8 months of wasting… otherwise healthy.

[Troutstalker]

Hello! My name is Chris, 58yo male, 5’9 and 200 lb with a muscular build. Generally good health with only an enlarged prostate. Not taking any meds. Always athletic and stronger than most. Spent countless hours in the gym most of my life, benched 400+ with 600 lb squat even in my mid 40’s. Now things are happening that I can’t explain, so I decided to finally post on the forum to get some advice from members who have ALS (or any medical experts that treat ALS patients).
I have my annual physical with my primary Doc (ARNP) in August, and I want to be prepared. Maybe it’s something else, who knows. I feel fine otherwise. Just confused and looking for answers.
Here’s my situation -
Over the last year I started having minor twitching in my dominant bicep and shoulder. No big deal. Happened randomly at all times of the day and night. Also started having numbness and tingling in my shoulder/arm. In October I started noticing weakness. We keep our milk on the top shelf in the fridge and one day I just didn’t have the strength to lift the milk. Still can’t. Maybe a month or so later, my wife noticed that my shirt sleeve was loose fitting on that arm. It’s been 8 months now and the weakness and muscle wasting has continued to progress. My dominant arm used to be 1/2 in larger. Now it’s an inch smaller.
People look at me and don’t notice. I still look normal in clothes, but when I take off my shirt it’s very noticeable. Especially when I put my fist together and lift my elbows. It looks like part of my bicep is missing… almost like there’s a hole in there. My shoulder is the same.
Does this sound like ALS or something else?
Any advice would be appreciated.

*my dominant arm used to be 1/2 inch larger than my non-dominant arm, now it’s an inch smaller

 

[lgelb]

Most often, not. There may be a recent or old injury that has done nerve damage, as one common explanation. As only one example, heavy lifts can at times tear or strain something without your being aware.

You're entitled to contact your NP and ask for a PT referral or an earlier appointment. You could certainly get an earlier telehealth appointment for someone to see the arms side by side and watch your movement. But the odds against ALS are still in your favor, especially given numbness and tingling prior to the weakness you describe.

 

[Troutstalker]

Thank you for the response. I agree with your assessment as well. The only thing that made me question it further was the fact that the numbness/tingling only lasted about 6 weeks. And I think it was the new onset of weakness in that arm that may have led to an injury resulting in the numbness/weakness. As far as heavy lifting is concerned, I stopped that about 8 years ago. I no longer go to the gym but prior to these symptoms, when I went to the gym, I only used the easy machines selecting the 1st 2 or 3 weights (extremely light). My goal was to exercise the muscle groups not to build muscle. I used to think I was a tough guy. But I can no longer tolerate any lifting at all. Welcome to my golden years lol!!