Status
Not open for further replies.

Someguy

New member
Joined
May 10, 2016
Messages
2
Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
US
State
Florida
City
Miami
Hello, firstly I'd like to apologize for my extremely bad setup of this post, I am not very good at this.

I developed foot drop in my right foot (right handed) about 3 weeks ago and went to 2 different doctors. The first mentioned a pinched nerve in my back and sent me to an orthopedic doctor who believed it was a pinched nerve in my knee. The symptoms they were describing just didn't feel right to me, but I waited patiently for another 2 weeks. Over the course of these 3 weeks since I first noticed my foot drop my right wrist got increasingly more stiff 1 week after another. And after I noticed my wrist actually losing flexability (mainly moving it up and down) I went back to the doctor. The doctor now told me this was some sort of cause for alarm and told me a number of tests would have to be done and me not having health insurance in this country I would have to go home. So I went home and have done a couple of routine tests (CT scan, blood work and physical examination by a neurologist for well over an hour.) I am scheduled for an MRI and to be examined by the head-neurologist on the friday that is coming up soon.

Now the reason I am posting is because I am a 20 year old male living in another country with my girlfriend in her home country and I really want answers soon so I can leave and go back to her soon. I fear they'll keep me here while they try to figure this out.

I have had no tingling, numbness or pain of any kind, nothing sore around my knee or any other part of my body and all my tests came back clean. My doctors are confused and so am I. Also my foot drop was recognized as clinical weakness and so was a part of my wrist.

I have no reason to believe I have ALS considering how rare it is for my young age, but I thought maybe there's a possibility that one of you know what is going on.

Thank you for your time, much appreciated
 
Hello, Someguy. Sorry to hear you haven't gotten a solid diagnosis yet. I can give a couple of comments.

First, you're right about the age thing. A 20-year-old with ALS would really surprise me.
Second, you were physically examined by a neurologist. I would think that she would have seen any ALS if it were there.
Question One: Wrist "stiff"? Not sure what that means. Can you move it up, down, left, right, and in a circle both ways?
Question Two: Could you describe your drop foot, please. Can you walk on your toes forward and backward? Can you walk on your heels with your toes off the floor, forward and backward?
Three: We only know ALS, so we really can't tell you "what else" might be going on.
 
Thanks for the reply Mike, to answer your questions however.. About the wrist, I can do all the movements without much trouble, but the movement feels unnatural especially in circles, I seem to have wrist drop that is slowly developing. I was told by my neuro though that only I could feel if something was happening in my wrist at this point, and I do some very precise things with this hand and noticed the changes I started developing without much doubt.

Regarding the questions you have for my foot drop, I can easily stand on my toes, but not on my heel at all.

Also about the physical exam I had with the neuro, I never got an answer as to if things were good or not, all I was told was that she would get me an appointment with her superior (another neurologist.)
 
So far, I read that your foot has a weak muscle, or the nerve leading to that muscle has a problem somewhere. That's all I see from your posts. Of course, the neuro knows best.

Your wrist: Maybe it's best if I offer an explanation and let you decide if this applies to you.

ALS destroys motor nerves in the brain. When a motor nerve is destroyed, it can't send the "go" signal to tell the muscle to contract, so the muscle lays there, limp, paralyzed. We think there is something wrong with our muscle, when in fact the ALS is in our brain. Importantly, there are lots of other conditions that cause muscles to be weak or stop working. I'm just describing how ALS does it--it's in the brain.

Feelings, however, come from the flesh on sensory nerves, which are not affected by ALS. Here in ALS-land, we say that there is no feeling associated with ALS: no weak feeling, no exhaustion, no burning, no numbness, no weirdness, nothing. The muscle simply doesn't perform.

There are dozens of muscles in our hands. Can you find one that is paralyzed? It seems to me that if you can move in all directions, all the muscles are working. Plus, there are lots of conditions that affect the wrist. ALS would be rather rare.

I'm going to fall back on your age, and say it's gotta be something else.

Note: Anytime you see a doctor, you can certainly ask them for a detailed explanation of what they are seeing. Don't let doctor visit end without satisfying you.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top