Sudden left sided ache and weakness

[Wirt]

Hello! I’ve been dealing with some perceived weakness and an achey sensation in my left arm and leg. My joints are clicking heaps and I’ve been having fasciculation’s which I’ve never experienced before. My left leg right above my knee feels kind of jelly like or weak and a little achey from there up to my groin and hip like the tendon is tight from weak stabilisers.

My sholdour on the same side has a similar sensation that runs to my elbow.

This began suddenly when I woke up with a weird muscle pain in both locations a few weeks ago and it never went away. The fasiculations started shortly after and normally only last a few seconds but have lasted hours on 2 occasions.

I have had a ct of my cervical spine with no findings.

Does this sound like ALS?

I have been referred by my gp to a neurologist for a work up but it’s going to take months to get seen and I’m Super scared right now and unable to really function : (

 

[lgelb]

I don't see ALS in this picture. If you can see a physio or rheumatologist sooner than a neurologist, that might shed some light, and if those are inaccessible, therapeutic massage might be worth a try. Tossing, turning, and putting undue pressure on one side can cause everything you describe, hypothetically, with your mind throwing in some anxiety for good measure to make everything worse.

I am not saying that's what's happening, but that's the null hypothesis and there's a great deal of territory between it and ALS, which I have not heard manifest as acutely and in the manner you describe.

Meanwhile, it would do no harm to re-assess everything about your sleeping surfaces -- pillow, mattress, frame, overlay. You could also try videoing your sleep.

 

[Wirt]

Thanks so much for replying, just curious what specifically makes you think this is not ALS? Thanks heaps!!!

 

[ShiftKicker]

Make sure to read the Read Before Posting link as it answers your questions pretty comprehensively. Twitching absent clinical weakness, sensory issues, symptoms that come and go or improve and clicking joints point elsewhere.

 

[Wirt]

Hello, just to update I’m still experiencing the weakness in my thigh, I’ve realised it’s the vmo muscle specifically. When I stand straight with my knee it feels like it wants to give way and doesn’t lock out like my other knee. My left sholdour also still feels weird maybe sort of dead / weak feeling and my muscles on my left side are fatiguing and aching after exercise despite my right side being completely fine.The fasiculations have very quickly spread across my whole body now happening in my chest muscles and sholdours and face. I know your not supposed to but I tested my knee reflexes and they appear to me to be hyper reflexive per videos i have watched of clinicians identifying hyperreflexia. I’m really struggling to not assume this is ALS but I don’t know how else to explain to myself what this could be : (.

 

[ShiftKicker]

I think you will need to exercise some restraint and stop researching ALS online and self testing, as what you are posting makes it pretty clear that in your search for answers and certainty, you are actually just making yourself more anxious. It is never a good idea to self test, as you are not a trained medical professional and no one can self test reflexes objectively.

I'd have another read of lgelb's reply to you and take her advice. You don't need to wait to see a neuro to work on things and achieve some relief- go see a physio for an objective assessment and an exercise/stretching regime. It can also be helpful to track any changes between now and whenever you see the neuro you've been referred to.

Take care