Start of ALS? I Dont know if I should look more into this? A little worried

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jusarn4299

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Hey All,

So I am a 32 year old male that isn't extremely in shape, but good enough i would say. I have had pretty apparent general anxiety issues for about 12 years now. I used to have bad panic attacks, but over the years I have learned to cope with them.

I just recently got over COVID about a month ago and was where the symptoms first came to my attention. My two calves were just firing off tons of muscle spasms which I had never experienced before. They kind of went away after a few days or so but now that i am in the recovering phase, they seem to be coming back and manifesting randomly throughout the day (not as bad as when I first had COVID) but still happening. Now that I have noticed them I am noticing spasms more so in the: thigh as well now, in buttocks area sometimes, left back sometimes, and right hand once in a blue moon.

I don't see any signs of muscle waste or atrophy or anything. I am getting cramping like pain in some of the affected areas I just listed but they come and go as well. The only thing I can say I had prior to the spasms was sometimes I would get like pricking pain randomly in calves and thighs, and also some days I would experience pins and needles sensations in my lower body from waist down. Also sometimes when I wear long pants my legs are super sensitive to the clothing touching them as I walk, and this sometimes happens in my upper body as well. Sometimes the pins and needles would be from neck down but mostly in extremities.

But the spasms are a new thing I am experiencing, and of course I go straight to Dr. Google for reassurance just to find MND's like ALS which has brought me here. I am worried about it and just trying to get some insight from you guys. Should I see a doctor about this? Can you get spasms as a first symptom before it progresses and gets worse like to the point of muscle wasting clinical weakness and atrophy. I have also thought with the pins and needles I have had for years may be MS or something but idk? Just trying to get some advice and help!

Thanks,
Justin
 
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Yes go see a doctor if you are worried. No it doesn’t sound like ALS. we have seen a lot of people here with similar complaints after having covid. Before covid we used to see it ( more rarely) from other post viral syndromes

all your sensory ( feeling ) symptoms point away from ALS which is a disease of motor neurons. Spasms and twitches aren’t important. Please stop googling Mr google is not a doctor and he is feeding your GAD
 
Thank you so much for your quick response!!! Its more reassuring to hear that COVID has been a big contributing factor to these weird symptoms I have been having. Is it possible a viral infection exposure can cause a person to develop a MND? I also forgot to say one more symptom I have had which is tightness in my muscles in between my pointer and thumb. Although I have worked a desk job for like 15 years and type on a keyboard most of my life. So there is that as well that may account for it. But with any of the symptoms I listed in the prior post sound like MS at all? I know this is an ALS forum but I was also curious about the pins and needles and over sensitivity issues being possibly MS? GAD is not a fun time, I have struggled with it for years. Thanks again!
 
There is no evidence of covid as a trigger. If it were the ALS clinics would be reporting surges in diagnoses by now and they are not. This is, as you note, an ALS forum. MS does have sensory symptoms but I would not jump there. Talk to your doctor who knows you.
 
You should always see a doctor rather than ask google or strangers on the internet who can't examine you.
 
Thank you all for your timely and amazing responses. Im now taking a multi b vitamin and magnesium supplement for the twitches etc. I am seeing a small improvement but i am still experiencing muscle twitching that is random and pops up for a few seconds then goes away. Still mostly in my calves but goes into my buttocks, thighs, bicep area forearm area hands sometimes as well. Never constant just a good amount of times a day it fluctuates throughout my body just quick brief spasms.

I can still do everything button buttons etc. Have a kind of overall fatigue day to day that has made me think it is weakness but i can do everything i did before i started getting the symptoms but with cramps tightness of muscles and twitching.

Again I have general anxiety disorder so i may be self manifesting the perceived weakness. With ALS are the muscle twitches constant or can they also come and go widespread throughout the body? Also i just recovered from Covid about 2 months ago which is when the twitching first started.

Can getting an infection like this cause an immediate trigger to anything that can cause twitching etc? I had my first appointment at urgent care as follow up post covid visit and just gave doc insights on the twitching and such. Thus is why im on the multi b vitamin and magnesium. Advice? Thanks again.
 
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Twitching and muscle fatigue is NOT ALS.
Twitching doesn't even mean anything.
You have GAD so please, discuss all these fears with your doctor, we can't continually hand hold you through a non ALS path.

I think you must have missed this, so it's worth a read before you leave. I'm so glad this is not the place you should be.
 
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