2 years with symptoms

[lyz1838]

I have been following this forum for the past 2 years now. I had never heard of ALS before but when my left forearm started losing muscle mass and had body wide muscle spasms I started doing some research, and like many found myself self-diagnosing myself with ALS.

Of course being that I was a 30 year old female at the time, and coming back with healthy bloodwork (except for the fact i tested positive for a possible autoimmune disease) all doctors brushed off my theories and told me to go home a wait it out and if it doesn't get worse then I have nothing to worry about.

Fast forward 2 years, and one baby later, my left arm has continued to lose mass, but now both hands have signs of atrophy, it is symmetrical though, right and left hand at my thumb and in between my pinky and ring finger. I still have functions in my hand but have started to have a hard time typing. I also still have full body twitches.

Does ALS sometimes span a 2 year time frame without getting severely debilitating. I was wondering if maybe 2 years ago my symptoms for so subtle, that most people would not have noticed but i did since i am hyper aware of things, and now it is starting to spread and get worse. Anybody else experience symptoms similar to these?

 

[lgelb]

Your physician(s) who have seen you in the past for these concerns, can monitor any changes in muscle mass and strength over time. We can't.

Nor is it productive for people here to compare your non-specific symptoms with their clinical weakness. Many people have nerve problems in their arms and/or hands related to keyboarding. We cannot tell from here if you have those.

So if you go in, there is no need to mention ALS, just describe your issues.

Best,
Laurie