AlS .. very very scared..Dont know how to handle this. Please help

[Expresso]

It has been almost a month since I noticed my left leg atrophy. I am noticing that I don't feel right as I walk and my voice has still been slightly horse for the same amount of time. First emg of my legs showed a muscle (small) in the atrophy leg not responding . Tech thinks it from some mild stenosis in the back. I'm having a hard time grasping that. My neuro says no ALS. He did upper emg and said no als it was good. Still have symptons . Dont know what to do. My wife says its all stress causing my voice
Change. Did notice I fumbled over some words onec or twice. Scared and confused... also noticed a little loss of muscle in right upper gluteus.. am i losing it .... .

[Carys]

When this thread first started I mentioned nerves in the spine causing the leg problem, and spinal stenosis was what I had in mind at the point. I think if mild stenosis has been potentially diagnosed then you do need some advice on how to deal with it, there are surgeries (my Dad had it) to release the nerve compression, can your PCP advise anything at all ?

[Expresso]

Carys, I'm going to pick up my emg reports today so I have them. I've been feeling a littke weak in legs and shoulders but I don't know wats stress and wats not. My throat has been horse for 3 weeks already. My ankle feels sore when it walk on it. Idkn what to do. Am I going crazy. Can the stress cause my legs to feel tight and my shoulders and hands. Just hard for me to buy into mild lumbar stenosis causing my ankle and leg atrophy and some pain in it. I nerve felt pain in spine or leg area. I also feel uncoordinated withl my arms and hands ..can I be feeling every sympton of als
At the same time ?

[Fishmanpa]

Carys, I'm going to pick up my emg reports today so I have them. I've been feeling a littke weak in legs and shoulders but I don't know wats stress and wats not. My throat has been horse for 3 weeks already. My ankle feels sore when it walk on it. Idkn what to do. Am I going crazy. Can the stress cause my legs to feel tight and my shoulders and hands. Just hard for me to buy into mild lumbar stenosis causing my ankle and leg atrophy and some pain in it. I nerve felt pain in spine or leg area. I also feel uncoordinated withl my arms and hands ..can I be feeling every sympton of als
At the same time ?

Clinical Weakness—ALS is about failing, not feeling.

ALS is about failure—falling down, being unable to stand on your toes, being unable to button your shirt, being unable to lift your hand, etc. It is not about these things becoming more difficult. It is about these things being impossible… no matter how hard you try. If you can do normal things, but it is more difficult, you do not have ALS. If you used to be able to do 100 curls and now one arm can only do 50; that is not ALS. If you used to run 2 miles and now you can only run 1; that is not ALS. If you used to run 2 miles and now you can’t lift up one of your feet, you may have clinical weakness.
It really does happen that something stops working all of a sudden. It is generally one muscle so it will not be a whole limb but the movement done by that muscle is suddenly gone. An example is a calf raise. It won't happen. Think of it like your wifi signal. You are surfing the net, then signal is lost and you can't do anything online no matter how hard you try or how long you wait for a page to load. This is what happens to a muscle in beginning ALS it has lost the signal from the nervous system that tells it to work

FMP

[Carys]

OK, lets take the legs out of it for the moment, and just focus on the arms and hands. You are saying that they 'feel uncoordinated', but you have had a clear EMG of the upper body days ago. Feeling uncoordinated is not the same as being uncoordinated. So, the 'feeling uncoordinated' of the upper body simply can't be from ALS, as the EMG would have showed it. Your hoarse voice can also not be MND/ALS, as the upper body EMG would have also showed that. So, anxiety and 'developing' symptoms by being certain you have MND is a definite possibility. The mind is a powerful thing, it can cause and convince you with absolute certainty of certain symptoms and conditions. You are no doubt thinking of MND all the time, scanning your body all the time and that alone could be causing what you are experiencing.

So, your legs, you say you are picking up the EMG report today. It sounds like it will be very medical and presumably terminology will be difficult to process for a lay-person, so what about asking a different medical practitioner to read through it for you and relate the findings ?

[Expresso]

Fishman i prey your so right.
Cause I've been as my wife says heavily stressed and obsessed with having als.
I feel everything down to the point of not even swallowing right.. I feel my gait is off and I don't walk right and legs feel heavy..24/7 every minute of the day...and my atrophy leg near the ankle hurts when I walk. I prey your right

[Carys]

Expresso, all these 'symptoms' have appeared within 3 weeks - ALS can be fast, but not to be at the speed your symptoms have all appeared.

[Expresso]

Fishmanpa , Carys i thank God that I have you to confer in my life. I thank you for your encouraging words and wisdom God Bless you both as you are my friends .. have a great night guys and may I talk to you soon.

EXPRESSO ( RUSSELL)

[Fishmanpa]

Expresso, I'm close to your age (62). I've had two heart attacks, a triple bypass, triple stents and Stage IVa Head and Neck cancer. The side effects are numerous including swallowing issues, chest pain (due to angina) and a plethora of other permanent side effects. Due to the H&N cancer, my eating has changed. There are certain foods I avoid totally due to how challenging they are to swallow. For me, since treatment, its been 'chew, chew, chew, sip swallow' and even then there are times something gets caught up in my throat. No fun I assure you. But.... It's my 'new normal'. As we age, things change and we have to adapt. That's just the way it is

Based on what you've posted and the doctors opinions (based on scientific medical tests), you have some nerve degeneration issues which plague many older people. Just like I have to deal with my physical issues, you'll have to deal with yours and come to get comfortable with what your 'new normal' will be moving forward.

Let us know how you're making out

Positive thoughts

[Hijikata]

Expresso you have also been told countless times by the people on the ALS forums to stop worrying. You are doing yourself and your family a disservice. You have been cleared, so try to stop it.