Please advice

[Kp317]

Hello! Thank him for your time and your resources on the site. Basically I do have health anxiety and I started having twitching in both legs and feet, hands and arms. I know twitching is not alarming within itself. But my left hand feels weak and I have been a bit clumsy with that hand though it comes and goes. Question 1: would weakness come and go? Question 2: It’s says “failing not feeling” so my question is, before it “fails” is weakness a precursor? Or just one day you wake up and can’t use a limb at all? Question 3: My doc ran some labs. My CK levels are a bit low. Would they be high with Als? I’m 42 and have a lot of responsibility at this time and I just need to know I’m ok. A lot of people are depending on me. I also am on a statin and read it’s a possible cause. Thank you for any input.

 

[lgelb]

No, in ALS, weakness does not come and go, because it is a loss of abilities, not feeling weak. There can be good days and bad at the beginning but not "here today, gone tomorrow."

CK can be higher than normal with ALS and some muscle disorders. CK that is "a bit low" can reflect the need to improve diet, loss of muscle for a non-ALS reason, like lack of exercise/aging, or just be your normal. Your doctor can track it along with other clinical findings.

Statins have been associated with myopathy (muscle problems) in some people but it is much rarer than you would think by googling. Also, it would typically be associated with increased, not decreased CK.

You can always stop the statin to see if that helps and try other approaches to cholesterol, or you can try a different statin or a lower dose. These are all options to discuss with the doctor who prescribed the statin.

Best,
Laurie

 

[Kp317]

Thank you so much for your reply. I guess what is confusing is if the muscle just stops working without warning. Or is there a warning of weakness.

 

[lgelb]

When you have to ask which is which, you're not weak -- you haven't lost function.

When you get up in the morning, are you ready to run a mile? Probably you have to ramp up a little. You might feel weak, tired, etc. before your coffee or tea. But you have not lost function.