Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Symptoms
Not all people with ALS experience the same symptoms or the same sequences or patterns of progression. But, progressive muscle weakness and paralysis are hallmarks of this relatively rare disease.

Approximately 60% of ALS patients experience muscle weakness and stiffness as the initial symptom. In the early stages of the disease, an individual may also experience:

• Increasing weakness in one limb, especially in a hand.
• Clumsiness with the hands.
• Difficulty walking.
• Impaired speech.

As the disease progresses, patients experience:

• Weakening of other limbs, perhaps accompanied by twitching, muscle cramping, and exaggerated, faster reflexes.
• Problems with chewing, swallowing, and breathing; drooling may occur.
• Subtle, light twitches under the skin called fasciculations.
• Eventual paralysis.