View Full Version : Als worry
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
22-01-17, 22:53
Hi guys just wanted to post on here to get a bit of reassurance.
I have ALWAYS worried about my health since I was 6 years old when my grandad had a heart attack... but I've always had moments where I have been okay and then bad moments. 2 years ago this Feb I got REALLY bad and was convinced I was dying... I haven't been the same since. However I was getting there. Anyway 8 months ago I went through a bit of a traumatic time.. I really did.. I had a miscarriage and bled heavily and when I say heavy I mean like something to see in a film and I had to go to a and e. I was CONVINCED I was going to lose too much blood and die. Anyway since then I've been terrible. I've thought I've had every cancer under the sun, kidney disease, liver disease (a big one for me cos I was drinking every night to self medicate for 5 years so technically I could have cirrohsis by now :() but yeah the list goes on.
Shortly after this horrific time I started getting twitches and I mean 24/7 twitching in my calves NEVER with a break. Every single finger of mine has twitches from side to side or up and down. I've had twitches EVERYWHERE. You name it I've had it there. Even my tongue. But CONSTANT in my legs just little twitches sometimes BIG sometimes small sometimes fast sometimes slow sometimes one sometimes 2 etc etc but you get my drift. It's mainly just my skin dimpling in and out in different places on my calves all the time. Guys I am DO worried I have als but I'm too scared to check myself out at the doctors.
Can someone please tell me they've had twitching like this and it's been anxiety? It's making me want to cry now, it makes me depressed and I'm so tired of worrying all the time :(
From Rhianna xxx
Rhianna,
A quick look and search will yield a plethora of recent ALS threads here. It's like ALS and node month here at NMP. Just a quick read through should ease your worries as dozens of others are experiencing the same symptoms and it's NOT ALS ;)
Positive thoughts
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
23-01-17, 12:37
Thank you so much for your quick reply. I love that everyone helps each other on here. Have you ever had severe twitches? And I mean... severe! I remember having them before but NEVER this bad :( xxx
Of course I've had twitches. Everyone gets them... even people without anxiety get twitches. I've been under a lot of stress due to my wife's illness and yes, I've had twitches. The difference is I know exactly why it's happening and it's just an inconvenience as opposed to something to worry about.
Positive thoughts
Do you know that a muscle under tension/stress (i.e "doing its job") twitches?
Your muscles are made up of fibres which "twitch" at different rates, fast and slow.
So twitching is essentially their job.
Sometimes you notice it happen under the skin, and it is perceptible with the eye.
Twitching involuntarily is a sign of stress and anxiety. The fact that you mention your anxiety issues alongside the twitching should make you realise that the two are linked.
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
23-01-17, 22:30
Yeah but when I say it's CONSTANT I mean CONSTANT ... like it doesn't ease up no matter what and it's really really really annoying :/ to the point it's making me really down because it's very uncomfortable. I also get proper bad weird pains in my legs too :/ but thank you for your replys.
And yes before I used to get twitching but NEVER to this extent :/ it's something else it really is! X
First off, let me say, I have been where you are. I started with twitching in my left foot and calf, and then it spread to my right foot and calf, and then my whole body. I developed tremors as well. I went and got myself the full work up: EMG, MRI, Neuro exams, blood work. At the end of all of it they were able to rule out basically every serious illness possible and I was left with the reality that what I dealt with was anxiety. Trust me when I say, it is a difficult thing to accept.
My twitching was near constant and I was convinced I had ALS, I know that fear. it is a terrible place to be.
If I were you, I would go get checked out by a neurologist, but I would focus on dealing with your anxiety.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Godspeed.
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
24-01-17, 22:29
Thank you for the reply. To be fair it ALL started when I went through a really stressful time and I am constantly stressed I'm never ever at ease with anything. Even my job stresses me out. But I think a lot of the stress boils down to the fact that I genuinely believe I'm dying. I just haven't felt myself for a long time. Like I KNOW something is wrong with me ! I don't even feel that anxious anymore ... I just don't get it :( had enough. The docs always say stress anyway so there's no point in going there because they don't listen :( xx
I don't even feel that anxious anymore ...
Anxiety is like a campfire. When you're in the midst of a spiral the fire is burning bright and hot. When the flames die down, there's still a bed of red hot coals burning away just waiting for some more fuel. You may not feel anxious but your body is still on high alert and has a bed of hot anxiety coals inside just waiting to flare up. Just like a campfire, the hot coals of anxiety take a long time to finally go out.
Positive thoughts
ALS is a gloomy and very deep rabbit hole where one can lose his mind over very long periods of tilme. I.m inside the hole myself right now, MRIing around and being hit by neurologist wielding little hammers and trying to fire of reflexe movments and all that jazz. Next stuff I have on schedule will be the dreaded EMG.
Rhiannon
Look up Benign fasiculation syndrome
You sound like standard issue
Nothing to worry about
My calves have been going 24/7 for two years! As well as many many many other locations
You're fine
Yeah but when I say it's CONSTANT I mean CONSTANT ... like it doesn't ease up no matter what and it's really really really annoying :/ to the point it's making me really down because it's very uncomfortable. I also get proper bad weird pains in my legs too :/ but thank you for your replys.
