ALS Support Community

Thank you so much for this message, it is very reassuring to hear. I've been going out of my mind. I assume the EMG was helpful in ruling out asl?

I wasn't there for the EMG or other appointments because I live far away, and my dad didn't bother to get the reports, but he told me the neurologist said neither the physical exam nor the emg gave any indication of ALS.

"This study estimated the annual incidence of cervical radiculopathy to be 107.3 per 100,000 for men"

vs 2/100,000 for ALS.

if even 2% of people with cervical radiculopathy have twitching caused by it, then it will be a more common cause of localized twitching than ALS. (from the facebook groups I've joined, it sure seems like more than 2%!)

and we know you have radiculopathy, and if I had to guess I'd say at least 5% of people with it get some degree of twitching, so that incidence of 107.3/100k doesn't matter for you. you have it


doing some math it is at worst something like a 0.04% chance that your twitching is caused by ALS instead of your spine (1 in 2,500)

Thank you for the continued reassurances. I like that math! I believe now (at least in my head), as my wife has been telling me all along, that the localized twitching is radiculopathy like your dad's. I continue to have random tiny twitches in the calves and thighs but I do think those are fueled by anxiety now more than anything at this point. I am happy for your dad's result and I hope his health is ok these days.

Whatever doubts you still have, I'm confident they'll be put to rest when you're able to go in for the EMG! I have BFS myself and even though I no longer have any worries about having ALS myself, my twitches BLOW up when I'm extra stressed or anxious.

I likely wouldn't even know what ALS was if I never googled "arm twitching" all those years ago! Cursed google. I bet your story is the same!

Curse Google indeed. Wanted to let you know I got my EMG today and the results were good. He said the results were consistent with neck injury and not als. I feel a great weight off my shoulders. Thanks for your support and help in my difficult times.

I'm glad! I'm sure having the actual results feels 10x better than anything I said. Thats how anxiety goes I suppose


Hopefully they'll be able to treat your neck issues!

Hi, hope you are well! Today I noticed some pretty obvioius atrophy down at the bottom of the tricep. It's a kind of small area, but my wife noticed it all on her own too, without me telling her. I think this might be just from the pinched nerve, but it has me nervous again. I wonder if your dad had any of that?

@Bergwijn Hi! Sorry to see you back here (though I'm always here too I guess)

I'm not actually sure he's had confirmed atrophy from any of his issues.

That said, if you have radiculopathy, that would be the norm moreso than another weird symptom.

Do you have a Facebook? We all know it isnt the best platform, but the Facebook Groups can be pretty helpful!

If you search for groups with "radiculopathy" in the name, I guarantee you you'll a) find lots of talk about people who have had atrophy, and b) some about twitching!

It seems that most doctors official stances are that twitching isnt caused by these various back problems, but from all the reading I've done I can't possibly believe that twitching isnt a common symptom of back problems

Yeah, I did get into a Facebook group for cervical radiculopathy and there are tons of people with twitching and atrophy, so that was comforting. I hope your dad is doing well.

@Bergwijn - he is! This line of thinking may not be your cup of tea.. but at a point.. even if he had ALS, if it is going this slow, then there is at least some silver lining! That said, luckily, neither you nor my dad have any evidence of ALS!

Good luck getting through this. Anxiety over this is a tough bug to shake. You could also join the BFS support group on Facebook for more twitching-specific content!

Thank you friend. I'm a step ahead of you, I already joined two bfs groups on Facebook. Trying to just get through it one day at a time!