Huge ALS fear!

[tiffytdw]

Hi everyone -

I have been in a downward spiral since the beginning of February about ALS. It all started with stiffness and numbness in my left hand (I have a ganglion cyst on my left hand). Then the numbness spread to my other hand and both feet. I went to an orthopedic surgeon to get the cyst drained then went to my primary physician about the numbness. She ran some blood work and I was deficient in vitamin D and vitamin B-12. The numbness is completely gone but now I have wide spread muscle spasms for about a month and my left hand is still stiff (the ganglion cyst is back) but now I think I have atrophy in that hand as well. I don't believe I have any muscle weakness because as I am still able to do everything I normally do but sometimes experience a painful sensation in my hands and fingers. Not sure if I am just overthinking all my symptoms but I am extremely worried!

[kyllikki]

hello, welcome to one of the worst clubs ever.

All I want to say is that I have pain, stiffness, altered pinch grip, and perception of weakness in one hand -- and that hand also, like you, has a ganglion cyst. I, too, was on the low end of vit B-12 and have been B vit deficient/anemic (requiring shots) before.
I think what you are describing is pretty common and definitely heightened by anxiety. If you can still do everything normally, chances are small that it's anything serious. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT GOOGLE anything further, and do not do weird "strength test" things to your hands or other body parts. If you can get a PT script related to your hand, I highly recommend PT visits -- they are trained to test muscles, as well as fix things, and they often will listen in ways doctors won't.

Good luck and please report back later once you feel better, as it helps the next anxious person see an accumulation of evidence that what they fear almost never turns out to be reality.

[tiffytdw]

Thank you for the response, I truly do appreciate it! I am just very worried about the muscle spams, stiffness, pain and potential hand atrophy.

[Fishmanpa]

I am just very worried about the muscle spams, stiffness, pain and potential hand atrophy.

As the members on the ALS forum told you, and these are people who are truly suffering and their caregivers, your symptoms are not indicative of ALS and as recommended, perhaps having the cyst removed again would be the next step as well as getting help for your anxiety about this.

FMP