wright
Very helpful member
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- Jan 12, 2008
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Crystal
The more I hear of your story, the more convinced I am that you have some type of peripheral neuropathy. I'm very hopeful that you get some answers with your next EMG. Remember however, that small fiber peripheral neuropathy is difficult for an EMG to detect.
April
With ALS, weakness will precede atrophy. Denervation to the muscle fibers will cause immediate weakness in those muscle fibers. It is typically a slow and insidious process, to the point of not really noticing it initially. Muscle atrophy takes a little longer after denervation . . . but as the process continues: denervation then weakness then atrophy, it will be a slow decline with all three occuring at once.
If you have ALS atrophy, you will have weakness. It is as simple as that. So many come on the forum and say they think they have atrophy but don't say a thing about weakness in those muscles. Those people simply do not have ALS. The disease is certainly variable in how it presents and progresses, but all PALS have: denervation . . . weakness . . . atrophy. Those are things that define ALS.
The above holds true for PMA, too. PLS is a different story.
The more I hear of your story, the more convinced I am that you have some type of peripheral neuropathy. I'm very hopeful that you get some answers with your next EMG. Remember however, that small fiber peripheral neuropathy is difficult for an EMG to detect.
April
With ALS, weakness will precede atrophy. Denervation to the muscle fibers will cause immediate weakness in those muscle fibers. It is typically a slow and insidious process, to the point of not really noticing it initially. Muscle atrophy takes a little longer after denervation . . . but as the process continues: denervation then weakness then atrophy, it will be a slow decline with all three occuring at once.
If you have ALS atrophy, you will have weakness. It is as simple as that. So many come on the forum and say they think they have atrophy but don't say a thing about weakness in those muscles. Those people simply do not have ALS. The disease is certainly variable in how it presents and progresses, but all PALS have: denervation . . . weakness . . . atrophy. Those are things that define ALS.
The above holds true for PMA, too. PLS is a different story.