Please Clear my Fears Once and For All

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Yaga

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Learn about ALS
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I promise I will not come back on here with a question like this but want to get this out of the way. I am a 20 year old Indian Male.

1. I have had something called Brachial Neuritis for the past 4 months which severely weakened my arms. Since then I've recovered a lot of range of motion.

2. Lately, my fingers have been getting weaker. It started with my index finger which I checked up w/ my neurologist about 3.5 weeks ago, and he said it was b/c of the Brachial Neuritis. However, recently I noticed my middle finger of my left hand, and my index and middle finger of my right hand have grown a little bit weaker. I am not able to tap them on the table as many times as I used to.

3.Furthermore, all of the fingers of my left hand are twitching along with a few on my right hand.

4. SURPRISINGLY, I am still able to do the following:

-button my shirt
-type on the computer
-write with a pen/pencil
-eat my food
-push buttons on remote
-tie my shoelaces
-tuck in my shirt
-pull up my zipper
-etc.

5. My reflexes appeared to be normal at my Neuro exam. However, whenever I yawn, and turn my mouth the the left side, it quivers. Furthermore, when I lift my hands up and rest them on my wrists, both my hands tremble.

6. Occasionally I notice that my left and right knee buckle as I walk around. It's never to the point of falling. It happens about once or twice a day, but has been going on for the past few weeks. HOWEVER, I am able to do one legged squats (not perfectly bc I'm not some star athlete), walk on my tip toes, walk on my heels, run, etc.

7. How bad is finger weakness exactly in a malignant case?
 
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An injury to the brachial plexus causes anything distal to there to be affected. Basicly the brachial plexus is a nerve bundle between the neck and shoulder. From there the various nerves branch out and send signals to the muscles to contract. Think of it as the plexus as your electrical panel and the nerves as the wires that run to the rest of the house. If the issue is the wires you fix the wire and all is good. if the panel is the issue the wires to your house may not work. This is Brachial Neuropathy. ALS is a diagnosis of exclusion, they have to eliminate all possible diagnoses to say you have ALS. Lucky you they found some other explanation for your issues. As far as how bad is weakness, the effected muscles become completely paralized.

Vincent
 
An injury to the brachial plexus causes anything distal to there to be affected. Basicly the brachial plexus is a nerve bundle between the neck and shoulder. From there the various nerves branch out and send signals to the muscles to contract. Think of it as the plexus as your electrical panel and the nerves as the wires that run to the rest of the house. If the issue is the wires you fix the wire and all is good. if the panel is the issue the wires to your house may not work. This is Brachial Neuropathy. ALS is a diagnosis of exclusion, they have to eliminate all possible diagnoses to say you have ALS. Lucky you they found some other explanation for your issues. As far as how bad is weakness, the effected muscles become completely paralized.

Vincent


I guess what I was worried about is, do you think it's likely that something newer and more malignant has started or is it too unlikely a possibility? And if I'm still able to do the above mentioned tasks does it make something like ALS unlikely?

Also, what about the stuff w/ my knees, does that raise any eyebrows, bc my neurologist has not addressed any of that yet.
 
People stumble all the time. You, having these issues, are hyper vigilant to anything abnormal. The upper extremity stuff is most likely related to the brachial neuropathy. The leg stuff is too sporadic to be ALS related. with ALS something doesn't work and that's it, it doesn't come back. It is paralyzed for the rest of your days. I would go with the brachial neuropathy and enjoy a nice long life. You don't belong here.
Vincent
 
Has Hirayama disease been ruled out?
 
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