Please read & respond, desperate inquiry

[paramat4]

Hi mama of 4 wife of 1.
My hubs symptoms go as followed BEFORE SEEING NUERO. Muscle twitching, 'feeling' of a lump in his throat. Throat test showed lazy esophagus. Numbness and tingling in hands, left arm, face. Dr. told him he looked great, but could have suffered a small, small stroke. (MRI revealed pea size lesion on left side of brain)

1 year later, and out of $$$ without insurance. Symptoms have progressed to the following. Right foot drop, constant muscle twitching, severe voice change, very horse sounding. Coughing mostly every time he swallows. Slurred speech at nighttime when very tired. Numbness on the forehead and tingling around left eye. Feeling of cob webs and constant weeping, which cause him to brush his left hand across his eye all day long to remove what is not there. No signs of muscle loss but says his left hand is seriously and progressively getting weaker. (his signature looks like a 5 year old) Cramps and charlie horses on a weekly basis. Any ALS patients with similiar symptoms?
Husband ran a marathon last year. Climbed Mt McKindley. Walking 5 miles is to exhausting for him today. He stopped working out.

 

[abbas child]

Can he touch his thumb to his index finger? That is a question often used to figure out if hand weakness is what we have with ALS. The sensory problems (feeling of cobwebs and constant weeping: but there are no tears--is that correct?) does not sound like ALS.

I imagine a moderator will move this thread to the section called "Do I Have ALS/MND", where the savvy folks who can be of best help will see your question and hopefully give you some feedback. I'm very sorry your husband and you are going through this.

 

[notme]

HI

Were it me with those symptoms and no insurance, I'd do one of two things. Go to an ER...or see if the MDA will help with testing to rule out ALS. MDA will see someone once to rule out a muscular or motor neuron disease as I understand it from my contact with them.

Obviously he needs EMG/NCV studies done. One sided weakness can be a stroke--my stroke 3 years ago caused right sided weakness and paralysis of my right side--but it improved over time.

My current weakness in my left hand was fallowed pretty quickly by atrophy in that hand--within a few months at least. It had atrophied to nothing somehow without me noticing it going. The weakness started pretty suddenly for me--and progressively got worse. But, I have no diagnosis of anything yet--just a neurosurgeon who suspects it's ALS or some MND.

If he did have ALS speech and swallowing are not good things--I'd think an ER would investigate those if it's severe because of the risk of aspiration pneumonia.

As to the walking 5 miles being tiring--hon--I can't walk to my car without my legs feeling like they are going to collapse. Walking five miles for me would be a miracle.