Some Questions About Initial Symptoms

[SlowMoJoMo]

Hi all,

I’ve been having ALS fear for few weeks before I found this forum. It first began when I feel weakness in my arms and legs as well as minor muscle twitching. Normally I’m quite active in the gym but few weeks ago I’m starting to feel more fatigue than normal, I can do less in the gym than a month ago. On top of that I’m feeling stiffness in my movement from times to times as well as some daily legs pain.

I have read through the pinned thread and it eased my mind quite a lot (for example, the twitching is probably nothing). But I still got some more questions

- Does muscle weakness comes before or after atrophy? I’m reading a lot of information regarding ALS but I can’t find a clear answer.

- Can weakened muscles from ALS caused pain? I’m not sure that my leg pain is from my legs muscle giving out from ALS. I’m quite a heavy guy so is it possible that I’m having leg pain because of my legs are getting weaker (despite regular time in the gym)?

- I have read another article that quite contradicts with the pinned thread. Here it said ALS is like turning off a wifi, your voluntary movement is just suddenly became impossible. But I read another article that ALS can be diagnosed with finger taps test (which means your movement is slower not become impossible). It’s quite contradictory for me.

Thank you in advance for any answer to come!

 

[lgelb]

Generally answers are before/no/whether a movement becomes difficult before impossible depends on what the movement is and how many/which muscles control it. Sometimes, if one muscle stops working, others can compensate for a while.

Most often, changes in how you can work out are not ALS, but they are often a virus, infection, suboptimal training, an underappreciated injury, etc.

Twitching can often relate to an electrolyte imbalance, nutritional deficiency, and/or dehydration. Twitching can make muscles feel stiff and weak even when they are not, really.

So there are lots of avenues to explore with your primary care doc. Hopefully as you work out how to feel better, you can let go of your fears. If you can't, there is counseling.

Best,
Laurie