When can the early stages of als get you? how do you know if you ever have it?

Not to worry: ALS is fortunately quite RARE but gets a lot of attention lately (The Lou Gehrig Story was the first years ago) MS or Multiple Sclerosis is much more common and more benign. Both diseases do strike at young aged people 30-40 year old most common age range. Symptoms are very confusing and so varied that I will not list them Maybe you and your doctor should discuss WHY you are worried about this??

Neurology condition: ALS is a disease of upper middle age with an average age of onset between 55 and 65 years of age. See your primary care physician if you are concerned. If necessary, you would be referred to a neurologist for further evaluation. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/amyotrophiclateralsclerosis.html