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My mother in law has ALS, she is 78 years old. Diagnosed in June, feeding tube end if July, hospital five days later(stomach pain), now in nursing home. She also has COPD and is diabetic. One thing I have learned over these past few months is that ALS has no rhyme or reason..
 
I'm so sorry about your mother in law. You are right they really don't know what causes sporatic als. If they did there might be a cure, wouldn't that be nice! I pray everyday for those who suffer from this nasty nasty desease and really pray they find a cure, I plan on doing a walk for als!
 
Hand atrophy.
 

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And dirty e mg
 

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Plus I have brisk reflexes in all areas. Severely lessened strength in left hand and moderate in the right. I am not an athlete, but a teacher who walks a lot. Get a life boys. No ALS said by an expert.

Blue dog,
An EMG expert has been trained to know exactly which muscle to stick and where. And to not torture the patient. Most reliable EMG givers are neurologists who attended school for a minimum of 7 years and some even longer. So afford them the respect they deserve. By the way, exactly what med school did you attend and what is your specialty.
 
Terry

Try to have a open mind when you go for your next opinion. It still could be anything at this point. Crossing als off your list is good. Have they looked at something in the MD family? There are adult onset in some forms of MD. All these diseases mimic each other and are tough to narrow down. hang in there, the drs know what they are doing. It takes time and patience to get to the bottom of whats going on. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Everything else has already been ruled out. ALS is the only thing left in the differential diagnosis.
 
Weightlifting and running causes ALS? This is the first I've ever heard of that. My husband is a runner. Should I be telling him to stop to avoid any possible MND in the future? Do you have any references to back up the weightlifting/ALS connection or is that just a personal opinion? :neutral:
 
actually, there is still many things they cant dix so this rule out and what you got left is what you got is a misnomer..........surely...........they dont know till it smacks you in the face...johnnyknownowt
 
Terry, don't worry about the skill of the technician. I've had 7 EMGs, two in '02 and 5 recently. Given 15 minutes, I could train a monkey to do them. You stick the needle in, ask the patient to offer resistance, and then look for abnormal MUPs. Then you tell the patient to relax the muscle and listen for fibs, psw, and fasics. That's it.

Are you serious? Those TRAINED technicians only made it LOOK easy. You must put the needle into the nerve, not just the muscle. Tell me where on the abdomen do you put the needle in to detect nerve involvement there? I do blood gases on people which means I put a needle into their radial artery to draw oxygenated blood, and there is a pulse to feel. I am considered one of the best in my hospital, and it is not easy. Nerves are much thinner than arteries, and you can not palpate them. So please educate me.
 
Thought I would post how I'm doing, since I started this thread. I am struggling. Had an MRI on brain and cervical region and more blood work. No sign of anything bad from the blood work - no autoimmune, west nile, lyme, etc. Brain MRI was normal. Cervical showed some arthritis and some narrowing, but not enough for my neuro to say it was causing my symptoms. But, my PCP thinks it could be. I am scheduled to see another neuro at the KU clinic on Oct. 24. My symptoms continue unabated - all over twitching, fatigue, hands are more and more weak and atrophied. Can still type, but my left hand is tremoring as I type this. Legs get tired and achy from just some normal walking. Occasionally having a terribly uncomfortable paresthesia which can last for a couple of hours in my upper arms which makes me cringe. Occasional shortness of breath, but it's not constant. Just want to be well, but know something is wrong. I should be able to workout again and feel good, but I try to do a little bit and I'm just worn out. The twitching never stops. For those of you who are diagnosed, do you just feel sick all the time? That's how I feel.
 
Want to let everyone know i had another good physical exam and a clean EMG (right arm and leg). however i am still having progressing symptoms - aching legs, fatigue, twitching all over, tremors of fingers, arms feel funny when used, worsening brain fog. i believe my second neuro that she did not find any reason at all to even consider MND but i am not feeling better. if i do any physical activity my muscles twitch afterwards. I want to be well but still feel awful.
 
Be happy it's not ALS!

Persevere until you get an answer, but I think you've been here long enough to know getting a diagnosis can take quite awhile. I am sorry you don't feel well - I understand that.
 
Terry, Have you looked into the aboutbfs.com/forums page? A lot of the symptoms you have (fatigue, a feeling of weakness, all over twitching, aching, etc) sound a lot like Benign Fasciculation Syndrome. If your neurologist rules everything out, there's a good change you may get a BFS diagnosis.
 
Maybe it is not a nerve problem but a muscle problem. Try looking at some muscle diseases. There are a lot that are adult onset. Mine was. Keep digging, it may take a while but you will get to the bottom of it.
 
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