Desperate for answers!

[siphi]

Hello everyone,

First, let me thank everyone here for taking the time to read this note. I've lurked here for awhile now but have reached the point where I really need to reach out to you good people.

To start, I am a 62 year old male. About a seven weeks ago, my left leg developed a sensation somewhere between a dull ache and tickle that ran from my groin to my feet plus a feeling like an electrical charge was running through the entire leg causing my muscles to feel jittery. Added to this was an "effervescent" sensation in my skin that lasted a few days. This was accompanied by muscle fatigue in the leg whenever walking or climbing stairs. A few days after, the twitches began, starting in my left quad and calf and eventually migrating to my toes and glute.

Over the next few weeks, the twitches spread, in succession, to my right calf, upper back, shoulders and arms. My left glute continually feel like I've just finished 100 squats and the skin on my left calf/ankle feels tight. In the last couple of weeks I've developed mild cramps in my calves that come and go along with intermittent stiffness and cramping in the trap and lat muscles of my back around my shoulders. My limbs feel "heavy" and when I stand up and walk, I feel as if I have an invisible weight on my shoulders weighing me down a little. At the same time, I have no clinical weakness to speak of.

The only other sensations I get are the periodic "electric charge vibration" feeling that appears here and there from time to time.

I did see a neuro a couple of weeks ago and, though she indicated my reflexes were all normal and I did not present with any clinical weakness, I got the sense that she felt things were just too early to tell anything rather than this isn't ALS because she said my "symptoms were progressing" and that I should see her again if things did not improve.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

 

[affected]

Thanks for the detailed description of your issues siphi.

If you have been lurking here for some time, you should have read the sticky post. It did answer all your questions. You probably have also read lots of posts just like yours, where senior members have said every time - this is not ALS.

You describe lots of 'feelings' and ALS does not start that way. It is totally true - because it is the nerves dying, people simply find they cannot do things. So this is great news because you are worrying about something that is just not even remotely in your future.

Your neurologist has also indicated that there is nothing apparent. It is very routine for the neurologist to suggest you come back if things don't improve. This does not in any way mean the neurologist suspects something as rare as ALS, especially with no symptoms of ALS.

You see, twitching means nothing at all. So more places twitching does not mean you have early ALS that they couldn't find. More twitching is not progression either. Progression means you become clinically weaker and weaker and your body fails in more ways.

I would suggest you work on anxiety about your health, and ask your doctors exactly what they think might be happening, rather than presuming they are waiting for something rare to happen.

All the best

 

[siphi]

Tillie,

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I did read the stickies but I guess I've been interpreting the feelings of heaviness in my muscles as an indication that it's getting harder and harder for them to work against gravity and they are, therefore, beginning to fail, but weakness had not yet progressed to the point where it becomes objectively noticeable.

 

[Atsugi]

Hello, Siphi. I see you're still here, so perhaps you're hoping for a second opinion.

My Australian counterpart on the nightshift is exactly right, as usual. Read the sticky post "New Members Read Before Posting" and you'll see that all these sensations you feel have nothing to do with ALS. Also, twitches and cramps are so common that they are not diagnostic of anything.

In ALS, muscles fail to contract, but there is no feeling of weakness, exhaustion or weirdness. They just remain unmoving, limp, paralyzed.

I'm not a doctor so I can't diagnose what you have, but a neurologist examined you personally and saw nothing within her expertise to be concerned with. Whatever you have, it's not ALS.

I suggest you see a GP doctor (Family Physician or Internal Medicine). They are trained and experienced in leading broad health investigations and can send you to the appropriate specialty as needed.

--Mike

 

[siphi]

Thanks to both of you for your feedback. I will take your advice and revisit my GP with the hopes of determining the next course of action to take to figure out what's going on with me.

Bless you both and everyone else on this site for performing such a wonderful and useful service.