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peanut78

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Learn about ALS
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Hi Everyone,
I will try to make this short. I am a 28/yo female, and am worried about ALS. I am definitely a hypochondriac, but am so terrified I have ALS. I recently started having muscle twtiching (for about a week), mostly in arms and legs, and now my left arm and leg feel weak. i wonder if it's all in my head after reading about ALS. I had a neurology appt 2 days ago, and am scheduled for an MRI and EMG Monday. My questions are:

1. Is it too soon to have an EMG? Would benign fasciculations show up on an EMG as well? How can they tell the difference?

2. How likely is it for a 28 year old to have ALS?

3. Could I be making myself think my arm and leg are weak because I'm terrified of ALS?

Thank you for any input!
 
Hi,
most likely it IS your psychic - Im the same case. My psychiatric told me, she had a man who couldnt walk for 6 months due to psychic state - all is possible when your mind is anxious.

About ALS: Starting wide-spread twitches and weakness in a few days isnt als. Als progresses rapidly, but I doubt it could be SO fast.

Im hypochondriac too, if I thought about MS, I felt electric shocks in my hands..
 
Fasciculations will show up on an EMG.

Fasciculations, or fascics are localized twitches of the muscle fibers.

From the On-Line Medical Dictionary:

A small local contraction of muscles, visible through the skin, representing a spontaneous discharge of a number of fibres innervated by a single motor nerve filament

Benign Fasciculation Syndrome, or (BFS) is different than ALS. here is a link to a BFS FAQ I found useful.

So, yes. Fasciculations are all the same to the machine.
 
Thank you for your responses.
If twitching shows up on an EMG in either BFS or ALS, how do they know if it's benign or from ALS?:confused:
 
Thanks AnnMarie,
So basically someone with BFS casn also have an abnormal EMG?
 
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