Status
Not open for further replies.

Yuichi145

New member
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
5
Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
BR
State
South America
City
São Paulo
Firstly, sorry for my bad english. About a week ago, i'am feeling weakness in my right hand. Sometimes i don't feel this weakness, it's surge in aleatory moments. I only feel fasciculations in the right arm and this are worrying me. I'am a 17 years old student and i don't have the conditidions to consult an especialist. I really want to know your opinions. Thank you.
 
Firstly, sorry for my bad english. About a week ago, i'am feeling weakness in my right hand. Sometimes i don't feel this weakness, it's surge in aleatory moments. I only feel fasciculations in the right arm and this are worrying me. I'am a 17 years old student and i don't have the conditidions to consult an especialist. I really want to know your opinions. Thank you.

Yuichi, you don't have ALS.
If ALS made your hand weak, it would NEVER get better.
Fasciculations can be many conditions. Healthy people have twitching, too.
17-years-old? No. Never heard of a 17-year-old with ALS. ALS is for much, much older people.
 
Thank you for your reply. I will think twice before get worry about something.
 
At your age it is very, very unlikely that it is ALS. But there is always a very small probability that it is, or that it is another neuromuscular disease that has some similarities with ALS. There are other neuromuscular diseases that can be treated and that have a progression rate much slower than ALS. On the other hand, in the rare cases in which ALS starts at an early age, usually it progresses much slower. (Stephen Hawking is still alive!).
Besides neuromuscular diseases, there are other diseases that can resemble ALS. If your hand continues to weaken or the weakness spreads to other parts of the body, I would try to get tested for other diseases. The fact that the weakness in your hand fluctuates, make it less likely to be ALS, but in multiple sclerosis it is common for the symptoms to come and go.
With respect to the fasciculations, you said that you "felt them" in your arm. The thing is that usually fasciculations (at least in the beginning) are no something that you feel but something that you can see if you look at your arm for some time. If you haven't done it already, you can find videos showing fasciculations in Youtube. If you don't see that on the surface of your arm, most likely it is not fasciculations. If I were you, I would try not to worry too much, but keep watching your symptoms and start looking for a doctor that might be more willing to refer you to a neurologist if your symptoms get worse.
 
I would also watch other parts of my body to see if there are fasciculations.
 
Thanks for the reply!
I can cleally see the fasciculations on my arm, and now i feel spasms in my right thumb. But the weakness remains the same, it comes in aleatory moments. I noticed that when i bend my hand i feel the weakness, but i don't think that i have "carpal tunnel problems" due fasciculations and i'am not too stressed ou anxious.
If i diagnosed with a neuro-disease problem, can i refuse the treatment? (The symptons are getting worse, but i not afraid of death or something like that.)
 
Yuichi, we don't use the word "aleatory." At all. Nobody knows what it means. Except me.

Could a teenager get ALS? It is so unlikely that I say the answer is practically, "no."

Your symptoms do not say ALS.

Please don't worry about ALS. If you still feel there is something wrong, ask your parents to take you to a GP medical doctor.

Can you refuse treatment? In the USA, anyone can refuse treatment anytime. Probably the same in Brazil.
 
Fasciculations (twitching) is far too common to be diagnostic of anything, much less ALS. Normal people twitch.

Also ALS patients do not 'feel' weak, we are weak.

This is all explained in the sticky titled READ BEFORE POSTING.

Go talk to a doctor about your anxiety, forget about ALS.
 
Understood. Thanks you all.
 
The reason I asked you about fasciculations in other parts of your body, was because if they are only on your right arm, then it could be some problem with that particular nerve. If it is only that nerve, then most likely it is not ALS. If it is ALS, normally you would soon have symptoms in other parts of the body.
You could watch your legs carefully during a few minutes to see if you can see any fasciculations there.
In my view, something being unlikely does not make it impossible. I would try to find the cause of this problem. You should have X-rays, CAT scan or MRI of your column to see if there are pinched nerves. Of course that should be ordered by a doctor.
Atsugi is right that when he says that very few people use the word "aleatory" (but of course they can google it) Maybe you can say "random" which is a better known word in English. I would guess that in Portuguese you use a word similar to aleatory like "aleatorio" (that's the way it is said in Spanish, and I know there are many words that are the same or very similar between Spanish and Portuguese.
I don't remember if you mentioned this. Have you been to a regular (non-specialist) doctor?. That would be the first step in finding out what the problem is.
 
The problem is that the public medical sector they are so full it can take a year to be attended. I'dont have a "health plan", many financial problems. I scheduled a medical consultation but i will be attended in november. The only thing i can do is wait, i'll be back in a few months and tell what happened. Thanks!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top