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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Lou Gehrig’s disease

Caregivers | Last Active: Sep 30, 2023 | Replies (107)

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@jenniferhunter

@gizzmo As I read your description about muscle loss in biceps and triceps, my thoughts go toward a cervical spine issue. If there is some instability in the spine, so that the alignment changes with different body positions, it can create a situation where symptoms can be intermittent. I am a spine surgery patient, and I had the same muscle loss in biceps and triceps because of spinal cord compression because of a collapsed C5/C6 disc and bone spurs. I had 2 mm of one vertebrae slipping past the other, so that essentially made my spinal canal smaller when that happened when there wasn't any fluid space left around the spinal cord. If it was aligned well, the symptoms got better. I was seeing a physical therapist who was working on me which made it better until the next muscle spasms caused the bones to move again. You had mentioned an MRI. Was that done to look at the cervical spine or something else?

Have you consulted a spine specialist? Froedert does have some good doctors. I have taken my elderly mom to doctors in their health care system and also to a spine neurosurgeon at Aurora in Milwaukee. She didn't have surgery. It was a consult about a spine compression fracture. Spine specialists also do full spine standing X-rays and compare that to sitting or lying down X-rays to check for changes in spine alignment.

I did have a spinal fusion decompression surgery, and since then, I have gotten muscle back that I lost; not all of it, but a lot of it.

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Replies to "@gizzmo As I read your description about muscle loss in biceps and triceps, my thoughts go..."

Hi Thanks for answering I will definitely check out a spine specialist. There is so much I dont know about all of this. Yes he had a MRI CERVICAL SPINE WO CONTRAST . This one kind of stands out like it could maybe be.
C6-7: There is intervertebral disc narrowing, degeneration and desiccation.
Endplate marrow changes are noted. 2 to 3 mm broad-based disc bulge is
noted. Disc bulge lateralization is present bilaterally. There is moderate
RIGHT and moderate to prominent LEFT neural foraminal stenosis. I will a couple others that maybe you might know something that looks funny.

C4-5: Mild eccentric broad-based disc bulge with superimposed osteophyte
disc complex at C4-C5 level. This results in moderate right-sided neural
foraminal stenosis. The LEFT neural foramen is patent.

C5-6: Small eccentric disc protrusion paracentral to far lateral recess and
neural foramina. These findings in addition to uncovertebral process
hypertrophy osseous ridging results in moderate right-sided neural
foraminal compromise. The LEFT neural foramen is patent. The central canal
is patent.
I'm very grateful for your help and talking to me this is all so scary and unnerving.