shoulder pain and weakness

[nanad]

hi!

i have always been someone who is really scared about als. Just to be specific i did an emg in 2018 and 2020 with fear of having als mostly because of twitching.

i have been having bilateral shouder pain and weakness (got diagnosed with tendonitis and bursitis on left shoulder) since december. i got a cortisone injection 2 weeks ago which didnt do anything. So my mind wandered and i thought about als after having a bicep twitch. In other words, i went down the rabbit hole.

As the days came on i started having a heavy feeling in my right leg kind of like it's heavy and i have kind of like a discomfort in my calf and achille's tendon when i walk but mostly going down the stairs.

Three days ago another "symptom" came on and now my right hand feels weak kind of like its very fatigued and my middle finger cramps and twitches everytime i use my hand. (i massaged my shoulder a lot with this hand days prior so maybe its that? )

i went to see my gp for a consultation and after doing the strenght test she said it looked normal strenght both sides. Although it did hurt and i felt a painful stifness in my right hand while doing it. Like i couldnt hold it too long cuz it caused the painful stiffness and my finger would twitch after.

She thinks it's just a muscle arm/hand strain but sent me to do a emg just for my piece of mind. I am waiting for the appointement, although in the meantime i'm scared.

Can you have some weakness leg and thab hand in an interval of a week? and having a negative clinical weakness assessement? like am i being ridiculous? Does it make sense?

what are my chances of having it at 39 😬😬

thank you for your responses in advance. xx

 

[affected]

Like your doctor, I can't see anything that would suggest ALS.
Tendonitis and bursitis is not always helped by injections, but they can also take up to a month to work.

Feeling weak and clinical weakness are very different things. You don't have clinical weakness and that is what would indicate something more serious could be going on.

Have a good read here, then return to discuss what is next with your doctor. I hope you get relief. There are physiotherapy and surgery options for your shoulder.

Important - READ BEFORE POSTING! Answers to common concerns about possible symptoms

We will try to answer reasonable questions. We are not here to argue with you. If you announce that you ”know” you have ALS when the doctors say otherwise, or you have not bothered to see a doctor, your thread will be closed. It is not our place to try to convince you you are wrong. Neither...

www.alsforums.com

 

[nanad]

hi!

so i just went for the emg test with the neuro muscular neurologist.

the tech started with the nerve conducting test.
she told me the doctor would come see me for the results.

the neuro came told me the nerve conducting test was normal. did a complete neuro clinical assessement told me everything was normal. i have twitches and some pain in right calf and ankle with perceived weakness. my hand feels a bit weak too.

he told me that he was 99,99% sure i dont have als but to be 100% he could do the emg (needle part) test. so he asked where were my hot spot twitches and would do the emg in those spots

so the emg test was done by a neuro resident supervised by the doctor. they were talking saying how everything looked good. he was instructing him how to go, etc.

when he got to my calf muscle, i heard him say something along the lines of oh probably trauma...

so at the end he said everything is good, he said he did find some abnormality on my right calf but probably because of trauma i had there... he said maybe you walk a lot or etc. i didnt wanna ask him what it was exactely cuz i didnt wanna know and look it up on google cuz im pretty sure i woulve found something related to als lol and at this point i didnt want to annoy him

i dont walk a lot but i did do a lot of leg strengh tests and that calf muscle is a bit sore and stiff so maybe that's why?

anyways at the end he told me you dont have als, you dont even have early signs of als. he told me to continue celexa for my anxiety. and wished me luck and hoping the celexa will bring me peace.

but the abnormality part?!!! is calf muscles notorious to pick up abnormal findings?

i wanted to do a emg to reassure me but it did tge complete opposite 🙄

 

[ShiftKicker]

Hey there-

I've moved your post to your already existing thread- it helps to keep everything together in one place. Please keep posting here,

Hi there-

If a specialist and an emg won't reassure you, what will? We certainly wouldn't dispute or contradict the people who have seen and examined you. If you have questions about the examination itself, please ask your doctor. You can also ask for the examination report where the specialist will have noted their findings and sent it to the referring doctor.

In the meantime, what are you doing to deal with your health anxiety? It's intense enough to cause you to question experts and doubt the EMG.

Take care

 

[nanad]

hi! thank you for your response.

i am taking celexa but just started i havent felt the effects yet and seeing therapist... my gp advised against doing the emg cuz i didnt have clinical weakness and it would only feed into my anxiety and it would not reassure me... and she was right 😪

i just wanted to know if seeing a reading suggesting "trauma" to the leg was possible and if als would show a specific reading...

 

[Nikki J]

aLS does have a specific pattern. Without seeing the report it is impossible to say for sure but chronic denervation from an old injury or wear and tear is quite common and benign. Als shows that but also much more and is present in multiple muscles. And no chronic denervation ( which you may or may not have) is not a first early sign

it is sadly true that reassurance emgs hardly ever accomplish their goal

 

[affected]

You answered it yourself - you did a lot leg strength tests and the muscle is sore. they find a tiny something shows.
How can you not ask the doctor for more information, get told so clearly that you can't possibly have ALS, then come here and start asking if it's all wrong.

It is now totally your choice. Believe the very smart doctors and gold standard tests. Or don't.
But we can't take this even one more post further.
Please move on with making your life wonderful, it's in your hands.

 

[nanad]

hi! thank you. i thought chronic dennervation was only from a back problem?? he specifically told me it was from muscle trauma.thats why i was confused he did needle part on hand and leg 3-4 spots and only calf showed some abnormality. so i guess i should take it as it is and just move on. thank you all for you responses very apprecisted.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Hello-

You will have to speak with your doctor about any results. They are the people who've examined you, noted results and generated any reports. It's not really for the people here to speculate or guess what your doctor was thinking. However, ALS is not a concern, it seems- hopefully you are now reassured.

Take care