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AnxiousinVA

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Apr 19, 2019
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Learn about ALS
Country
US
State
VA
City
Alexandria
Good evening, everyone,

First off, I have been constantly amazed at the grace and promptness with which questions from anxious people here are answered, and in my time lurking over the last couple months these replies and stickied threads have been a huge resource. So thank you!

I'm just hoping to run some things by you all, and I apologize in advance if they seem trivial.

I'm a 31yo male, with no family history of ALS. I should preface the following by noting that I'm fairly active when it comes to running and soccer, and have had a standing desk at work for almost 10 years now. In late December/January I was experiencing pretty painful lower leg pain which I found was fixed by new insoles in my work shoes and new running shoes.

1) What I then found was that following work days or runs my right calf would twitch like crazy. That started me googling, and with the pretty worked up state I got myself into as I read what causes twitches, the twitching spread to both legs, arms, neck, butt, feet, hands, etc. I do understand from the sticked threads that body wide twitches are not the way ALS-twitches present. I almost most certainly was drinking too much as a result of my anxiety, which I'm sure did not help.

2) I've also experienced some limb jerkiness, in the legs, arms, back, etc. These seem to have come and gone. There's also been some shooting pain down my thighs off and on since January.

3) Finally, what has presented more recently which has me more worried are a series of pulled muscles, due to possible muscle weakness? One in my right forearm, both calves cramping during a game this past week which has never happened to me before as my legs have always been my strongest muscle groups. A hamstring tightening up a couple times during recent drives. A shoulder and left bicep feeling on and off aching pain and relative weakness over the last week and a half, but which has seemed to resolve today. I do realize these could be a symptom of just getting older, but these are all first time things for me and had/have me worried.

I met with a neurologist earlier this week in which the clinical exam found no hyperreflexia, clinical weakness, or, as she saw, atrophy. These were all reassuring. I do have an EMG scheduled for Tuesday which I hope will put it all to bed.

Thank you for any insight you may have regarding symptoms, and I hope everyone has a lovely holiday weekend.
 
Hi there- have a read here: https://www.alsforums.com/forum/do-...-common-concerns-about-possible-symptoms.html . It answers commonly asked questions about everything you mentioned. Your neurologist has not found anything unusual, and it stands to reason your emg will be clear too. I'd think instead of looking at a terminal neurological disease you might visit with a physiotherapist for a full fitness, nutrition and postural assessment to see what may need to be changed as a result of dealing with a body entering its 4th decade.

Please come back and let us know how your emg goes.

Best wishes
 
Research suggests that standing desks can have their drawbacks long-term and that it may be better to alternate between sitting and walking, at least in part. I would get an ergonomic evaluation of your setup, posture and footwear at work. I don't see any reason for ALS concern from what you have described.

Best,
Laurie
 
Thank you both for your replies and kind words. Reporting back following today's NCS/EMG which came back normal and clean.

Best wishes,
Nick
 
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