Totally OT - Anyone here very familiar with ALS/Lou Gherigs?

odusgolp

Please let me know if you are

Ajontheguitar

Studied it a lot on my own, but I'm no doctor or even in the medical field..

cpegasus01

My mom had it. She passed away 7 years ago because of it. Is there anything in particular you want to know?

vim_n_vigor

It is a horrible disease, and in some people progresses horribly quick. My husband worked with a man who died from it a year from being diagnosed. He went from healthy and active to wheelchair bound very quickly.

CherryOnionKiss

My dad had it. He died of it in 1998

odusgolp

As I just emailed someone... here's my specific question:

My dad was diagnosed w/ ALS two months ago. He's going to a specialist soon to get a second confirmation, etc. At this point we don't know much.

Long story short, He also has non-hodgkins lymphoma, recently had a tumor on his thyroid and thusly his entire thyroid removed as well if that matters any..

Lately (the past couple weeks), he's waking up at night with his heart just racing. And it just stays at it for 5 minutes or so. He has this constant "buzzing" feeling in his muscles he says. I can't find anything online connecting heart palpatations to ALS. Do you know if there's any correlation?

kathyhull

I wonder if he's also having some strong anxiety issues due to the stress of the diagnosis that could be causing heart palpitations?

odusgolp

I wonder if he's also having some strong anxiety issues due to the stress of the diagnosis that could be causing heart palpitations?

He says no. And i have major panic attack problems and from his description it doesn't seem the same. It's waking him up out of a dead sleep actually.

CherryOnionKiss

Not sure about the heart thing but the buzzing in the muscle is a symptom of ALS

summertime_girl

As I just emailed someone... here's my specific question:

My dad was diagnosed w/ ALS two months ago. He's going to a specialist soon to get a second confirmation, etc. At this point we don't know much.

Long story short, He also has non-hodgkins lymphoma, recently had a tumor on his thyroid and thusly his entire thyroid removed as well if that matters any..

Lately (the past couple weeks), he's waking up at night with his heart just racing. And it just stays at it for 5 minutes or so. He has this constant "buzzing" feeling in his muscles he says. I can't find anything online connecting heart palpatations to ALS. Do you know if there's any correlation?

I'm so sorry for all your dad is going through. I would think the thyroid medication I assume he is on may need to be adjusted. I get that "buzzy" feeling when my meds are out of whack.

schobert101

I am an Internal medicine physician (retired one year ago). Coincidentally my husband was tentativey diagnosed with ALS two years ago. We got a second opinion from an ALS specialist at a large medical center which is what you should do. My husband does not have the disease, probably had the quadriceps atrophy from a bum knee that was subsequently replaced.
I did of course read up on the disease when we thought he had it. Coincidentally my husband also has heart arrythmias in the form of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter but those are separate issues and predate the muscle problem. I am not personally aware of a connection between ALS and heart palpitations but obviously both need to be checked out.
Get as many opinions as you need and if in fact he does have the disease my sincerest condolences.

vim_n_vigor

According to the ALS association:

The heart and the digestive system are also made of muscle but a different kind, and their movements are not under voluntary control. When your heart beats or a meal is digested, it all happens automatically. Therefore, the heart and digestive system are not involved in ALS. Breathing also may seem to be involuntary. Remember, though, while you cannot stop your heart, you can hold your breath - so be aware that ALS may eventually have an impact on breathing.

http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html

cpegasus01

ALS does in fact impact breathing. My mother had ALS along with asthma. Breathing became very difficult for her the last couple of months that she was alive.