Some of the blame for their persistence may lay right at the door step of the ALS Association itself. Below is their description of onset symptoms of ALS...
(At the onset of ALS the symptoms may be so slight that they are frequently overlooked. With regard to the appearance of symptoms and the progression of the illness, the course of the disease may include the following:
•muscle weakness in one or more of the following: hands, arms, legs or the muscles of speech,
swallowing or breathing
•twitching (fasciculation) and cramping of muscles, especially those in the hands and feet
•impairment of the use of the arms and legs
•"thick speech" and difficulty in projecting the voice
•in more advanced stages, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing and swallowing
The initial symptoms of ALS can be quite varied in different people. One person may experience tripping over carpet edges, another person may have trouble lifting and a third person's early symptom may be slurred speech. The rate at which ALS progresses can be quite variable from one person to another. Although the mean survival time with ALS is three to five years, many people live five, ten or more years. In a small number of people, ALS is known to remit or halt its progression, though there is no scientific understanding as to how and why this happens. Symptoms can begin in the muscles of speech, swallowing or in the hands, arms, legs or feet. Not all people with ALS experience the same symptoms or the same sequences or patterns of progression. But, progressive muscle weakness and paralysis are universally experienced.
Muscle weakness is a hallmark initial sign in ALS, occurring in approximately 60% of patients. Early symptoms vary with each individual, but usually include tripping, dropping things, abnormal fatigue of the arms and/or legs, slurred speech, muscle cramps and twitches and/or uncontrollable periods of laughing or crying.
The hands and feet may be affected first, causing difficulty in lifting, walking or using the hands for the activities of daily living such as dressing, washing and buttoning clothes.)
Nothing about clinical weakness vs perceived weakness, nothing about feeling vs failure, nothing about pain vs no pain.
They read the above... and they are locked in. The second paragraph from the bottom sure doesn't help either!
After reading a few others like this one from the ALS Association... I have a better understanding now for some no sticky would easily convince them they don't have ALS.