neuro and EMG which came back clear, I stopped visiting the site.


However, symptoms have continued and are getting gradually worse, with no diagnosis as of yet despite numerous blood tests, brain MRI and testing for Wilson's disease, all of which have been clear. And now I find myself back here! I have only one question after re-reading the stickies, and hope someone can advise me.

It states that if you are experiencing weakness or atrophy and have an emg that is clear then it is definitely not ALS. However it doesn't say anything about whether it could identify ,or not as the case maybe, ALS if only fasiculations were present at the time of the test. I know that in the majority of cases twitching occurs as a secondary symptom, or when the muscle is dying, however there are numerous accounts of twitching being an initial symptom, usually in a specific muscle group but sometimes body wide although often with one area continuous.

Any feedback appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Atsugi]

Yes, twitching can be found in ALS.
It is much, much, much more common in many, many many other conditions. Even healthy people twitch.

What makes ALS is that a muscle is paralyzed, limp and useless, because its nerve is not sending it signals.

Just like a fracture shows up on an X-ray, ALS shows up on EMGs.
If you don't have a fracture, you don't have a broken bone.
If the EMG doesn't show ALS, it must be something else.