ALS, MS, MND knowledge needed from those who understand

I am a long time sufferer of HA, IBS and GERD. For several months I have been having lots of pain and weakness in my arms and legs along with some numbness. My forearms are the worst but my shoulders, hands, feet and calves are also impacted and it seems to be getting worse. I can walk and climb stairs but holding things in my hands seem to induce more fatigue than I think is normal. I have also had twitches and shakes off and on for many years along with some difficulty swallowing. I do suffer from a very stiff back and neck and hope this is all related to that. I am going to see a chiropractor next week to see what he thinks. I NEED my friends on this site to help me out with some rational explanations to what this might be. I know if I google my symptoms I will freak out even more because the sites that come up will not give me the detail I need. I know many of us have been to many doctors and found out lots of details regarding nuero and joint problems and I hope you can share that knowledge. I had a physical about 6 months ago where they did blood work that was fine. I am not overweight and my BP is fine too. Can someone please let me know if this is something a doctor would dismiss as anxiety or should I be freaked out. Does anyone know a timeline for these diseases? I know we aren't doctors but I can't afford to see a doctor anymore because my health insurance will not cover it. The chiropractor is covered under a different part of my plan that has not been exhausted. I just want as much as someone can share put into a context that an HA'er can understand.

Sorry for the long post but I am trying to think clearly and hoping (praying) that like minded folks on this site can calm me down before I end up in the emergency room and more in debt due to anxiety.

Thanks in advance,
J2

Hi J2,

I suffer with the same 3 issues, and about 3 months ago i ended up in the emergancy room because i lost the feeling in my arm it was just after i had my daughter.
They pin pricked me and everything and i thought oh my god its a tumor somewhere!
This happened a further 7 times i use to get tingling, pins and needles i would think my legs was just going to give in when walking. I went for my MRI and its was clear nothing wrong anywhere! You no what it was Anxiety and Panic attacks. I am now on Citalopram 20mg and feeling loads better.

Okay, the prospect of motor neuron disease or amytrophic lateral sclerosis would not be consistent with your symptoms. People who first present to the doctor's office rarely report weakness, but rather a recent history of trip and fall accidents, dropping things constantly from their grip and similar experiences. The type of "twitches" observed in these diseases are actually fasciculations and they arise due to a gradual but persistent loss of communication between the nerve and the muscle tissues which they innervate. They can sometimes be observed spontaneously, but more often are elicited through percussion, meaning that striking the skin surface in a certain manner with a reflex hammer will produce a rapid and undulating sequence of the nerves being stimulated but the connectivity with the tissues is incomplete.

There are also two variants of these diseases, one which is termed limb onset and is evidenced by muscle wasting and weakness. The second is bulbar onset, wherein difficulty speaking, swallowing and communicating becomes difficult, followed by muscular signs. If both appear rather simultaneously, it would argue against such a diagnosis. Changes in personality are also common and frequently reported by family members. The main factor to remember with these two diseases is that progression toward a worsening state is universal. There is no period of remission whatsoever.

Multiple Sclerosis also produces very characteristic onset features, some of which you make no mention at all but that do appear among the list of those with the actual disease.

Simply because you have reimbursement in the area of chiropractic does not mean that it constitutes the best avenue to pursue. As a strictly allopathic practitioner, chiropractics remains largely shunned by the general medical community. You will often have to undergo a spinal series of standard x-ray films, wherein they inform you that your spine is out of alignment or that your neck is too straight, or a host of other mechanical abnormalities all of which they can resolve through chiropractic manipulation. You need to be aware that pressing on the joints and causing the release of free carbon dioxide in the joint space, which produces a popping sensation that produces a pleasant sensation, actually does nothing whatsoever to properly "align" your spinal process. There are claims that spinal alignment can treat or cure all types of ailments, but clinical research trials tell an entirely different story. It's analogous to running out of money to have your mechanic look at your car, but having money available for a plumber to examine it instead. A chiropractor is not a physician and they are not trained in allopathic medicine. I can more than speculate, however, that once you've been evaluated by one, they will universally tell you precisely what is wrong and set forth a treatment plan for you.

