your 1st symptoms?

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first symptoms

I was a waitress and it seemed like the plates were heavier. I made a drs appt the dr refered me to the nuero and just before the apt I noticed my left hand had no muscle left. The nuero immediately thought ALS. 6weeks for nuero appt then 2 weeks to diagnosed
I'm 43
kris
 
Hi, Wright ... I don't think of not being able to turn a key or lift a kettle as a "major symptom," especially since I manage to do them all with a little ingenuity. I had no clue that I was getting weaker until I found that I could no longer do a few minor things like that.

What would be an interim sign that you would expect to see? I'm very curious about that. Since I have no sensations of weakness, what would you consider a red flag that would let me know that I'm losing strength in my hands? Would my knuckles turn purple? Would I grow hair on my palms? I just hate the thought that I'm not obsessing enough about my symptoms to meet this forum's standards of high anxiety.

Actually, as far as major and minor go, I consider losing the ability to speak to be a major symptom, not struggling to turn a key in a lock. And I consider losing lip seal, frequent drooling, my mouth drooping open and jaw hanging down, choking and aspirating liquids, respiratory failure requiring hospitalization and entubation, to be "major" symptoms.

This is just a crazy hunch, Wright, but I bet if you woke up tomorrow and discovered you couldn't speak coherently, and knew that you wouldn't ever be able to speak coherently again for the rest of your life, you might reevaluate what constitute "major" and "minor" symptoms. In my experience, losing speech and swallowing is a real impediment to daily life, no pun intended :). I have yet to figure out a way to accomplish them by other means, as I can with keys and locks and kettles.

Since I'm still functioning ... driving, shopping, working in my studio, housekeeping, cooking, doing Pilates, yardwork, and caring for my very ill husband ... and the only thing that is really affecting my lifestyle is my loss of speech and swallowing, I just deal with minor problems as they occur. If I have trouble turning a key, I figure out some other way to do it. If I can't lift a kettle, I make it lighter. Duh. Just trying to stay alive and do what I have to do. What a dummy !

Anyway, please give me a list of all the interim symptoms of impending weakness I have missed, and I'll schedule 15 minutes a day to look for them in the future, and pencil in another 5 minutes for intense worrying.

Hope that helps.
 
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Geez everybody's taking a turn at humor this week. Is it Halloween or election giddiness? You were punning in the end, right Beth?

AL.
 
Moi? Puns?

Every now and then, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...
 
Beth

This thread is over 6 months old and was just resurrected. I posed that question when I was learning more about ALS (I was still relatively new to the forum).

At the time, it was puzzling to me when people suddenly realized they couldn't turn a key without realizing it prior to that realization. Make sense? :lol: That would actually be the loss of a lot of strength in the intrinsic hand muscles, which is why I "labeled" it as major. I have been an avid weight lifter for over two decades and I can detect even 1% changes in my strength, so that made the scenario even more puzzling to me.

I have come to learn that ALS is an insidious disease and from what I have read and been told (you have actually addressed it in a few of your posts), you simply don't "feel" weak until you realize you can't do something you used to be able to do. I think your words have helped a lot of people gauge what ALS weakness is, because many of the nervous people that come on here truly "feel" weak (weak in the knees type of feeling for example) as an initial symptom . . . but they can still function completely normally. That should actually be a comfort to them and hopefully it is.

Your words are of great comfort and knowledge.

Anyway, I hope this finds you well. Take care.

P.S. The Lakers have Bynum, so they don't need Shaq . . . AND . . . Kobe is the best player in basketball. I consider them the favorite to win it all this year.
 
Thanks, Wright, for your gracious reply. And also for what you contribute to all of us on the forum.

I should know by now to check the dates on messages.

You really can blame my sarcasm on my meds. I have only taken one lability pill instead of two for each of the last four days (trying to get them out of the blister packs, I punctured a few of the capsules, and the clinical trial people can't replace them because it's a double blind trial, and they don't know what dose I'm on), and being touchy and sarcastic is apparently what I do instead of laughing hysterically at the wrong times.

And I'm sure Kobe agrees with you. On the individual skill level, yes, you're right. Alas, basketball is a team sport. And, OK, Shaq is getting a little long in the tooth ... but I still miss the big guy. :-(
 
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