32 Caucasian Male - Als symptom concerns

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John451

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Learn about ALS
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UK
Hello.

My symptoms are:

(1) Faciculations all over the body. In order of frequency (how often in a day I will experience faciculations there): Underarm on the right side. Belly (right side), neck, calf, both biceps, both hands. Faciculations generally come in batches of 3-20 every few minutes, though a few have persisted in one spot for up to an hour.

(2) Odd slightly numb feeling and mild percieved loss of co-ordination in left hand, leading into a strained sore feeling if I use it too much, generally in the area around the thumb/pointer finger. It feels like muscle exhaustion and that I'm overworking it when I do much of anything and too much use (half an hour of using the mouse) leaves it nearly unresponsive. Perhaps I'm leaping to conclusions, but that's exactly what I imagine it would feel like if my hand muscles were weakening.

I have read the sticky and done some research (the internet is always the bane of any self-diagnoser) and I understand that faciculations as a primary symptom are rarely ALS, but combined with the fact that I'm worried that the second symptom may be 'clinical weakness' in it's early stages, the odd pattern of my faciculations has me concerned. It seems to match ALS better than BFS? I've seen a doctor who has referred me to a neurologist, but I would like the advice of the members of this forum as well if it's not too much trouble.

On google's front page for me there are two conflicting articles, one of which claims that 'tingling and numbness in the hands' can be an early sign of ALS when combined with weakness, and another that explicitly claims the opposite, both from reputable sources.

Thank you for your time and I'm sorry for contributing to the stress and workload of the forums members and moderators.
 
The feeling you describe in your mouse hand, speaks to an overuse injury. If you really use a regular mouse instead of a trackpad, maybe that's part of the problem.

The fact that you are imagining rather than experiencing weakness says it all. Check out hand/wrist exercises on YouTube, work up a regimen slowly, re-examine your computing positioning (twitching often follows slouching, twisting, slumping, etc. as your body struggles to protect joints and the spine). Maybe it's time for a new desk or chair, or a height adjustment of your body, your computer, and/or your keyboard/mouse.

You have mentioned nothing that would leave us concerned about ALS.

Best,
Laurie
 
Thank you very much for your prompt and helpful response. I'll do exactly that and update this thread with the results of my Neurologist's visit in a month.

Regards, John.
 
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