Howdy, while I am sure the post was well intended, I believe that the way the information was presented may have been a bit confusing and could be easily misconstrued by those new to the forum. The best information on this forum is that which is posted in "BFS In A Nutshell".
They key with ALS vs. BFS, as many others have noted on this site, is the "company" that the twitches keep. Many of us have twitched, cramped, buzzed, vibrated, in ways that could be similar to the way someone did with ALS. However, the absence of clinical weakness, and the presence of a clean EMG and/or a clean neuro exam are what differentiate us from an ALS patient. I may be over simplifying here, but our twitches tend to not keep "bad company", i.e. clinical weakness, EMG's presumptive of a MND, severe hypereflexia, positive Babinski's, severely high CK lab results, slurred speech that never gets better, etc.
While your post was intended to be positive, it would probably be better to have new readers view the "BFS In A Nutshell". People often find this site after having read the ALS posting forums precisely because those sites give an impression that one might have ALS based upon their symptoms.
Also, the example of the man who twitched for two years was likely disconcerting because many of us started twitching in the calves and it progressed rapidly to the entire body. Would this man have had an EMG or neuro exam when his twitching started, they would have likely found him presumptive for ALS. He didn't just twitch for two years and then suddenly come down with ALS. He had ALS for two years but just never got medical attention to confirm it.
Thanks.
They key with ALS vs. BFS, as many others have noted on this site, is the "company" that the twitches keep. Many of us have twitched, cramped, buzzed, vibrated, in ways that could be similar to the way someone did with ALS. However, the absence of clinical weakness, and the presence of a clean EMG and/or a clean neuro exam are what differentiate us from an ALS patient. I may be over simplifying here, but our twitches tend to not keep "bad company", i.e. clinical weakness, EMG's presumptive of a MND, severe hypereflexia, positive Babinski's, severely high CK lab results, slurred speech that never gets better, etc.
While your post was intended to be positive, it would probably be better to have new readers view the "BFS In A Nutshell". People often find this site after having read the ALS posting forums precisely because those sites give an impression that one might have ALS based upon their symptoms.
Also, the example of the man who twitched for two years was likely disconcerting because many of us started twitching in the calves and it progressed rapidly to the entire body. Would this man have had an EMG or neuro exam when his twitching started, they would have likely found him presumptive for ALS. He didn't just twitch for two years and then suddenly come down with ALS. He had ALS for two years but just never got medical attention to confirm it.
Thanks.