brianv
New member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2013
- Messages
- 5
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- US
- State
- DC
- City
- Washington
Hi - I've read much of the forum (and all the stickies) and am so impressed with the quality of information and compassion shown here. It feels like a real community.
I'm here because I'm going in for EMG/nerve conduction testing on May 10. This is after 9 months of testing and worsening symptoms that include weight loss (from 180 last summer to 150 now), loss of muscle mass, weakness in arms and legs (everything feels heavier to pick up, etc), lack of stamina, fatigue, some minor difficulty swallowing and breathing at night - and other symptoms, including tingling in arms and legs, cognitive fog, memory issues, and, most recently, fasiculations in my legs, mostly. It all started with a sudden fever last July and I haven't been right since.
In any case, my brain and upper spinal MRIs are basically clean - although there may be one lesion in my cervical spine (three neurologists - at Georgetown, Hopkins, and NIH - disagree about this). So my case seems to be a mix of symptoms of MS and possible motor neuron disease. The unintended weight loss, in particular, is not a common MS symptom, and my MRIs do not point to MS either.
My question to the group is - does anyone have, or know of, mixed MS/ALS symptoms? That is, ALS atrophy + sensory symptoms like tingling? I realize both of disease labels are just that, labels - and that everyone is individual and will experience neurological illnesses differently. And that there may be plenty of crossover between progressive MS and ALS - and that some people will never neatly fit into either category.
My life has contracted over the past 9 months and I can no longer do many things I used to enjoy, like hiking for any length. As for my career, I'm a reporter and working is tough for me now with the mental fog and memory issues. I can't just rip out articles like I used to. And that's tough - I worry about my job and my career.
In any case, if anyone has any thoughts they want to share, let me thank you in advance.
Brian
I'm here because I'm going in for EMG/nerve conduction testing on May 10. This is after 9 months of testing and worsening symptoms that include weight loss (from 180 last summer to 150 now), loss of muscle mass, weakness in arms and legs (everything feels heavier to pick up, etc), lack of stamina, fatigue, some minor difficulty swallowing and breathing at night - and other symptoms, including tingling in arms and legs, cognitive fog, memory issues, and, most recently, fasiculations in my legs, mostly. It all started with a sudden fever last July and I haven't been right since.
In any case, my brain and upper spinal MRIs are basically clean - although there may be one lesion in my cervical spine (three neurologists - at Georgetown, Hopkins, and NIH - disagree about this). So my case seems to be a mix of symptoms of MS and possible motor neuron disease. The unintended weight loss, in particular, is not a common MS symptom, and my MRIs do not point to MS either.
My question to the group is - does anyone have, or know of, mixed MS/ALS symptoms? That is, ALS atrophy + sensory symptoms like tingling? I realize both of disease labels are just that, labels - and that everyone is individual and will experience neurological illnesses differently. And that there may be plenty of crossover between progressive MS and ALS - and that some people will never neatly fit into either category.
My life has contracted over the past 9 months and I can no longer do many things I used to enjoy, like hiking for any length. As for my career, I'm a reporter and working is tough for me now with the mental fog and memory issues. I can't just rip out articles like I used to. And that's tough - I worry about my job and my career.
In any case, if anyone has any thoughts they want to share, let me thank you in advance.
Brian