Early stages, not diagnosed yet

[juliesmile]

My husband (55) has over the past year been losing strength in his left leg.  Can't stand on his tippy toes.  Can't point or flex very strong.  Dr. did E.M.G.,nerve damage in left leg, got fitted for a brace for foot drop.  3 mo. later I notice instability standing on his right leg. More E.M.G. some abnormalities and nerve damage there he doesn't seem to think he has any loss of strength. Thought we better test his upper extremeties, more abnormalities, but the test was not conclusive.  His left leg has atrophied significantly.  He has some sort of twitching going on.  I don't really know what this fasiculation is, but when lying in bed, his leg was resting on my leg and all up and down his leg were these little bursts of movement, random and constant.  He was fast asleep.  He says he feels something he would consider twitching, some cramping as well.  No pain, no tingling, and no numbness anywhere.  Basically no other symptoms.  Seeing a second neurologis for second opinion.  The Dr's won't say it's A.L.S. but won't rule it out either.  I am asking for any feed back.  Does this sound like A.L.S.?  I've scoured Med. books, internet for some other explaination.  Not having any luck.

[beckykristen]

My father is in year 3 of ALS. He started out with similar symptoms. Does your husband have spasticity in his hands?

[chochmeh]

i'm sorry to hear about your husband...

Doctors want to rule everything out before a diagnosis of ALS because it is so devastating...the problem with this is that the ALS is diagnosed later and there is little time for planning/adjustments/effective treatment...if you are not going to a certified ALS center in your area, i would suggest this...you can find them on the MDA website.  There is a support team implemented at these centers.