Fredrik Malmo
New member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2008
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- SWE
- State
- Skåne
- City
- Malmo
Hi everyone,
I am a 37 year old male with symptoms for nearly 4 months. It all started the 10th of April with a stiff left leg and aching thigh muscles. Three days later I experienced the same feeling in my left arm. At that time I had no obvious weakness, only sore muscles in my left limbs. Five weeks after the initial symptoms I noticed the first twitches, mainly on the left side (leg, arm and back). At that time I had weakness (not clinical according to a gp) since I had problems carrying my three-year old daughter with my left arm for a longer period. A week later I started having hip, neck and lower back pain. I had developed obvious atrophy of my left thigh and left forearm. I also had some problems with my voice but that has improved again. Two months after the initial symptoms I finally got to see a neuro and he could confirm the atrophy of my left thigh (a bit more than an inch thinner than my right) and he also noticed quite active knee reflexes. He ordered an NCV /EMG and blood tests. The blood tests came back normal. Three months into this misery I had the electrophysiological tests and to my surprise they were normal. The EMG showed no abnormalities. It was performed at a university hospital by an experienced neurophysiologist and he tested my left leg and arm, clearly in my affected muscles. Now, I am waiting for a new appointment with my neuro. My symptoms are progressing and I have mild atrophy of my left pectoralis muscle and also left calf. My left leg is weak and stiff and so is my left arm although I can still use them. I have twitches on my right arm and leg but not that frequent . Possibly my right arm is getting weaker. My weak and painful neck is what bothers me the most. I know it has been addressed before but how common is a normal EMG that is later followed by a dirty? Are there any statistics from the scientific literature? I was so sure my EMG would show abnormalities so I was almost speachless when the Dr told me it was normal. Mentally, I felt a bit better for a week or so after the EMG but now I am back into the thinking of ALS 24/7. So I guess there will be more tests to exclude other diseases.
Ironically, I listened to a talk at the AACR meeting in San Diego in April when all this started where they tried rilutek in a phase 0/I trial against melanoma. I had never heard of the drug before but found it interesting and read a bit more about it. Now I am just too aware of it.
Fred
I am a 37 year old male with symptoms for nearly 4 months. It all started the 10th of April with a stiff left leg and aching thigh muscles. Three days later I experienced the same feeling in my left arm. At that time I had no obvious weakness, only sore muscles in my left limbs. Five weeks after the initial symptoms I noticed the first twitches, mainly on the left side (leg, arm and back). At that time I had weakness (not clinical according to a gp) since I had problems carrying my three-year old daughter with my left arm for a longer period. A week later I started having hip, neck and lower back pain. I had developed obvious atrophy of my left thigh and left forearm. I also had some problems with my voice but that has improved again. Two months after the initial symptoms I finally got to see a neuro and he could confirm the atrophy of my left thigh (a bit more than an inch thinner than my right) and he also noticed quite active knee reflexes. He ordered an NCV /EMG and blood tests. The blood tests came back normal. Three months into this misery I had the electrophysiological tests and to my surprise they were normal. The EMG showed no abnormalities. It was performed at a university hospital by an experienced neurophysiologist and he tested my left leg and arm, clearly in my affected muscles. Now, I am waiting for a new appointment with my neuro. My symptoms are progressing and I have mild atrophy of my left pectoralis muscle and also left calf. My left leg is weak and stiff and so is my left arm although I can still use them. I have twitches on my right arm and leg but not that frequent . Possibly my right arm is getting weaker. My weak and painful neck is what bothers me the most. I know it has been addressed before but how common is a normal EMG that is later followed by a dirty? Are there any statistics from the scientific literature? I was so sure my EMG would show abnormalities so I was almost speachless when the Dr told me it was normal. Mentally, I felt a bit better for a week or so after the EMG but now I am back into the thinking of ALS 24/7. So I guess there will be more tests to exclude other diseases.
Ironically, I listened to a talk at the AACR meeting in San Diego in April when all this started where they tried rilutek in a phase 0/I trial against melanoma. I had never heard of the drug before but found it interesting and read a bit more about it. Now I am just too aware of it.
Fred