Does this sound like ALS?

About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that my legs were pretty weak. My arms were also a little weak, but it was mostly my legs. I thought it was because I wasn't eating/sleeping enough. So I got some extra sleep and ate more. But the weakness would not go away. My legs were even shaking as I was walking. I have also had a lot of twitching in my arms and legs. Another thing.. I tend to drop things easily.

So... is this ALS? I'm very worried.

[Narble]

I can't say if it's ALS because a number of other disorders, from multiple sclerosis to various demylenating diseases, could present similarly. But at the same time, a severe deficiency of vitamin D, as I recently saw with someone, could also resemble what you're describing. So don't panic. But I do suggest you see your doctor as soon as you can to have this sorted out.

[Chicago_Dude]

Thanks for the answer!

But I take Vitamin D regulary, so that can't be it. Also, I have seen the doctor and described my symptoms, and he told me that it's probably nothing and to come back if it gets worse/won't go away. =/

[Narble]

Glad to hear you're taking vitamin D, which eliminates one possibility. ALS is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning that the physician has to watch and wait to see what happens. If the problem is persisting, then return to your doctor. If that doctor isn't working with you on the problem, then see another doctor. Unfortunately, some docs just don't want to work with certain types of problems.

If you check a website like WrongDiagnosis.com, you can find out just how many diseases and disorders have a similar initial presentation to ALS. I hope you can work with your current doctor, or a new one, to figure out what's going on.

[Dr Sharma]

Hi there. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurological disease, which attacks the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. The earliest symptoms may include twitching, cramping or stiffness of muscles, muscle weakness affecting an arm or leg, slurred speech, difficulty in chewing or swallowing. The muscle weakness and atrophy spreads to other parts with disease progression. These symptoms resemble many other conditions so it needs to be investigated in detail. Electromyography, nerve conduction velocity testing to check for peripheral neuropathy or myopathy hence excluding ALS. MRI brain and spinal cord to check for spinal cord tumor herniated cervical spine disc, cervical spondylosis. Other tests on blood and urine samples to eliminate other disease and rarely muscle biopsy. The other mimicking conditions are infectious diseases like Lyme disease, HIV, HTLV, neurological conditions like multiple sclerosis, post polio syndrome, spinal muscular dystrophy etc. hope this helps. Take care.