Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

[scared_ter]

Hi, been reading for a while and have finally got the courage to post.
I am beyond scared right now.
Muscle twitching in legs the started maybe two months ago, both legs. Right leg has been numb a couple of mornings of late, hip and lower back in a lot of pain.
Had some in stomach also, along with an eye twitch. Both have gone really. Stomach still feels a bit woosy, and eye seemed to have improved by curtailing phone use and using optrex
Woke this morning with a pronounced twitch in lower inside left bicep, its gone now, but have been noticing some general weakness in that arm and tingling in thumb and index finger.
Have suffered serious bouts of HA before but this seems the worst by far, the symptoms are all fairly new and very, very frightening.
I am a mental mess right now, any help appreciated.

[Annie0904]

Hi welcome to NMP. All of these symptoms could be anxiety related. Have you seen a doctor about this? If not then I suggest you do so that you can get reassurance.

[scared_ter]

Hi welcome to NMP. All of these symptoms could be anxiety related. Have you seen a doctor about this? If not then I suggest you do so that you can get reassurance.

I did, he said its not neurological, but I nearly broke down so I think he was focusing on the depression side of things.
The twitch this morning made me basically crack up.
My nerves are gone completely.

[Annie0904]

Did he suggest anything for your anxiety?

[scared_ter]

Did he suggest anything for your anxiety?

He put me on setraline 50mg. On it only 4 days, not a huge difference yet.
Was on Dosulepin (prothiaden) from 05-08, but found coming off very hard.
I am convinced my symptoms are real, but equally I know how HA works having had 2 bad episodes in my life

[countrygirl]

Sounds like that benign condition of twitching that is caused by anxiety. I was told by neurologist that twitching from any neuro condition would be accompanited by def neuro deficit for eg keep falling over or drag a leg etc.

Also your leg twitching could be connected to a bad back as you mention back pain and numbness. I have herniated back discs and get bad muscle twitching and pain when my back is bad.

If it was ALS or MS then your Dr would expect you to get red flag symptoms of muscle weakness and neuro deficit so be reassured that you have neither.

[scared_ter]

Sounds like that benign condition of twitching that is caused by anxiety. I was told by neurologist that twitching from any neuro condition would be accompanited by def neuro deficit for eg keep falling over or drag a leg etc.

Also your leg twitching could be connected to a bad back as you mention back pain and numbness. I have herniated back discs and get bad muscle twitching and pain when my back is bad.

If it was ALS or MS then your Dr would expect you to get red flag symptoms of muscle weakness and neuro deficit so be reassured that you have neither.

Thank you for reply.
Can you explain Neuro deficit?
And how specific is weakness?
I am truly fed up being like this, thought I beat it last year but it has come back so heavily I cannot believe.

[Annie0904]

He put me on setraline 50mg. On it only 4 days, not a huge difference yet.
Was on Dosulepin (prothiaden) from 05-08, but found coming off very hard.
I am convinced my symptoms are real, but equally I know how HA works having had 2 bad episodes in my life

I have been on dosulepin since 2004 it seems to work for me and I only take 25mg now. Give your new meds time to start working and I hope you feel better soon. I am sure your symptoms are anxiety related.

[scared_ter]

I have been on dosulepin since 2004 it seems to work for me and I only take 25mg now. Give your new meds time to start working and I hope you feel better soon. I am sure your symptoms are anxiety related.

Thank you.

[Andrash]

Hi, been reading for a while and have finally got the courage to post.
I am beyond scared right now.
Muscle twitching in legs the started maybe two months ago, both legs. Right leg has been numb a couple of mornings of late, hip and lower back in a lot of pain.
Had some in stomach also, along with an eye twitch. Both have gone really. Stomach still feels a bit woosy, and eye seemed to have improved by curtailing phone use and using optrex
Woke this morning with a pronounced twitch in lower inside left bicep, its gone now, but have been noticing some general weakness in that arm and tingling in thumb and index finger.
Have suffered serious bouts of HA before but this seems the worst by far, the symptoms are all fairly new and very, very frightening.
I am a mental mess right now, any help appreciated.

As a man with a HA problem who just managed to overcome his ALS fear, let me help you.

