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mhswarriors

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The great twitching debate (a very short poll)

I like many are very tired of reading conflicting information on twitching. And also get conflicting information. So I would like to ask 2 simple questions. If this could be answered by PALS then maybe people begin to understand.

1) Was your first symptom of ALS widespread twitching (bodywide)?

2) If yes how long did you have them before you had weakness or an ALS diagnosis?


That's it. 2 simple short questions. I didn't post this on Do I have ALS? because I was not sure if PALS would read it. this would go a long way if making people understand if they could get info straight from PALS. Thanks!
 
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My answers
1) No
2) See #1
 
Your Doctor can answer these questions for you.

However; I am not sure that he can cure your attitude.
 
Not the pals in our house but have been there every step of the way. Like Barry, no to questions 1&2. 1st sign, slurring & swallowing trouble. Diagnosed 6 months later.
 
Sorry, please don't misinterpret. I am not one the the freak out cases. If you read my more recent past posts I have tried to argue with those who try to spread fear. I am just trying to help the people who are scared, and maybe they won't listen to the ones who spread fear.
 
My first symptoms was slurred speech, and cramping. It was almost a year before I started twitching, and my atrophy increased with the twitching.
 
My response is the Same as Barry's - No to #1 which makes # 2 irrelevant.
 
Actually MHSwarrior, I like your attitude and you wonderful simple questions. I do not have ALS so of course cant answer, just wanted to say good on you.
Aly
 
1) No, I've never had all over body twitching. I did notice a twitch in my thigh just above the knee about 9 months after my first symptoms

2) No
 
I started continual, full body twitching the same week I noticed my first symptom, speech slurring.
 
1: no I started with weakness in my right hand, followed by twitching in my right arm. Twitching has now spread to other arm but no signs of major weakness.
2: see above
 
Not a PALS, but been where you are now; trying to make sense of it all. I am in my 40s so found these two passages interesting:

From Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Synthesis of Research and Clinical Practice (1998 ):

Fasciculations occurring in the absence of other symptoms, for example, muscle weakness or wasting, are usually regarded as being of little consequence (Reed and Kurland, 1963; Blexrud et al., 1993)..... However, the same conclusion should not be made for patients aged 45 years or older who develop fasciculations for the first time. In our experience, and that of others (Cambier and Serratrice, 1995; Swash 1995), fasciculations may predate other clinical abnormalities of ALS by many months. Out of a total of 258 patients with ALS examined by one of the authors (AE) over a five-year period between 1987 and 1992, 36 (14%) had fasciculation, usually associated with muscle cramping, as the initial manifestation of their disease. The mean time interval between developing fasciculations and other clinical manifestations of ALS was 7.6±3.4 months (3 to 11 months) (Eisen et al., 1992).

Or this from The Handbook of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, (1992):

In some ALS cases, fascicular twitching of the muscles precedes by months, even years, any muscular weakness; in others, frequent, painful muscle cramps herald the creeping paralysis...
 
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