Fearing the worst

[pjc1129]

Hello all, hope today finds everyone as well as possible. I don't want to be long winded, so I'll try to be brief. I'm a 24 year old Caucasian male. Not sure that this is relevant, although my research has made it appear that ALS has a higher incidence in Caucasians. Over the last few months I have had an onset of symptoms that I now believe may be the early stages of ALS.

Also, as a preface I have read the stickies several times over and am aware of the "failing not feeling" way this disease presents itself.

About 4 or 5 months ago I started having twitching that was body wide, but after reading up on it and discovering body wide twitching was most likely BFS, I thought nothing of it. Fast forward about a month or two and one day I had the strangest feeling of weakness in my right hand. To this day the grip in my right hand seems to be weaker than my left. It's also harder to make a fist and my fingers move slower. For reference, I am right side dominant. I also seem to be having more trouble manipulating small items with my fingers than I have in the past.

So far, I am still able to open bottles of water, turn a key in a lock, and lift things with my pinky and thumb. However, about a week ago my right arm began feeling very weak. I work in a deli in a supermarket, so I am routinely lifting boxes of cold cuts that can be upwards of 20 to 30 pounds. Everything feels about 5 to 10 pounds heavier in my right arm than it did before. I also find that it tires very quickly when lifting it above my head or using it in a repetitive motion (i.e, using a deli slicer.) My right leg also is a lot heavier and I have been having twitches in both thighs. Not fine, under the skin twitches, very noticeable ones. As if someone were beating a drum under my skin.

Looking at my right forearm, the muscle that contracts when you make a fist (not sure of the name) is much less pronounced than in my left. I'm about 5'7 around 150 pounds. I have always had pretty skinny arms and bony hands, but I fear this may be muscle wasting/atrophy.

One other thing that has me genuinely concerned, is that I am almost positive that I now have hyperreflexia. For the last several months I have had an extremely exaggerated startle response and the lightest touch sends my arm flying. Although I have read that it is something that can only be diagnosed by a doctor, I tested my knee reflexes by tapping them with an instrument and they seem to jump out more than what would be considered "normal".

Not sure if this is relevant or not, but I have also been needing to clear my throat a lot and seem to have more saliva production than usual. Pretty sure I have accidentally spit on people a few times in the last several weeks. I also mess up my words a lot more than what is normal for me.

All of these symptoms together has me in a panic . I work a minimum wage job about 50 to 60 hours a week just to get by. I have no health insurance so there is really no way I would be able to see a neurologist. I know the wonderful people of this forum are better educated on this disease than I am, so I was wondering if you feel as though this is something that requires further investigation.

Thank you all very much for your time.

 

[Lkaibel]

You would not start with a neurologist anyway. You would start with a Family Practice MD, who can do a basic clinical neurological exam and my guess is put your fears to rest. Clinical weakness, atrophy, and brisk/hyper reflexes can all be observed by a "regular" Doctor. The tone of your post yells "health anxiety", so I doubt much that you would end up being referred to a neurologist, but if you do there are ways you can get care even without insurance. Please make an appointment with a regular family practice clinic. No one here is going to be able to tell you much at all based on a list of random personal observations.

Best wishes.

 

[Atsugi]

24 year old <<<>>> Very rare in 24-year-olds. Never personally seen it. Of the hundreds of people active on our website, I don’t think any are under 30.
strangest feeling of weakness in my right hand. <<<>>> ALS typically doesn’t FEEL weak. IT just IS weak with no feeling associated with it.

this may be muscle wasting/atrophy. <<<>>> Doubt it very seriously.
exaggerated startle response <<<>>> Nothing to do with ALS.
I tested my knee reflexes <<<>>> you cannot test yourself.
more saliva production than usual <<<>>> not relevant
requires further investigation? <<<>>> Some would say go see a Primary Care GP medical doctor. But frankly, I would just ignore all this and live with it. This sounds like the kind of stuff that just goes away.

Lenore is right. Neurologists know nerves, but a GP medical doctor is trained and experienced in investigating diseases that might involve different specialties.