Questiion about symptoms

[wright40]

I have been reading this forum for quite some time and finally decided to register and ask for a bit of help from you wonderful people.  I've seen a few posts that kind of resemble mine but aren't exactly my symptoms so I thought I'd share my story.

I am a 45 year old male that developed some scary symptoms some time ago.  It all started with very mild weakness in my shoulder and arm (mainly my bicep).  I didn't feel any pain . . . just very mild weakness.  It stayed that way for a couple of weeks and then I deveopled some dull pain in my shoulder and upper arm.  After that, the mild weakness started to creep down my forearm and then had some mild weakness in the outer part of my hand (that happened in a matter of a week or so).  The pain seems to get worse when I actually use my arm (mainly in my bicep and tricep muscles).  If I don't use my arm that much, the pain seems to go away.  I know pain isn't a symptom of ALS but could the pain be from overexertion of a weak muscle or does that still not cause pain.  Did anyone else feel pain in their limbs at the onset of ALS?
All of that freaked me out so I went to a neurologist.  I mentioned ALS (he happens to be a specialist in ALS) and he thought that was premature.  He did give me the NCV/EMG test in that arm.  He said I have mild median sensory neuropathy, didn't see any fasciculations and my EMG was normal.  At the time I wasn't fasciculating in that arm but I am now.  I'm also fasciculating in other parts of my body.  They are very infrequent, though.  That arm is getting smaller too but of course, like everyone else on here that is worried about ALS, I'm not eating or sleeping very well.  Oh, one other thing, my legs seem to get fatigued quicker.  I'm not sure about my other arm . . . it seems to be ok, but at times, I think it's getting mildly weak too.
I have read on some websites that ALS is a fast-progressing disease while on other sites I read that it is slow-progressing.  Is the progression of my symptoms too fast to be ALS.  Does it even seem like I have ALS?  Was the NCV/EMG test done too soon to show ALS?  Do you have to wait until you start to fasciculate before ALS can be seen on the NCV/EMG test?
Thank you for taking the time for me.

[krue]

   ALS is fast progressing usually. Progressive weakness is a major sign and never ending fasc. Average age 54 to 56 for als. Early emg's don't always show anything. Time will tell.