So, you are afraid you'll be joining the luminaries of sports and science like Lou Gehrig, Stephen Hawking or Fernando Ricksen? Don't be. The thing with ALS is: it is devilishly hard to diagnose it (because its symptoms are common with soooo many other illnesses and it mostly doesn't show on scans) but, luckily for everyone with HA, it's fairly easy to determine when you don't have it. In your case, it's clearly so.

Firstly your symptoms. Muscle twitching in legs, eye twitching, mild nausea, dizziness, tingling. ALS start in one limb, or in your mouth. It can't start in both legs, or both legs and an arm. Secondly, when you have ALS, it's the other way around-FIRST atrophy and weakness, THAN twitching. Thirdly eye muscles are either not affected by the disease at all, or are the LAST muscles ALS affects-that's why people like Hawking, who would otherwise be locked-in from ALS, communicate with blinking-their eye muscles are ok. Last, but not the least-ALS is a MOTOR neuron disease, not sensory. That means people do not experience pains, numbness, tingling and other strange sensations, and that's why it's so insidious and dreaded. Therefore, the things you feel-definitely not from ALS.

This should be enough to persuade you you don't have it, but if it's not-here some self-tests that you can make to rule it out:

-Staying on one leg: stay on one leg for 3-5 seconds. If you can do it, you don't have ALS. I know, you can panic and shake and fall and that can create more panic-that doesn't matter, since it's enough to make it once in 100 attempts and you still don't have ALS. People with ALS can never make it-they are never able to balance.
-Jump at the stair with both feet. If you can do it, you don't have ALS.
-Catch something moderately heavy-for example, a pint of milk, with only your thumb and index finger. If you're able to lift it, even for one single second, you don't have ALS.

If you're worried about bulbar (mouth) onset of ALS, try these:

-Whistling-if you can whistle, whether by sucking air or blowing it, you don't have ALS.
-Breathing through pursed lips-if you can do it, you don't have ALS.

Of course, even if you "fail" some of these things, it can (and odds are it is, since your odds to get ALS are something like 1:10000000) be something else, anxiety being the main culprit.

So, your troubles are not the symptoms of ALS. Alas, they are symptoms of the health anxiety disorder. It IS a disease, just like ALS-only not that deadly, luckily. But still, it should be treated. Therefore, try to calm down, read this carefully, if necessary do this little exercise to put your mind at ease-than start treating what really is a problem-HA. :)

[scared_ter]

As a man with a HA problem who just managed to overcome his ALS fear, let me help you.

So, you are afraid you'll be joining the luminaries of sports and science like Lou Gehrig, Stephen Hawking or Fernando Ricksen? Don't be. The thing with ALS is: it is devilishly hard to diagnose it (because its symptoms are common with soooo many other illnesses and it mostly doesn't show on scans) but, luckily for everyone with HA, it's fairly easy to determine when you don't have it. In your case, it's clearly so.

Firstly your symptoms. Muscle twitching in legs, eye twitching, mild nausea, dizziness, tingling. ALS start in one limb, or in your mouth. It can't start in both legs, or both legs and an arm. Secondly, when you have ALS, it's the other way around-FIRST atrophy and weakness, THAN twitching. Thirdly eye muscles are either not affected by the disease at all, or are the LAST muscles ALS affects-that's why people like Hawking, who would otherwise be locked-in from ALS, communicate with blinking-their eye muscles are ok. Last, but not the least-ALS is a MOTOR neuron disease, not sensory. That means people do not experience pains, numbness, tingling and other strange sensations, and that's why it's so insidious and dreaded. Therefore, the things you feel-definitely not from ALS.

This should be enough to persuade you you don't have it, but if it's not-here some self-tests that you can make to rule it out:

-Staying on one leg: stay on one leg for 3-5 seconds. If you can do it, you don't have ALS. I know, you can panic and shake and fall and that can create more panic-that doesn't matter, since it's enough to make it once in 100 attempts and you still don't have ALS. People with ALS can never make it-they are never able to balance.
-Jump at the stair with both feet. If you can do it, you don't have ALS.
-Catch something moderately heavy-for example, a pint of milk, with only your thumb and index finger. If you're able to lift it, even for one single second, you don't have ALS.

If you're worried about bulbar (mouth) onset of ALS, try these:

-Whistling-if you can whistle, whether by sucking air or blowing it, you don't have ALS.
-Breathing through pursed lips-if you can do it, you don't have ALS.

