I’m feeling burning and tingling in my legs. Could this be ALS?

[Medicationworry]

I'm a 30 year old male who weights 190 pounds and I'm 6ft. I take Abilify for schizophrenia and OCD. I've had some random finger twitching, but more concerning to me was that last night my leg started feeling funny. I was experiencing tingling and a burning sensation in my right leg. My leg also felt more heavy than normal.

My doctor did some physical tests and he assured me that I didn't have ALS, but I'm worried because they didn't do any electronic tests. He tested the strength in my toes, legs, and arms. He also did a reflex test and did some kind of test with my fingers. He said he believes I have a compressed nerve in my leg. Some people have been telling me that Abilify can cause weird muscle movements and such as well.

This morning all my muscles and joints were aching and feel sore. I don't know why. I haven't been exerting myself that hard. Does ALS cause this? Please help me. I'm panicking and I don't think I should go back to the doctor again so soon.

I just finished walking a nature trail that's about three miles this morning. I wanted to see if my legs were still strong enough for me to do this. So far so good, but honestly I keep thinking about the possibility of this disease. I tried lifting my phone with both arms and it feels harder to keep my phone in the air with my right arm. My arm felt tingly too. That scares me.

How can I tell if I have muscle atrophy or not? I've been feeling my muscles trying to figure this out. Right now I’m laying in bed and I feel a burning sensation in my legs. My tongue was hurting a little earlier, but I don’t know if that’s relevant.

 

[lgelb]

Abilify can affect muscles and nerves, yes. ALS, on the other hand, does not show up as you describe, with whole-body aches and soreness, or tingling. And the doctor would have noted significant atrophy if you had it. It can't come on overnight. But worrying about one thing can lead to another.

All this could be more related to a virus, or other kinds of illnesses that your physician will check for if these issues continue. Or it could be that you injured something and your muscles are working overtime in response, lack of sleep, stress, rush/go diet, lots of things, many of them no big deal and yet they often run in packs.

There is zero reason to think of ALS, and a 3-mile walk says that you are in pretty good shape. Sometimes if you act as if you're well, time and some attention to your wellness will heal many wounds. If not, that would be the time to return for a followup exam.

 

[Medicationworry]

Thanks for your reply! I just have a few more questions. Does atrophy happen because of ALS itself or does it happen because the muscle is weakened and not able to function? I feel like one side of my tongue has a dent in it, so to speak, but I can still move my tongue easily. My speech isn’t slurred either. Is tongue atrophy apart of ALS?

I’m going to follow up with my primary care doctor tomorrow, but I just wanted to get some more information here if I could. Also, when people say clinical weakness do they mean not being able to do something or if something is just harder to do?

 

[Nikki J]

Atrophy follows weakness in ALS.

Did you read Important - READ BEFORE POSTING! Answers to common concerns about possible symptoms

As it says clinical weakness is about failure. Something stops working