Diadumenian
New member
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2022
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Diagnosis
- 00/0000
- Country
- US
Last night my wife noticed that the muscles in her upper left arm are significantly smaller than those in her right. She can see from previous pictures taken that this was not always the case. She thinks it happened rather suddenly (she’s a hypochondriac and is regularly checking her body for any abormalities).
We’ve been together 5 years so I’ve gotten adjusted to her many and frequent bouts of thinking that she has contracted something terrible, and I’m usually able to point to something that would explain whatever she’s feeling in a less scary way. This time however I’m at a loss, because this isn’t in her head. I felt her arms myself and there is a legitimate difference between the two.
She is not currently exercising and to the best of her knowledge there is no reason she should have worked one or the other arms more in recent weeks to cause a discrepancy. After noticing the difference she says she’s also noticed some weakness or shakiness in that arm recently. However since she thought of that after noticing her arm that could be her anxiety telling her this. I suggested lifting some weights with both arms and she was able to do the same exercises with both arms but she said it was harder with the affected arm.
My thinking is, if her muscle had already atrophied to the point of a very noticeable difference between the two arms, wouldn’t she be feeling much more severe symptoms? She has not lost any coordination in the hand or fingers, she is still able to use the arm normally, and other than the supposed shakiness she felt, she has no other symptoms.
Is there any possibility this is ALS? Does anyone have any ideas about what it could be? I’ve tried searching every possible thing I can think of and have come up empty. Obviously she should seek medical attention if she feels there’s a problem, but it will take a week or two to be able to see anyone and in the mean time she will be driving herself absolutely insane with worry.
Thank you in advance for any response.
We’ve been together 5 years so I’ve gotten adjusted to her many and frequent bouts of thinking that she has contracted something terrible, and I’m usually able to point to something that would explain whatever she’s feeling in a less scary way. This time however I’m at a loss, because this isn’t in her head. I felt her arms myself and there is a legitimate difference between the two.
She is not currently exercising and to the best of her knowledge there is no reason she should have worked one or the other arms more in recent weeks to cause a discrepancy. After noticing the difference she says she’s also noticed some weakness or shakiness in that arm recently. However since she thought of that after noticing her arm that could be her anxiety telling her this. I suggested lifting some weights with both arms and she was able to do the same exercises with both arms but she said it was harder with the affected arm.
My thinking is, if her muscle had already atrophied to the point of a very noticeable difference between the two arms, wouldn’t she be feeling much more severe symptoms? She has not lost any coordination in the hand or fingers, she is still able to use the arm normally, and other than the supposed shakiness she felt, she has no other symptoms.
Is there any possibility this is ALS? Does anyone have any ideas about what it could be? I’ve tried searching every possible thing I can think of and have come up empty. Obviously she should seek medical attention if she feels there’s a problem, but it will take a week or two to be able to see anyone and in the mean time she will be driving herself absolutely insane with worry.
Thank you in advance for any response.