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St3vi3

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Hi everyone, new user here.

First I would like to send out my heartfelt condolences to all those who are suffering with this disease, and their loved ones.


A while back I was randomly looking up random things on Wikipedia, and somehow I ended up looking at Lou Gehrig. After reading the section on ALS I started panicking, thinking I was going to suffer from this. I've always had anxiety and depression from a young age and have been through phases of worrying about being stricken with infectious diseases, and the like.

Just over a month ago, I had a cold, and after I noticed a slight 'numbness' in my right forearm. Just one muscle, mind. I immediately started panicking and with the nature of my mind the thought of the disease was on my mind almost constantly.

I thought I'd let it pass for a few weeks and see how things went, and I'm pretty sure I got to a point where I thought my arm felt practically normal. However, I've just had another cold type virus and more of my arm seems to be affected. I work in the retail industry, lifting 20KG weights every few minutes and have not noticed a dimishment in my strength lifting items, but my co-ordination in my right hand seems to have slumped. I'm dropping things more frequently and favouring my left hand more. (I'm a right handed person)

My right arm seems to feel 'heavier' than my left. Difficult to explain, but I'm getting small sessions of twitches all over my body and my right arm also has a dull ache sometimes, as if I have put it under strain when I haven't had any problems with it before, or put it under any more strain than normal. The strange numbness seems to have spread over to my entire forearm, and when playing the guitar yesterday it was more of a strain placing my fingers on the strings.

Trying to see if I was affected I did 50 pushups yesterday, and though my left shoulder muscles seem to have recovered, my right is a bit stiff as like after any strenuous exercise (football, etc)

In other areas of my life, things are getting me down. my mind is almost acting obsessively about this, and when I think the chances of me having this disease are so slim, I will quickly change tact and start being incredibly negative. I have taken on more hours at work, and as a perfectionist am trying and working incredibly hard to do my job well. I think it's leaving me stressed, which I'm hoping is the real reason I am having these problems.

I know that stress can exacerbate symptoms, make them seem worse and in many cases almost invent symptoms that aren't there. Especially when coupled with anxiety (I have suffered from depression on and off for 9 years or so now).

It's to the point where I am waking up thinking 'how is my arm' immediately, when I just wish I could try to take my mind off these feelings and try to get to see how I would bear up not knowing about this.

Is it worth seeing a doctor? Does it sound like ALS? I know that weakness is supposed to be one of the first major symptoms. Do colds and viruses cause our limbs to behave abnormally while/after we are recovering from them?

Thank you very much for your time reading this, any replies are greatly appreciated.

Steve (22 year old male)
 
Steve, it doesn't sound anything like ALS. Numbness, aches and twitches without weakness are not symptoms of ALS onset. I don't know much about medicine, but understand that viruses (and anxiety) can produce problems such as you describe.

If you can't get over obsessing about ALS, you might think about seeing a doctor and asking about anxiety.

But I'm glad you were reading about Lou Gehrig ... one of the greatest athletes ever. It's a shame that he is linked to this disease, because people sometimes forget what an incredible career he had.
 
Hi Beth, thank you for your quick reply. I'd read from several different sites that the disease can manifest itself in many different ways from the start of it's progression.

Would you mind explaining to me what the weakness is defined as? As I'm not sure how it would be defined. Would it just be percieved weakness or would you notice it as something substantial from the start of symptoms?
 
I'd like to echo Beth's comments. If it would help release you from your anxiety, see a doctor regarding your problems.

Lou Gehrig was one of the best ball players ever to walk the planet! They didn't call him the "iron horse" for nothing. What irony that he'd come down with ALS.

Zaphoon
 
In my own experience and from what I've read by others, the weakness is generally a surprise ... the onset is very subtle, and most people aren't aware that they are getting weaker in one area. We subconsciously adjust to changes in our bodies unless they are extreme ...

I started with bulbar, which is in the head area, so my first symptom was slurred speech ... weakness in my tongue and mouth. But when it spread to my limbs, I found one day I couldn't lift a full kettle of water. That was strange, as I had no sensation of anything wrong with my hand or my arm. A while later, I found I couldn't turn a key in the lock. Again, I had no warning signs ... it was just that my fingers were too weak to turn the key

You keep working around these weaknesses. I only fill kettles half full now; I've learned to turn keys with my knuckles not fingertips; I can't lift many things, so I ask for help. Etc. It's usually a gradual process.

As Zaphoon says, see a doctor if the symptoms persist or you are concerned about them. But it sounds like you have nothing to worry about as far as ALS goes.

Take care!
 
Steve--

I think it seems pretty clear, and you seem to recognize, that your body has the ability to manifest things that it's worrying about, especially with a history of health anxiety. The more you read up on ALS, the more things you'll be looking for in your body. ALS is pretty rare, getting it at 22 is even more rare and your symptoms don't really sound like ALS. The less you dig and worry about it, the better off you'll be.

Andy
 
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