Stress and anxiety can produce physical manifestations in the absence of actual underlying disease and we term these manifestations somatoform. The entirety of your symptoms can be well explained by the presence of stress or anxiety.

I see nothing among your description at this point that would cause me to consider any of the neurodegenerative diseases you've listed, or alternatively those I know to be within the spectrum with a similar procession.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

RLR thanks for the great answer. As a statistician, numbers give me great solace and I know logically the probabililty of having one of the diseases that I fear so much is low at the age of 38. Being a guy who loves math and the certainty that numbers give, anxiety is something that I am not really equipped to handle. Sometimes my fears get the best of me and I can't get a grip on rational thought anymore. I hope you don't suffer from anxiety but if you do I am sorry. Either way, thanks again and God bless.

J2

Well, while my bones creak from old age I'm am merely a contributor to the forum and not a sufferer but thank you for your comments.

Again, the diseases mentioned are quite rare and the characterization of patients who actual have clinical signs of the them are very recognizable to those of us who evaluate and treat them. You don't fit that pattern.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

"some difficulty swallowing. I do suffer from a very stiff back and neck and hope this is all related to that."

I don't know much about the other things but I do know those things can be related to your GERD.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RLR

Okay, the prospect of motor neuron disease or amytrophic lateral sclerosis would not be consistent with your symptoms. People who first present to the doctor's office rarely report weakness, but rather a recent history of trip and fall accidents, dropping things constantly from their grip and similar experiences. The type of "twitches" observed in these diseases are actually fasciculations and they arise due to a gradual but persistent loss of communication between the nerve and the muscle tissues which they innervate. They can sometimes be observed spontaneously, but more often are elicited through percussion, meaning that striking the skin surface in a certain manner with a reflex hammer will produce a rapid and undulating sequence of the nerves being stimulated but the connectivity with the tissues is incomplete.

There are also two variants of these diseases, one which is termed limb onset and is evidenced by muscle wasting and weakness. The second is bulbar onset, wherein difficulty speaking, swallowing and communicating becomes difficult, followed by muscular signs. If both appear rather simultaneously, it would argue against such a diagnosis. Changes in personality are also common and frequently reported by family members. The main factor to remember with these two diseases is that progression toward a worsening state is universal. There is no period of remission whatsoever.

Multiple Sclerosis also produces very characteristic onset features, some of which you make no mention at all but that do appear among the list of those with the actual disease.

Simply because you have reimbursement in the area of chiropractic does not mean that it constitutes the best avenue to pursue. As a strictly allopathic practitioner, chiropractics remains largely shunned by the general medical community. You will often have to undergo a spinal series of standard x-ray films, wherein they inform you that your spine is out of alignment or that your neck is too straight, or a host of other mechanical abnormalities all of which they can resolve through chiropractic manipulation. You need to be aware that pressing on the joints and causing the release of free carbon dioxide in the joint space, which produces a popping sensation that produces a pleasant sensation, actually does nothing whatsoever to properly "align" your spinal process. There are claims that spinal alignment can treat or cure all types of ailments, but clinical research trials tell an entirely different story. It's analogous to running out of money to have your mechanic look at your car, but having money available for a plumber to examine it instead. A chiropractor is not a physician and they are not trained in allopathic medicine. I can more than speculate, however, that once you've been evaluated by one, they will universally tell you precisely what is wrong and set forth a treatment plan for you.

Stress and anxiety can produce physical manifestations in the absence of actual underlying disease and we term these manifestations somatoform. The entirety of your symptoms can be well explained by the presence of stress or anxiety.

I see nothing among your description at this point that would cause me to consider any of the neurodegenerative diseases you've listed, or alternatively those I know to be within the spectrum with a similar procession.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

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Great post:yesyes:

Have to agree about chiro's as well. I dread to think how many health anxiety types get hung out to dry by these modern snake oil peddlars.