Hello, all.
I am a 30 year old woman who has been experiencing chronic pins and needles in hands and feet, very painful muscle spasms, weakness/clumsiness in left hand and fingers and some loss of sensation in my toes. My hands almost seem to jerk away when I am trying to do fine motor tasks, like close buttons or slice an apple. This has been ongoing for a little while, but I thought I was just tired or distracted (I have a 20 month old son who still doesn't sleep). The pins and needles came on suddenly, and my PCP referred me to a neurologist. (I have actually been seen primarily by a neurology nurse practitioner.) My exam showed that I have hyperreflexia in both my arms and legs. They ordered an MRI of my brain and c-spine, found some issues in my c-spine - an osteophyte irritating a nerve that could explain my hand issues, and a mild narrowing of the canal - but apparently nothing that they feel could be causing the bulk of my symptoms. I saw the nurse practitioner for a follow up and she told me they wanted to do an EMG to rule out "the big guns". I had no idea what the big guns were, so I asked her and she replied that they wanted to rule out ALS.
I was completely shocked. I didn't even think of ALS as a possibility and had no idea it was on the table. I was also confused, because I didn't think there was a conclusive test to exclude ALS. Am I mistaken? Also, does it seem right that ALS would be brought up so soon? This is only the second time I've been to this office. I thought it usually took some time before ALS would be considered, especially considering that many of my symptoms seem to be atypical of ALS, from what I can tell. I'm scared I'm seeing the wrong people and I'm scared that I might have something so much more serious than I ever could've imagined. Does this experience sound reasonable/typical/familiar?
I am so sorry to bother you all. I am terrified and truly don't know where to turn. The nurse practitioner told me to try not to think about it, but I have two small children and all I can think about is how desperately I don't want to leave them. I'm very frightened and very confused. Any information or insight would be helpful. Thank you so much.
I am a 30 year old woman who has been experiencing chronic pins and needles in hands and feet, very painful muscle spasms, weakness/clumsiness in left hand and fingers and some loss of sensation in my toes. My hands almost seem to jerk away when I am trying to do fine motor tasks, like close buttons or slice an apple. This has been ongoing for a little while, but I thought I was just tired or distracted (I have a 20 month old son who still doesn't sleep). The pins and needles came on suddenly, and my PCP referred me to a neurologist. (I have actually been seen primarily by a neurology nurse practitioner.) My exam showed that I have hyperreflexia in both my arms and legs. They ordered an MRI of my brain and c-spine, found some issues in my c-spine - an osteophyte irritating a nerve that could explain my hand issues, and a mild narrowing of the canal - but apparently nothing that they feel could be causing the bulk of my symptoms. I saw the nurse practitioner for a follow up and she told me they wanted to do an EMG to rule out "the big guns". I had no idea what the big guns were, so I asked her and she replied that they wanted to rule out ALS.
I was completely shocked. I didn't even think of ALS as a possibility and had no idea it was on the table. I was also confused, because I didn't think there was a conclusive test to exclude ALS. Am I mistaken? Also, does it seem right that ALS would be brought up so soon? This is only the second time I've been to this office. I thought it usually took some time before ALS would be considered, especially considering that many of my symptoms seem to be atypical of ALS, from what I can tell. I'm scared I'm seeing the wrong people and I'm scared that I might have something so much more serious than I ever could've imagined. Does this experience sound reasonable/typical/familiar?
I am so sorry to bother you all. I am terrified and truly don't know where to turn. The nurse practitioner told me to try not to think about it, but I have two small children and all I can think about is how desperately I don't want to leave them. I'm very frightened and very confused. Any information or insight would be helpful. Thank you so much.