Possible ALS ?????

[MOM23ANGELS]

Ok, so I have posted on the migraine board a few times and thought I would try this... I have had severe migraine headaches since I could remember.. They do run in my family, but so far I am the only one who get's them this bad....... Here is what happens... :::::::::
When I get hit with one, (AND I MEAN A BAD ONE!) I go completely numb on my left side, I fall because I cannot feel the ground I am walking on and my left leg just give out on me. I start to slurr my speech like I am drunk, and the whole left side of my face droops kind of like I have had a stroke... These thing's only last for about 4-5 hours after my migraine has ended...... I have blacked out before, and my vision get's very blurry... 3 year's ago I had a MRI of my brain and it revealed that I had a 1cm lesion on the left cerebral side of my brain. The nuerosurgeon I saw told me that he didn't think it was anything to be worried about because it was almost like it was transparent.. ( you could see the brain tissue underneath it)..... I went back 3 months later and had another one done and it had grown 1.5 cm in size..... He still was not concerned........
Now, I just not found a dr. who will actually beleive me and try and help.. All this time no Dr. has believed that my symptoms were this bad.... The only type of pain relief I can get is when I go to the ER and they usually have to give me a morphine drip to kill the pain..... My neck get's so stiff and hurts so bad I cannot move...... The day before Thanksgiving I had one so badly, that it scared me..... I woke up, sat up in my bed and felt a popping sensation on the left side of my head... It was instantly followed by a huge migraine... I went to the ER and the nurse was concerned because my pupil's were dialated and they shouldn't have been... They just gave me drugs and sent me home.....

I guess what I am trying to get at is am I showing early signs of ALS ????? I have had tests done and refuse an EMG because it's too painful and I can't handle it......... Could I have ALS ??????? Please help. .... Since Thanksgiving, these have gotten worse.... I am scheduled to see a specialist, but not for another month and a half...... Any suggestions or help you can give me would be greatly appreciated... Thanks,

[Sonaya]

I am not overly familiar with ALS something I have to do more reasearch on but I wanted you to know I have been going down a similar path to yours.  ITs been 5mths and I get stroke like symptoms, seizure type symptoms, pain and twitching and muscle weakness and eye blurring and all sorts the list is quite long.

Try looking up Familial Hemiplegic Migraine. It may help it may not.  Dont give up, I had a bad day yesterday where I was just so fed up and frustrated and the waiting game is a killer and not finding good doctors it all adds to the frustration of it all.

Good luck, Im off to go and research ALS.

[MOM23ANGELS]

Well, It's a little more complicated.. I am trying to get in somewhere else sooner.. I can't take much more of this.....The pain is too much and the twitching, and ... it's just awful...

[chochmeh]

if your symptoms are this bad i;m surprised they cut you lose so quickly...go to the ER of a major teaching hospital...insist on the EMG and MRI and EEG...the EMG is not that bad, far less painful than shots and you need to find out what is going on with you...why suffer if you can get to the bottom of this???  we have to be advocates in our own health care...when i first had my symptoms, the neuro told me i was 'nuts' and sent me home with anti-depressants...3 months later with no symptom relief and after another neuro and tests...they are telling me i might have a 'motor neuron disease'...better to know, than not as you can get more effective treatment that can extend quality and duration of life...