Weakness, atrophy in hand and shoulder, fasciculations- mother diagnosed in October

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brebekah24

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Joined
May 15, 2023
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1
Reason
Loved one DX
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Country
US
State
AK
City
Palmer
Hi all,
I want to preface this post with a few hard facts before I go into my symptoms. I am a 24yo female with no serious issues up until now, besides mental health. I will start by saying that I have always had health anxiety, so I may be picking apart small or dismissible issues, however, my mother was diagnosed with limb onset ALS about 7 months ago.

I’m August 2022 I was cleaning a home for work and experienced sudden weakness in my right hand- like immediate loss of half of my power. (This was before my mothers diagnosis, so my assumption was injury) Normal tasks started feeling awkward and uncoordinated, (typing, driving, buttoning or zipping, etc) the weakness seemed to be centrally located in the thumb. Since then I have noticed atrophy in my thumb that has been corroborated by my normal doctor, but I feel I have gained back at lease ~some~ of my ability to coordinate my hand and maybe even gained back some strength.

However, around March I had intense and debilitating pain in my shoulder which lasted three to four days, I began seeing a chiropractor who informed me that my shoulder has become impinged, is shorter in length then the left, and have serious spacisity in at least three of the muscles in my right shoulder. I do have mild to moderate pain with movement, which I know is a good sign, and a feeling of general uncomfortably in that area of my body all the time. My partner thinks he feels atrophy in my back and shoulder muscles as well. As for the use of my right hand, there isn’t yet anything I can’t seem to do, but I’m constantly readjusting my grip, using different muscles in my thumb that I do on the other hand because they don’t seem to “turn on” right away (but do with focus and effort). While I FEEL weaker on my right side, it’s constantly tired and exhausting to use, there isn’t significant strength difference between my two arms, or much loss of strength since initial hand weakness.

I also get regular fasciculations, which were unrelenting Nov-Dec last year (grieving my mother’s diagnosis and death of a friend) they have subsided, but I still get them every few minutes or so. Typically in left leg and right affected shoulder. (Note: I have diagnosed anxiety, so I know this can be a cause as well.)

I have had a clear brain MRI and am waiting on neurology to accept my referral for EMG.
I am hoping to get PALS opinions. My symptoms are noticeably different than my mothers, but the effects of them have been very similar with the impinged shoulder and atrophying muscles (Thumb: abductor pollicis brevis, Arm: extensor digitorum, Shoulder: trapezius, pectoralis minor, teres major)
Thank you for reading.
 
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I'm very sorry to hear about your mom. Please feel free to reach out for support here as a caregiver, or your mom might wish to participate as a PALS.

As you know, if your mom's ALS were familial, even if you developed it, it would be closer to her own age of onset.

I would see an orthopedist about your shoulder/hand. A chiro is just not the same thing. You might benefit from PT or other treatment for a specific condition that the chiro is not equipped (literally) to diagnose.

If you have an EMG, I would fully expect it to be reassuring as regards ALS. But pending that, I would really look for more/better help for your anxiety. Helping your mom will take a lot of energy, so the better your health, the more you can support her.

Best,
Laurie
 
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