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emilyroenigk

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Dec 7, 2015
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Learn about ALS
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Minnesota
City
Ham Lake
Hi,

I want to start by saying I have been struggling with anxiety around these symptoms since July 2015. I realize anxiety can produce even real symptoms, and that I have struggled with anxiety around health for my entire life. I am 23 and engaged to the most wonderful man. I just started a new job and moved from Maryland to Minnesota, so I have been under a lot more stress than normal.

I have had hand weakness in the morning ever since I was little. It also comes on when I laugh hard. I went to see a neurologist about it in July and she did an MRI and found a syrinx in my spinal chord. She had me see a neurologist and a neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic in November 2015 to assess the syrinx, and they found that the syrinx was not causing any of my symptoms, but rather that I might have narcolepsy, of which this intermittent weakness is very common.

However, in between those two appointments (July 2015 and November 2015) new symptoms have been occurring. My hand weakness has lasted longer in the morning and is noticeably worse on my right side, which is odd since I am right handed. I have also had trouble doing things with my right hand throughout the day that involve a "pinching" motion. During my exam at Mayo, my neurologist found that my right arm and hand were weaker than my left, and that there was atrophy on my right hand. He ordered an EMG of my right arm and hand and it came back normal, so he said there is no neuropathy causing the weakness in my hand.

Over the last couple of months, my right leg has also been feeling weaker than my left. I have daily twitching on and off in my foot, calf, quadricep and glute muscle. The twitching is worse when I am using the leg and better when I am at rest. The muscle will twitch repeatedly, rapidly about 5-7 times then stop. The same muscles seem to twitch off and on throughout the day. There is a small indent under my right calf. I also get a buzzing/vibrating sensation in my right foot after walking or exerting myself at all. I don't have trouble walking or climbing stairs, but my right leg no longer feels dominant. I cannot stand on my right leg as long as I can on my left. My balance feels off. I did not mention the right leg to my neuro at Mayo because at first I thought the syrinx was the issue, and in that case it would only affect my hands/arms due to its location in my spinal chord.

I have lost 5-10 lbs in the last year and am incredibly thin for my height, which runs in my family. I weight 105 and I am 5'9.

Do you think a normal EMG for my hand and arm, which is also experiencing weakness, would mean a clean EMG for my right leg as well? Or do you think I should go back in and have him examine my leg as well, in case there is something like ALS causing it? The only reason I have considered ALS is that I do not have any pain/sensory nerve symptoms.
 
There's something going on there, but I wouldn't jump to ALS.

Right leg "not feeling dominant" and "feeling weaker" are, in fact, sensory symptoms. The dent doesn't seem to matter, and the twitching is so common in very many pathologies. So I just don't go to ALS when I read your post.

Having a recent EMG kinda tells me that you're clear of ALS. Follow your doctor's advice, but don't worry about ALS.
 
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