Several symptoms

[yedwyn]

I have been having several disturbing symptoms for approx. 2 months.  I was just getting over what appears to have been a virus (3 courses of antibiotics did nothing) when I started having some muscle twitching. I feel weak on my left side but no evidence of clinical weakness on exam.  My GP ordered an MRI which was normal. A spinal was done to check for West Nile and was negative. I have been to a neuro who said that my exam was normal and he wasn't worried.  He instructed me to wait a couple of weeks and if I was still bothered by twitching he would set up an EMG.  
Currently, I am having a lot of pain in my knee and shoulder joints and am waking up with stiff hands.  The twitching continues but seems to be diminishing.  Do I need an EMG to rule out ALS?  Do my symptoms seem to point in that or any other direction?  The virus had some serious dizzy spells, eye pain and nausea. Otherwise, I have no idea what it could have been.
Lastly, I am a 31 year old mother to a 26 pound toddler.  I carry her on my left side and that is where the majority of my shoulder pain is.  Also, I carry her up and down stairs all day. Could this be causing the joint pain?  Could I be overusing some muscles and causing the twitching? I do have concerns regarding als but am trying not to panic beyond reason.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS]

Without evaluating you I can not make a clinical diagnosis. If you are still experiencing the symptoms you should discuss this with your neurologist and determine if other test need to be performed. An EMG is a useful test for documenting many different neuromuscular disorders, but it is an invasive test (requires needles) and therefore, without having more information I can not recommend this procedure. The joint pain could certainly be from overuse, however if these symptoms are new they should be evaluated. You should discuss this with your primary doctor. Good luck.

[ohtay]

I have had similar symptoms, along with aching shoulders and neck and numbness in my hands, arms and sometimes my feet.  I even have a electric-like current running down my body when a **** my head in a certain way.  I was finally diagnosed with TOS, but after I was told by different doctors that they couldn't find anything that would be causing those problems.  Its just that matter of finding a doctor who is familiar enough with TOS to do the right tests to diagnose it.  I too was afraid of ALS, but was relieved to have that fear laid to rest.

[yedwyn]

What is TOS?

[ohtay]

TOS is thorasic outlet syndrome

[kellygrl]

I was diagnosed with a herniated cervical disc about a year ago I had pain in my left shoulder and numbness and tingling in my left arm for several months finally it went away now I just recently am having pain under my arms not all the time but off and on also pain in my left arm, I was just wondering if anyone else had this under arm pain from the herniated disc?

[kellygrl]

I was diagnosed with a herniated cervical disc about a year ago I had pain in my left shoulder and numbness and tingling in my left arm for several months finally it went away now I just recently am having pain under my arms not all the time but off and on also pain in my left arm, I was just wondering if anyone else had this under arm pain from the herniated disc?

[MikeJ]

What type of antibiotics were you taking, and for how long?  Were you taking Cipro or Levaquin?