Of course, even if you "fail" some of these things, it can (and odds are it is, since your odds to get ALS are something like 1:10000000) be something else, anxiety being the main culprit.

So, your troubles are not the symptoms of ALS. Alas, they are symptoms of the health anxiety disorder. It IS a disease, just like ALS-only not that deadly, luckily. But still, it should be treated. Therefore, try to calm down, read this carefully, if necessary do this little exercise to put your mind at ease-than start treating what really is a problem-HA. :)
Thank you very much for such a thoughtful reply, it has helped.
Can I ask you about the milk thumb index finger thing? Is that really true?
If those tests are all true it does help me a lot.
Thank you.

---------- Post added at 18:04 ---------- Previous post was at 15:53 ----------

Really hoping the medication works quickly.
Never been so worn out as I am today.
This is as low as I have felt

[Andrash]

Thank you very much for such a thoughtful reply, it has helped.
Can I ask you about the milk thumb index finger thing? Is that really true?
If those tests are all true it does help me a lot.
Thank you.

---------- Post added at 18:04 ---------- Previous post was at 15:53 ----------

Really hoping the medication works quickly.
Never been so worn out as I am today.
This is as low as I have felt

All these tests are done to rule out not just ALS, but a whole lot of muscular and neuromuscular disorders (most of them mild, some, like ALS, severe). Basically, if you can do any of these, you don't have ALS :) Therefore, if you "failed" something put it to anxiety and consequent lack of concentration or strength (anxiety can also cause weakness, you know, and that's called "perceived weakness" as opposed to real weakness caused by, for example, ALS).

It's a nasty disease-it starts by prosaic things you sometimes don't even notice,for example, you can't whistle any more, or you can't pronounce your S's, or you can't unlock the door or hold the pint of beer in your hand, and then, it progresses...I went to the ALS forum while I was fearing it (some sort of online exposure therapy :) )-these people (sufferers gathered there) should really be an inspiration to us all-they accept their fate in such a calm, dignified, even humorous way, and try to help each other, even if some of them are on the brink of death or can not eat, breathe, change their clothes or go to the toilet alone. There were people whose eye-controlled computer broke and were locked in for week or month until they got it fixed -than they came back to the forum and laughed about it. Your heart really breaks and goes out to them when you see what they're going through :(

Luckily, it's rare...Therefore, don't panic, especially if you are a young person-chances to get ALS are something about one in ten million. However, 40% of all people suffer from some sort of anxiety. So you calculate the probabilities :)

I learned this all during my own battle with ALS fears-so I am not trying to lecture, I were in the exact place you're now. :)

[scared_ter]

All these tests are done to rule out not just ALS, but a whole lot of muscular and neuromuscular disorders (most of them mild, some, like ALS, severe). Basically, if you can do any of these, you don't have ALS :) Therefore, if you "failed" something put it to anxiety and consequent lack of concentration or strength (anxiety can also cause weakness, you know, and that's called "perceived weakness" as opposed to real weakness caused by, for example, ALS).

Therefore, don't panic, especially if you are a young person-chances to get ALS are something about one in ten million. However, 40% of all people suffer from some sort of anxiety. So you calculate the probabilities :)

I learned this all during my own battle with ALS fears-so I am not trying to lecture, I were in the exact place you're now. :)

Thanks again, I can do those tests, its just that they seem so straightforward.
I'm 35 also.
Are they what the medical profession would use?
I googled a few others but they require assistance.
Doing pushups seems so stupid but that's what I've tried.
The twitch this morning really got me.
I'm just in a bit of a bad place and really hoping to get out.

[Andrash]

Thanks again, I can do those tests, its just that they seem so straightforward.
I'm 35 also.
Are they what the medical profession would use?
I googled a few others but they require assistance.
Doing pushups seems so stupid but that's what I've tried.
The twitch this morning really got me.
I'm just in a bit of a bad place and really hoping to get out.

As I wrote when I edited posts-that's how you start to notice ALS, inability to do these small, straightforward things is a first symptom, NOT twitching or tingling :) If you have ALS onset in, let's say, right hand: first you can't do these small things, then you can't do pretty much anything with it as your muscle atrophies, THAN you experience twitches-NOT the other way around. When you start twitching, but you can do everything with it (even if you sometimes THINK you can't)-that's perceived weakness induced by your psyche, not real weakness caused by motor neuron disease.

