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onemaycall

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Feb 14, 2017
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Learn about ALS
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California
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Oakland
Hi I'm a 23 year old male concerned of the possibility of having ALS.

I started noticing some differences in my body around the beginning of Dec 2016. It started off when I felt some soreness/aching in my left arm and then in my right arm, but thought nothing of it. I also have this bitter taste in my mouth that comes and goes. A few days later I started feeling fatigue in my left arm when raising it straight ahead which was very strange. A couple weeks go by and I start noticing that my left wrist has gotten flatter (skinnier/thinner) and that my watch has gone down a notch size. I started to also notice that my left elbow has gotten shallower. This was very strange to me, but I didn't think it was a big deal.

Near the end of December (Dec 27), I started noticing some twitching in my left and right arms. I then noticed that my left shoulder was also very skinny compared to my right shoulder. I went to the ER because I was scared and they did a blood test and EKG and found everything to be normal, however they told me to watch if it spread anywhere else in my body and to follow up with my PCP. A couple days after my ER visit, I started feeling twitching in both my legs. I go to my PCP visit the second week of January and my doctor evaluates me for weakness and finds that I seem normal; however he takes measurements of both my wrists, ankles, and quads as these are areas I started noticing atrophy and twitching. My PCP tells me to come back in 2 months to see if symptoms get worse and to recheck measurements before he refers me to a neurologist if needed.

As of today, my symptoms seem to have gotten worse, but my follow up with my PCP won't be until March 20th. My right wrist has been getting thinner/flatter like my left wrist. There is no more aching in my arms or legs. The aching only lasted a day or two. I am starting to feel like how my left arm started to get skinnier is now happening to my right arm. I also have almost constant twitching in both my feet and legs. The twitching is very noticeable when I am sitting down or laying down in bed. It makes it very hard to sleep or focus. I also still have the random bitter taste comes and go throughout the day.

Do my symptoms point to ALS? Any type of feedback would be very appreciated, thanks.
 
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I read it all and I don't understand why you would think of ALS.

You're seeing a doctor on the 20th of March? If I thought, for just one minute, that I might have an incurable terminal disease, I would quit work and drive a thousand miles to find a same-day appointment with an expert doctor.

But no matter, you didn't write anything that seems terminal.
 
The answer to your question is no. I totally agree with Mike.
Al
 
I just don't understand why my arms, wrists, shoulders, and legs are getting skinnier and I'm not suffering any weight loss. The twitching in my legs and feet are constant and I know I'm not going crazy because I can see the twitching in my feet. These symptoms have never happened to me before in my life. Is there weight loss associated with ALS?
 
Wait until your follow up appointment and stay off the Internet in the meantime. At your age it would be EXTREMELY unlikely that you have ALS.
 
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