Very afraid - ALS worry in foot!

[TheLostSaga]

To start off, I'm not a stranger to hypochondria, nor to ALS (I've had the fear before, and thought I had gotten rid of that terror entirely)

But recently (as in the last few days) I've noticed my right foot has been cramping and twitching, specifically on the arch.

But what I'm kind of most concerned about is whenever I try to stretch out my foot, my pinky toe and the muscle connected to it will just start twitching and jumping like crazy for a few seconds before it returns to normal. I have never noticed it do that before and I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

Thus far I have not had any weakness in my feet or in my legs and I've been able to jump around, stand on one foot, ect. ect. so I know my fear is a bit far-fetched but it just got a hold of me so strongly that I had to speak out about it, here (since there is no way I could afford a medical visit, even for my own peace of mind.) :wacko:

[FeelLikeNeo]

Hey,

Going through the ALS thing myself! Muscle twitches everywhere and some perceived weakness.

Whenever I stretch, I usually get twitches in whatever muscle it was. This has been going on for about 6-8 weeks and is getting me down.

I wouldn't worry if I was you. A few days isn't long, and you're getting no weakness. It's astoundingly rare, and try and rationalise it that way

[TheLostSaga]

Thank you for the response! :D It makes me feel a little bit better to know that someone else experiences that same thing that I do.

I got really freaked out after hearing from someone that the twitching could be replicated via tapping or stretching the muscle (when I heard that I started tapping on it like crazy, which didn't make anything happen; thankfully.)

But you're right! I've had no weakness and it would be very odd for the twitching to be so strong so suddenly (especially w/o any atrophy/weakness)

[butterfly00]

I am EXACTLY the same. Mine starts inmy ankle and spreads up my right leg. Also the stretching and then cramp/ twitch thing what is that, I really hate it.

[Bluebird5]

Hello! I am sorry to hear that you're going through this. I went through it last year and it was horrible. I too, was terrified. Mine started with slurred speech and my PCP thought I had MS. When my MRI came back normal, they were puzzled. Then I had a lot more neuro sx and my rheumatologist suggested ALS, very casually, which had me obsessively worried for months. I had twitches too, all over, probably from hormone changes, bad shoes, heat and stress. But also, I was diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy due to an autoimmune disease. I had a full neuro workup, including an EMG - No ALS. What was wrong, was that the mix of autoimmune disease, hormone changes and summer heat, along with degenerative arthritis, was causing nerve irritation in varioius parts of my body. An important thing I learned is 'perceived weakness' is very different from actual weakness. Also, I learned people with ALS try to move a muscle and that muscle does not respond. The signal just doesnt get through at all. I had twitching and weakness in my toe as well. It still feels a little numb, but the EMG was fine. One year later, it is not worse, I am fine. Give it time, reduce your stress and try to treat yourself for benign conditions that could be causing the twitching. One of my doctors said magnesium helps with muscle twitches. Walking barefoot or wearing flip flops makes it worse for me. Good Luck!