definite signs of atrophy...

[codya13105]

my right thigh and calf muscle are smaller, and of course the right thenar/wrist area....
body wide twitching still everyday/ all day.....but i can still run, jump, ride a bike, left heavy things etc. what is going on?

 

[awieleba]

I dont know what is going on, but I have a thinned out thigh and calf muscles as well. After a year the doc poked my emg right into those area's that are thinner and nothing was wrong. I have the thinning thenar and wrist, he poked that area as well after a year of sx and nothing. So, with als being ruled out for me and no other diagnosed given....I dont know either. But dont assume that it is als. I would just feel good that you can still do all these phyisical things, that is what matters.

take care.

 

[hopingforcure]

A small amount of atrophy will lead to weakness. I can tell you if you have atrophy and weakness you will know it, if you can run, jump, I would be jumping for joy, not thinking ALS.. It sounds like a good sign of nothing serious.. Hope this helps.

 

[joelc]

You will notice weakness before atrophy.

So if you have atrophy before weakness, not sure what that means but it does not mean you have ALS.

 

[BLPhill]

I don't know if this would be it but my neuromuscular specialist told me that you can lose muscle mass without muscle atrophy. I really don't know the difference between the two.

 

[awieleba]

when my als doc saw my hands and the thinned area b/w thumb and finger, she said that it was mixed connective tissue loss. That was the only guess she had as to why it was thinned (atrophy) and the emg clean in that spot after a year.

 

[planningguy]

April,

That was the one question that I really didn't get much feedback on at the Mayo. I got a similiar response in terms of change in tissue, and that I should focus on the clean EMG results.

Robert

 

[AHands]

i started with thenar atrophy in march '05. I was bicycling a LOT and kept it up until Nov '08.
now i can still climb stairs some, but no more biking--don't have the lungs for it. back & neck weakness put me on a recumbent before my lungs got weak. between symptom onset and stopping biking, i took bicycling vacations in Europe and Asia and I recommend that you do likewise. by the time they know for sure, you wont be able, so go have fun now. keep up your core health and strength.
worrying can only make you sicker.

 

[Zaphoon]

When you guys are talking about thenar atrophy, are you talking about a part of the palm of your hand (like the heel of the palm)?

I have noticed the heel of my palm being tender for weeks. It is particularly troublesome when I'm operating the mouse of my computer.

Just asking...

 

[AHands]

yeah, that big fleshy bulge of muscle at the base of the thumb. and it didn't just get small, it quickly turned from a hump to a sunken concave depression--i could no longer bring the pad of the thumbtip and pinkytip together.

look at al's photos.

but thats me--other PALS are different.

 

[Zaphoon]

I've never been able to do that thumb tip to pinky thing. I was born missing some muscles in my hands (muscles I'll never have to worry about atrophying!). Never could make the "boy scout sign" with my hands, either.

 

[laurel]

Adrian,
My husband has no thenar muscle--looks very similar to Al's photos--and my husband has CIDP. He noticed lost the pincher grip first and then generalized weakness in the hand, and then loss of thenar muscle and also the muscle in his lower forearm on the same arm. He is treated with IVIG monthly and he is trying to do hand exercises to see if he can re-build some of the thenar muscle. So far he has a wee smidge of muscle, but the neurologist thinks the loss is permanent. Are you diagnosed with anything?
Laurel

 

[planningguy]

Up late helping my brother who is overseas write a paper...

Adrian - Where your EMG's "dirty" back in '05? I know I shouldn't go down this road, but I am curious.

Robert

 

[codya13105]

Thanks for the comments and words of encouragement. Is it normal to have more than one limbs under attack at once? And are there any pictures of thigh and calf atrophy out there? Thanks

Cody

 

[laurel]

Hi Cody,
My husband who has CIDP with rt. hand and forearm atrophy, has all four limbs involved according to his EMG and nerve conduction testing. He has foot drop of the rt. foot as well.
Laurel