intial ALS symtoms?

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Kartiksharma

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Nov 13, 2024
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Learn about ALS
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Country
CA
State
AB
City
Calgary
Sorry for writing this and thank you so much for your time reading my long post. I am an Indian international student in
Canada with no family history of neurological issues. My father had pancreatic cancer, and my uncle had a stroke, but no one in my family has ALS. My family runs a pesticide business, and while I rarely came into contact with pesticides (once every 3–4 months), my father and workers have been exposed for over 25 years. In my childhood, i swallowed a metal ball from a bearing ball which i never told my parents and it was probably excreted within 1-2 days.

Three months ago, I developed Bell’s palsy and was treated with prednisone (62 mg for 7 days), recoved 98%. A few days after completing the medication, I experienced what felt like weakness on left side of my body and fell. Suspecting anxiety due to witnessing my uncle’s stroke. I went to the ER, where all tests were normal. A few days later, I had a similar sensation on the right side and returned to the ER—again, nothing was found.

For the next 10–15 days, I was fine, but then I started experiencing twitching in different body parts, mainly in my legs, arms, shoulders, and eyelids. My family doctor referred me to a neurologist due to vision changes, suspecting MS. I traveled to India for tests, including MRIs of the brain, cervical and lumbar spine, and an NCV. The results showed cervical spondylosis and lumbar spine straightening. The neurologist in India prescribed neuropathic pain medication and muscle relaxants, which helped significantly, and advised improving posture and exercising.

Back in Canada, another neurologist performed contrast MRIs, which came back normal, but they did not acknowledge the earlier findings from India.

For the last two months, I have been experiencing a strange weakness in my right arm and leg. I can walk and run without fatigue but feel an unusual sensation. The arm weakness started around the time of my Bell’s palsy when I noticed difficulty and discomfort using a computer mouse. This weakness/sensation is very wierd as i feel this at some task, more where its required to be precise like pointing mouse. Although, there is no major weakness as i can even do finger pushups.

Recently, I’ve had persistent throat discomfort, feeling like something is stuck in my throat, along with jaw twitches and thigh twitches. I don’t have slurred speech or swallowing issues, but swallowing sometimes feels strange, especially when my head is down it creates a wierd sound. Very Occasionally, I feel short of breath and need to take deep breaths to adjust.

I think neurologists are not taking my symtoms seriously as the first neurologist i saw from India told me to go to gym and correct my posture without doing a single test. He just looked at my watch time in my phone and told me start gym. Wierd? Right? And on my request i got mris and found the results that arw shared here.

Do you think this can be start of ALS?
Do muscle twitches related to ALS improved with muscle relaxtants?
What should i do next as my case is dismissed today from neurology and they told me to see family docter if i have any problem?
Do you think i should request for emg or other tests?
 
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Hi there-

So sorry you're experiencing health concerns. Nothing you write fits the pattern of ALS. You report sensory issues. You do not report clinical weakness. Please read the following two link- I think you may find them both helpful and reassuring that this is not ALS. What it might be is something you will have to continue working with the doctors to sort out. It must be very frustrating to not have answers, but you can remove ALS from your worries.

Read Before Posting

Covid19 and Neurological Symptoms

So, no, this is not how ALS starts.
It depends. It has no bearing here, as you do not report ALS symptoms.
Yes to returning to your doctor.
Telling doctors how to do their jobs can create issues. Better to ask what your symptoms point to, what are next steps, and what can be done to mitigate them.

Please take care
 
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