Pretty worried

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apatel81093

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Dec 14, 2020
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Learn about ALS
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Hi there I’m a 27 year old male who just started experiencing symptoms a little over a month ago. One night I began experiencing my back twitching right above my scapula and that lasted for about a day or so. I went ahead and googled stuff and als popped up and I got worried, really worried. Next my right leg intermittently started to twitch, not really enough that I saw it but I always felt that I could feel it when it happened. Since then it’s predominantly been in my right leg but then again I’ll have twitches lasting literally maybe a second or two I’m different parts of my body. About 2 weeks ago my shoulders started feeling a little sore (mainly left) and I guess when I lift my arms above my shoulder they’re really sore feeling. There is no injury associated with my shoulder at all, that’s partly why it’s so weird and concerning for me. I went to a neurologist last week and he didn’t find anything. He didn’t observe any fasciculations and the exam was perfectly benign: reflexes all intact, no muscle atrophy observed, and strength was intact throughout my body and no weakness seen. He felt as if it was nothing and that it could be bfs and my shoulder soreness/weakness is from me getting worked up and worries. Still though even after that my symptoms largely haven’t gone away. Shoulder seems very sore and while there’s no clinical weakness in my upper limbs, I’m constantly moving my fingers and forearms which I think may be tiring them out. I understand the concept of failing not feeling, and while I haven’t started to fail at any movements, my muscles fee weak.

Is a lot of this still really in my head or do I have cause to be worried?

I appreciate all of your help and support. Apologies in advance if this is just me being a worry wart and I’ve wasted your time.
 
Hydrate yourself with water. Stop caffeine. Eat lots of fruit and veggies and get a good sleep every night.

This is not ALS. Most people, at some time in their lives, have benign twitches. My neurologist has had them for years. He's not worried in the least.
 
Thank you Kim. Just to follow up up regarding my left shoulder soreness (weakness???), basically unrelated I guess?
 
If bilateral, sore shoulders are frequently an artifact of poor positioning/lack of postural support in sleep or work. If it's just one, and movement is constrained, you might ask an orthopod if you could have a frozen shoulder or the like.

Nothing to do with ALS and may not relate to the twitching, except to the extent that pain can manifest that way sometimes.
 
Thank you, it’s just one shoulder really, my left. There really isn’t a loss of range of motion, it just seems very very sore after each movement. Does this mean weakness?I’m left handed and I do not want to jump to conclusions but it seems as if my left shoulder is somewhat thinned out. This has again been ongoing for about 3-4 weeks and again, no injury at all.
Could this likely be due stress, because this is the only thing that has been on my mind for weeks now. I thank you for your input, and I will try not to continually post after helpful comments and thoughts from everyone. Thanks again
 
No, soreness after movement is not the same as weakness. Again, frozen shoulder and other conditions don't have an injury cause, so check with a doc.
 
So my left shoulder droops a little lower than the right, which makes sense cause it is my dominant shoulder. It also looks smaller, so I’m asking if that could be atrophy, which is causing that soreness during movement. More than anything now I’m just looking back and forth and wondering why my dominant shoulder looks smaller than non dominant

this is my last thread in this post, as I feel as if I need to put this to rest and not think on it too much.
 
Just a quick follow up with regards to my shoulder. My twitches largely aren’t in that area, but the left side just feels a bit off. When als presents in the shoulder, is it the suddenly inability to lift arm above shoulder? Or can it be gradual? Again I’m left dominant and for some reason my left shoulder looks smaller than the right, to the point I notice it in the mirror easily. Should this be a worry sign or no? My shoulders been on my mind now for over 6 weeks. The right side is perfectly fine, and as I sit here and type with both of my hands, no issues at all with any extremity weaknesses. Please help. Thank you so very much.

symptom wise, the left shoulder motions are just a bit more cumbersome, often feeling sore after a movement. If I lift both arms above my head my left side feels more tired quicker than right, which it never ever did.
 
ALS very rarely presents in the upper arms. When it does, it's bilateral, and not overnight.

Again, see a doc who can diagnose if there is a shoulder or arm problem. These can be time-sensitive to the extent that delaying PT can increase the damage.

Take your own advice from a post ago and stop posting here instead of dealing there. To help, I'm closing this thread. All the best.
 
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