Anyone else have an ALS/MS fear?

[rbren5]

Went for a run yesterday (about 2.5 miles) and my left leg began getting tired pretty quickly. I have been self testing it constantly to assure myself I don't have ALS/MS. I hop on it, jump on it, balance on it constantly. Problem is throughout the day my leg will feel weak. I have no fallen or tripped but my left leg feels off balance and that my knee is kind of swaying. I will also sometimes getting twitches in my body. I have overcome this fear before but oftentimes feel like nobody else has this fear or has had this happen to them.

[BiG_Oak]

If you're testing it constantly there's no wonder it gets tired quickly, plus if you're thinking about it all the time you'll focus more on that leg getting tired, I used to go through these stages for example of when I was writing something on paper for quite a while I'd start focusing or thinking too much about my hand/forearm and it would hurt or ache.

Twitches in the muscles in your body is completely natural and stress/thinking about them will make them worse, I get twitches in my legs quite a bit, my hand/arms eye, anywhere really, I always put them down to stress and muscle tension.

---------- Post added at 14:47 ---------- Previous post was at 14:42 ----------

Also if you are self testing one leg all the time it will feel tired or weak and may be the reason for it giving the swaying and off balance feeling, for example... I go to the gym a lot, and after leg day both of my legs feel heavy and it's an effort to walk/get up/move etc, if you are constantly putting strain on one leg and working the muscles in it, it's going to get fatigued.

[Lifelonganxiety!]

I'm pretty sure anyone who has health anxiety has had some fear of MS / ALS at some point. It's very common and just goes to show how similar Anxiety symptoms can be to just about any illness.

Take a look at Benign Fasciculation Syndrome, it can cause weakness, balance issues etc...

[FeelLikeNeo]

The strange thing about firstly anxiety and also these particular types of anxiety (ALS/MS), is that it forces you to do strange things which reinforce your anxiety. So, I have bad ALS fears (I started twitching about 3 months ago) and strength test all the time, by doing press ups and stuff. The ridiculous thing is, I'm completely physically inactive and can't remember the last time I did press ups, so even if I can do 5 or 20 there is nothing to compare to; so no matter what you do, you'll reinforce your own fear.

The thing that keeps me sane primarily is that when I go out drinking or whatever, suddenly the 'weakness' and even the twitches go. Why? Because I'm relaxed and distracted.

[mlemos89]

Yup I have been there I am 25, and just have strange pains like a cross between achy/sharp in both of my forearms, just the tops and both my shins. These pains are random, and also I went through about 3 weeks of twitching and I jumped online and ALS came up. Reality is though that when I'm not thinking about it I don't notice it. I find myself always waking up in bed and consciously checking to see if they hurt still, and after a few minutes they do. What helps me a lot is statistics, I have to calm myself down and realistically look at the possibility that I have ALS, and then see that it is 100x more likely I have health anxiety. Here I am three weeks later and yes I still have the pains whenever II start thinking about them, but no more twitches. Also as per an ALS sight if you can physically see the twitch it is almost always normal.