Therefore, no worries :)

[Fishmanpa]

Hi Scared....

Andrash has given you some excellent advice from experience. The chance that this is sinister is well.... none really.

There was another thread about this not too long ago. ALS is one of the hot button fears of HA sufferers. I know it's real to you as it is to others but think for a moment...

Many of these other sufferers in the thread were so scared of this that they would literally hop around the house and jump up and down stairs (even in other peoples homes!) to test if they were suffering symptoms! Picture in your mind for a moment what that looks like and even more so what someone seeing you doing that would think ;)

I had a twitch in my thumb muscle for about two weeks. I was stressing about some things so I attributed it to that. The issues were resolved and the twitching went away... no worries :) My fiance' has been under stress at work. After 4 days of stress at work she would come home and have twitches in her eye and her stomach was hurting due to acid. Again... stress... The twitches stopped a day later :)

Positive thoughts

[Andrash]

Hi Scared....

Andrash has given you some excellent advice from experience. The chance that this is sinister is well.... none really.

There was another thread about this not too long ago. ALS is one of the hot button fears of HA sufferers. I know it's real to you as it is to others but think for a moment...

Many of these other sufferers in the thread were so scared of this that they would literally hop around the house and jump up and down stairs (even in other peoples homes!) to test if they were suffering symptoms! Picture in your mind for a moment what that looks like and even more so what someone seeing you doing that would think ;)

I had a twitch in my thumb muscle for about two weeks. I was stressing about some things so I attributed it to that. The issues were resolved and the twitching went away... no worries :) My fiance' has been under stress at work. After 4 days of stress at work she would come home and have twitches in her eye and her stomach was hurting due to acid. Again... stress... The twitches stopped a day later :)

Positive thoughts

Thanks :)

ALS is the nice example of how Dr Google can drive us all crazy. You google "ALS symptoms" and there is a list: weakness, twitching, difficulty swallowing, difficulty speaking and so on. Jet the simple time sequence is nowhere to be found, of course-no one tells you that, for example, your hand is totally disabled by the time twitching starts-so you dwell about your "symptoms" a bit, then some of your muscles twitch once, twice-there you go, Houston we have a problem :)

[scared_ter]

Thanks again, your words have helped me today.
If I could ask for one thing in the world it would be to hot have these fears.
Would not wish HA on anyone.
Its horrific.

---------- Post added at 18:51 ---------- Previous post was at 18:48 ----------


Hi Scared....

Andrash has given you some excellent advice from experience. The chance that this is sinister is well.... none really.

There was another thread about this not too long ago. ALS is one of the hot button fears of HA sufferers. I know it's real to you as it is to others but think for a moment...

Many of these other sufferers in the thread were so scared of this that they would literally hop around the house and jump up and down stairs (even in other peoples homes!) to test if they were suffering symptoms! Picture in your mind for a moment what that looks like and even more so what someone seeing you doing that would think ;)

I had a twitch in my thumb muscle for about two weeks. I was stressing about some things so I attributed it to that. The issues were resolved and the twitching went away... no worries :) My fiance' has been under stress at work. After 4 days of stress at work she would come home and have twitches in her eye and her stomach was hurting due to acid. Again... stress... The twitches stopped a day later :)

Positive thoughts

Thank you too, trying very hard to let the advice take hold
I do not want to be this unhappy.

[pepsi]

I had servere twitching 2 months ago that lasted as long arms back calves stomach scalp eye lids i got myself in a right anxious state the more i worried the worse it got . I am not sure why the twitching started i still have it but not so bad i fretted about als day and night it took over my life googling all the time ...reading that post above even now gives me reassurance altglhough my twitches ping alot im otherwise fine. Anxiety caused it im sure of it and im sure its the same for you

[JITTERBUG1]

You might try seeing a chiropractor. With your back and hip pain, you might be out of alignment and your muscles might be compensating. Also a nice warm bath or massage might help. I have had twitches that have lasted for 2 months, they are usually facial, but they didn't seem to disappear until I learned to ignore them. Don't worry you are definitely not alone.

[RoseEve]

Hi there it was my post recently about ALS fishmanpa is referring too. My twitching had stopped. Twitching muscles is very very common in anxiety suffers. I agree that ALS is a hotbutton fear among those of us with HA.