Status
Not open for further replies.

leftside

New member
Joined
Aug 18, 2015
Messages
2
Reason
Other
Country
US
State
ny
City
Hampton Bays
Hi all - I am a 22 y/o male (I know).

For the past few years, I have had issues with my left side. I pulled something near my shoulder and endured the worst pain of my life. Afterward, I had Carpal Tunnel-esque symptoms, with numbness in my fingers. I worse a wrist guard at night.

I have lived a largely sedentary lifestyle these past few years, and the feelings on my left side (that injury and the Carpal Tunnel) have discouraged me from being more active - a vicious cycle. In the past year or so, my left hand has gotten worse; my fingers tremor, my grip has weakened, and it is difficult for me to carry, say, a small pot of boiling water with my left hand without shaking. I visited my doctor who suggested going to a physical therapist for an evaluation. There, the physical therapist said I seemed OK and provided me with basic exercises to loosen the ulnar/median nerves.

Since I still felt bad, I visited a neuro a month ago, who had me have two MRIs, one of brain, the other of neck; both were fine. I have started to feel tightness in my left leg, and coupled with my spasms in my arm and poor grip, I have worried that I have ALS. Any little effort sets off my left arm.

I am moving very soon across the country (currently on East Coast, moving west) to begin work, but I am unsure of how to move forward. Should I get an EMG? I've become preoccupied with my left side.
 
Nothing, Leftie, NOTHING in your post reminds me in the slightest of anything remotely related to ALS.

At the top of this "Do I Have ALS" forum is a thread called "Sticky post: New Members Read This First." Read it to discover why your symptoms have nothing to do with ALS.

I can't diagnose you because I'm not a doctor, but I know ALS fairly well and you don't have it.

Follow up with your doctor.
 
Nothing, Leftie, NOTHING in your post reminds me in the slightest of anything remotely related to ALS.

At the top of this "Do I Have ALS" forum is a thread called "Sticky post: New Members Read This First." Read it to discover why your symptoms have nothing to do with ALS.

I can't diagnose you because I'm not a doctor, but I know ALS fairly well and you don't have it.

Follow up with your doctor.

I did read the stickied thread! I just thought my history seemed similar to the man in this thread. I have difficulty now, for example, lifting a spoon from a bowl, and that scares me. Is clinical weakness a sudden thing or more progressive? In that thread, his grip progressively worsened, and mine is starting to as well...
 
Leftie, thanks for reading the sticky. Most folks don't.

For one thing, there's your age. I recently looked at a database of ALS patients. Out of 1800, the average age was in their sixties. Only three people were 27, 28, 29. This is more reason to suspect something else, not ALS.

Your injury and carpal tunnel would explain the shaking and weakness. In fact, a shoulder injury caused me to have difficulty lifting a pencil for more than a few seconds. Note that I don't have ALS. That weakness and pain lasted for six months and gradually got better over the years.

Your symptoms are common with common causes, but ALS is rare.

You're right to note that the hallmark of ALS is actual, clinical weakness. It happens pretty quickly. You see, it's not really a muscle or an arm thing. ALS is a brain and brain stem thing. A motor nerve in the brain is destroyed, and so the corresponding muscle never gets the signal to contract.

My wife had ALS. In her case, she fell over without any warning. Didn't know her foot was weak. It just happened one day when she was squatting in the bookstore and her muscle didn't prevent her from falling over. Within a month, her whole leg was involved and she needed a cane to walk. Importantly, there was no feeling of weakness or muscle burning that most folks feel when their muscles aren't lifting well.

Only the motor neuron is involved, so there is no feeling of weakness.

Your GP can diagnose clinical weakness and the probable cause with a simple but comprehensive test. Since your symptoms could be caused by so many other things and your age points away from ALS, I would say don't sweat ALS, but follow up with your GP.

If your symptoms are the same as Sean's, you could ask your doctor for a consult to a neurologist, if for no other reason than just to calm your concerns. Since you're concerned about ALS, make it a neurologist who specializes in MNDs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top