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wrjosh88

New member
Joined
Aug 20, 2008
Messages
6
Diagnosis
11/2006
Country
US
State
Virginia
City
Fairfax Station
Hello everyone. I'm new here. And I have a little concern I want to share, If you have any information that may be helpful to me please post below.

Ever since my dad got ALS, I have been doing research on it. And I found out it is 15% heredity. I am one of 5 children. Meaning there is a reasonable chance one of my brothers or sister or me has ALS. But I'm not entirely sure.

First off. We don't know exactly when my father got ALS. The doctors say it was most likely in the Gulf War, I was born in 1991 which means my mom probably first was pregnant with me in 1990. Is this something to be concerned with? My other brothers and sisters were born in 85, 87, 94, and 2000 if that helps..

Next..I heard Cramping could be an early symptom of ALS. Well I don't get cramps really, but when I'm in the pool my feet cramp up all the time, mainly my toes until just recently my Calf tightened. Does this mean anything?

Now this part may seem a little weird, but ever since I was very little, I have dreams every once in a while where I'm running away from something or to something and all the sudden I just can't move anymore and my muscles aren't working etc..

Sometimes I catch myself doing or looking exactly like my dad, when he yawns, how he eats, just little things that remind me of exactly how he looks. I'm terrified that I may get ALS when I am older.

If you have ANY helpful information to calm my mind or just ways to detect early ALS please let me know.
 
Hi Wrjosh. I am sorry to hear about your Dad. You will find a lot of great tips for him on htis site - the rest of the family, especially Dad, might want ot poke around too.

As for the genes that carry ALS- you can be tested for them.

Hereditary ALS is even rarer than the “regular” kind, and that is rare in and of itself. You most likely are going to be fine. We see this fear crop up all the time around here. I think it happens too in families with cancer, dementia, and the like. Family members start learning about a disease and notice all kinds of normal things that they never noticed before.

But since these are scary times for your family, feel free to ask about anything that troubles you. Folks around here are great about helping. Regards, Cindy
 
Hi wrjosh. I believe the incidence of familial ALS is more like 5- 10% so your odds are pretty good you won't get it. Chances are that if your dad got it from something service related then his is sporadic which drops your odds to about zero. I'd say you don't have much to worry about except helping your mom with your dad.

AL.
 
... what Al said, but also:

Even if your Dad's ALS is familial (5-10%), it doesn't mean you got the bad gene. So your chances of contracting the disease are even lower than that.

You can also try to find out if there's any family history of ALS on your Dad's side of the family.

Most importantly relax, you have a small chance of eventually getting ALS.

-Tom
 
So is the test to see if it IS familial a simple blood test? And then if my brother, who also had ALS and died in 2004, had the familial type-how would we ever know?

thanks for the help,
Keep the faith,
brenda
 
wrjosh,

HI, I am sorry about your father. THis must be a difficult time.

I would not worry about your dream. I am a very vivid and active dreamer. I have a few dreams a night and always remember them. I have had this dream so many times. For me, it is the same, I cant move a muscle or If I try to defend myselt I can not connect to the person or I am rendered helpless. I researched these type of dreams (of coures) and what it revealed was a deep fear. I am not getting into details but I had reasons through the years to feel afraid. YOU have reasons to feel afraid with your dad and all that you are thinking about. I would not look at your dream as any hidden meaning of what will happen to you. Our dreams can mean nothing or be thoughts that we had during the day. I dream about anything and everything and had to stop watching anything scary or creepy because it would creep into my dreams. Now, I just dream that I am in Senfield!

anyway, take care and dont worry about als for you.....it would be rare. We all get cramps when we swim.

take care

april
 
Thanks for the help guys. I talked to my mom about it, and She found out she was pregnant with me while my dad was at war. So IF my dad got it from inhaling gasses or whatever, there is no chance I have it.
 
Smart Mom! I am glad you decided to talk to her. She is worried about how you feel, trust me!
 
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