Worried and Scared

Hello Everyone! My name is Denise. I am a 37 yr old wife and mother of 3 beautiful children. Basically healthy but I don't really exercise. Okay so I am just going to jump right in. My grandfather passed from complications of ALS over 20 years ago. So this may make me overly paranoid. I witnessed my grandfather lose the ability to use his arms and hands. It was heartbreaking. I am worried about the symptoms that I am feeling. My left arm feels weak and tired and if I used it too much it really tires. Its seems as if as the day goes on the strength in my arm diminishes. As I am typing I feel a dull ache in my bicep. My hands seem clumsy to me. I have trouble grasping things just fumbling when usually I didn't. Folding towels, putting the key in the door, flipping through papers these things are taking longer than they should and are a bit difficult. My hands want to curl closed and ache when I fully extend them although this may be because of all the typing I do. My hands have been this way for at least a year. My arm for about 3 months. I have also noticed a difference in my speech. I slurr and stutter my words. I have always spoken clearly(theater). Honest opinions please is it best to see the family doctor or go right to a specialist? Any information would help. Thank you!

Sorry about your grand dad- no wonder you are wondering.

Go to your primary care physician first. Your symptoms could be a result of any one of a long list of ailments, but the first which comes to my mind is carpal tunnel syndrome. Also, typically, other people would mention your speech impairment (if present) before you would even be aware of it. Fatigue (3 kids and a job!) can cause the feeling of slurring words.

Don't jump to conclusions. Let us know(if you want) what your PCP says.

Much agreed - PCP first. Even if it is something a specialist needs to handle, it's better to go with prelimary testing and ruling out done by your PCP, and it makes you look like less of an anxiety case.

In the meantime, there are a lot of little doodads for getting things done with poor hand control, and they even sell stretchers to keep your hands from curling up at night You don't need a name to get this stuff, and it is generally cheap as most of it isn't covered by insurance. Send me a message if you are looking for help with some specific task.

I am sorry you are in difficulty. Please settle the matter with a battery of tests from a qualified physician. I would recommend someone familiar with ALS. My pals went round and round until she was properly diagnosed. She was even scheduled for carpal tunnel surgery, which would have been painful and to no avail. Her als started just like yours in the hands and being unable to grasp. God bless and do not worry.

Hi Denise, I agree with the others saying to go to your PCP. Tell him about your symtoms and your worries and he will decide if send you to a neuro or not. During this waiting try not to jump to the worst case scenario, bad thoughts only increase stress and make symptoms seem worse than they are ( I'm speaking from my own experience ). Good luck

I will echo the call to go to your primary care physician. I had weakness for several years but it was progressing very slowly and only in my hands. I was at my annual physical and my doctor looked over and said what are those twitches? I said I've been ignoring them, and then she looked at my blood work. An enzyme called CPK 3 was extremely elevated. It certainly could've been a lab error. Since I was hauling back to my neurosurgeon she suggested that I ask what my post op CPK 3 was. It was normal. So in 6 months my CPK 3 had quadrupled, my weakness was increasing, and the twitching had begun. So off I went to the ALS clinic. I had been seeing this fabulous neurologist for a couple of years and after 3 years of weakness, 2 surgeries, he got his 1st dirty EMG. Heaven love them he then disappeared for 2 hours and went through my entire medical record. Please understand they had already done blood tests for hereditary pressure point neuropathy, and at least 20 other tests. This is a rare disease. Start with your primary care physician, take a deep breath, take a warm bath, and recognize that motherhood is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. Good luck to you.
Holly

I agree, go to gp. They will run the simple tests first like blood tests or xrays. It could be simple or complicated but you need to understand that there is no specific test that will point to a diagnosed.

It is a process of elimination and can be time consuming. Don't make yourself sick with stress and anx iety, easier said than done. But everyone will tell you that it can make you really sick and it was time wasted that could have been making good memories.

Keep a diary or journal of your symp toms like a time line, what you were doing, how long it lasts, come and go, that sort of thing. It will help when you are being bombarded with questions and having to repeat over and over if you see different docs. Take notes because its hard to remember everything once you get home.

Take it easy. I wish you peace.