abavaro09
New member
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- Jul 1, 2009
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- sahuarita
Hello all. My is Andy and I am 37 year old male in relatively good health. My question is regarding ALS symptoms. Does ALS normally start out with withspread muscle pain/stiffness but without weakness? Pretty much on a daily basis I suffer from widespread muscle pain that could be felt in my back, neck, shoulders, arms, hands, legs, and feet. The pain is a gross combination of a dull ache/stiffness. Recently I've noticed that my arms and legs have gotten noticably skinnier with increased muscle tone. I have not noticed any real weakness. I mean I have no problem lifting things, other than feeling some discomfort in my shoulders when lifting something heavy. I can do pushups, stand on one leg, and walk on my tippy-toes with relatively no problem. I went to see a neurologist back in 2005 because I started experiencing an electric shock like sensation down my right arm when I would bend my neck forward along with other tingling sensations in my body. The neuro did an exam and a subsequent EMG which were normal. The only thing he said was that my reflexes were a little "brisk" He ordered an MRI of my brain and cervical spine. The results revealed no lesions in my brain, but did show a bulging disc in my cervical spine C5-C6) along with bone spurs. I then followed up with a neurosurgeon about the cervical spine discovery. He said that it was rather unusual for someone my age to present with this type of cervical spinal cord abnormality. I then asked what I could do, and he ruled out surgery and said I should try physical therapy. I asked what the long-term complications were for this condition, and he said that eventually I would start to experience arm pain and possibly start to lose function in my hands. I don't remember if he said it would be both arms and hands. Fast forward now to 2007. Around this time I started experiencing lower back pain that would come and go. As time went by the pain started to become chronic. In addition to the lower back pain, I started to develop tightness in both hamstrings. I would also experience sensations of skin crawling and I had some major bouts of itchy skin. I went to see an orthropedic surgeon who ordered an MRI of my cervical and lumbar spine. I was diagnosed with cervical spondylosis with mild stenosis and isthmic spondylolisthesis in my lumbar spine with stenosis (L5-S1). This time I was told that my options were pain meds, physical therapy, or surgery. I opted for conservative treatment with pain meds. Needless to say the meds don't work. My body is now constantly stiff with muscle pain and my joints hurt also. I notice a lot of clicking sounds when I move my joints around. Does this sound like ALS? Can my spine condition be causing all of my discomfort? I did some research on the internet, and I found info that the effects of cervical spondylosis can mimic ALS. I'm just wondering if having the coexisting spinal abnormalities could explain my upper and lower muscle pain/stiffness. Also does having these spine conditions rule out ALS? I've been really stressed out about this for the past few years and it has affected my quality of life both physically and mentally. I'm just worried that something else is behind all my symptoms and it's not my spine problem. I'm really scared to go back to my neurologist because I'm worried that they find something really bad. I'm really sorry for this long and drawn out post. I guess I need someone to calm my fears. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Andy
Andy