And yes before I used to get twitching but NEVER to this extent :/ it's something else it really is! X
Yeah you basically described what I've been going through. Although it was twitching a LOT more with more pain a few weeks ago compared to now. At the moment I've had a few good days with nearly no twitching or pain but if I engage the legs much in walking then they twitch a lot after with some pain.
For pains I sometimes get short sharp pains that almost shock me, then sometimes long dull pains. I don't mind the twitching... It's the fatigue and pain which is nasty as it's making moving about a lot more painful and tense than normal.
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
26-01-17, 13:23
That's actually a well good quote!! Thank you!! I will save that!! ... :) . And oh really? How were your reflexes? I keep constantly checking mine myself. Do you have the twitches too? ..
---------- Post added at 13:23 ---------- Previous post was at 13:19 ----------
Thank you Mummybee and Dannylad. I was thinking bfs... can that be brought on by anxiety? To be fair this twitching has gone on for months and months with no other symptoms apart from what I feel to be weakness but not real weakness if you get what I mean? And yeah that's EXACTLY how my pains are like sometimes it feels like my legs are squeezing or being tended up in certain places and the pain happens then it stops! What a palava! I am so sick of this it's like never ending worry about something.xxxx
BFS is almost always caused by Anxiety. Your anxiety over ALS is definitely causing and perpetuating your twitching.
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
26-01-17, 16:52
I just don't wanna go to the docs ... I'm convinced I'm dying and it's a really bad place to be :( ..xxx
" what I feel to be weakness but not real weakness if you get what I mean?" I know EXACTLY what you mean. I've been going through the same but it is getting better. I think it's due to the nervous system being overloaded and trying to recover. You feel weaker because maybe it feels harder to do things but when you physically test yourself you realise you're doing just fine strength wise even with the pains/twitching.
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
30-01-17, 22:27
Yeah that's very true. Do you ever seriously feel like you've genuinely got something seriously wrong? Because you honestly feel so ill and sick and constantly just feel drained like I seriously don't think my body has ever felt like this. It's like I KNOW something isn't right ! And I need to sort it out but I'm too scared to go doctors!! Like I'm twitching all over right now! awful it is !
Twitching is NOT a symptom of ALS, it's a byproduct of it. Meaning, you'd already have the disease and have serious deficits somewhere. You said this has been happening 2 years? A lot of people with ALS are DEAD in 2 years. You 100000000% do not have ALS. ALS is a disease of weakness. Unless you're weak, you don't have it.
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
07-02-17, 22:40
Nah I've been having the constant twitches for about 8 months or so I'd say. Now I'm worried it's like an electrolyte abnormality :/ thanks for your response xxx
PASchoolSyndrome
07-02-17, 23:55
If you're really too afraid of the doctors maybe try picking up Magnesium or Vit B12 up from the vitamin isle - see if that works.
However - your doctor will be the only person to be able to determine if something is wrong.
Twitching is a very common anxiety symptom. My doctor once hinted at me having MS and I went into full out panic mode. Everything twitched, fingers, eye lid, legs, face, arm, you name it.
Then one day, at the heightened of my anxiety, my legs started doing extreme contractions - like the ones you will read about on ALS websites. They were twitching and contracting so hard my mom had to hold them down. It was terrifying. I was convinced I had MS or ALS.
Guess what? I had a million tests done and all the MRI imaging and nothing. I've never had a twitch since and that was 2 years ago. It was ALL anxiety.
When I had a brain tumour a few years ago (which I didn't actually have by the way, it was my illness of the time!), one evening my whole body twitched uncontrollably and continued to do so for months. So anyway, the good news was that I no longer worried about the brain tumour, instead I worried about ALS! It was an awful time. I can reassure you that it is all caused by anxiety as my symptoms went away in the end and I'm still here a few years on! I'm now on to worrying about my sons health as he's having some ongoing symptoms so at least I don't worry about myself anymore! Scared that I may have passed my anxiety on to him though which is why he's still suffering :weep:
RhiannaLouiseHerbert
15-02-17, 20:03
Hey guys ... thank you SO MUCH for your responses it really helps it really does :) makes me feel a lot better. I'm doing a bit better now but I even have started to get like these little tingles like there's a spider crawling on me it's all prickly and weird and now I think maybe MS? Or lupus because I ALWAYS feel Ill. It's hard to think anxiety creates all of these symptoms... like you think in your head 'I MUST HAVE SOMETHING WRONG' ... I just KNOW if I went for tests something bad would come back... so I won't go :( just wanna feel normal you know.
The thing is I don't feel overly anxious I haven't had a panic attack in about a year and a half:/ but I am always VERY stressed from my job. But yeah I've thought maybe a tumour somewhere too? I dunno I have so many neurological symptoms :/ and not only that but pain all around my left rib which has been there for monthsss!! And I'm tired 24/7 and my stomach hurts at the top all around my ribs 24/7 with little sharp pains! Awful.
My mum suffers from anxiety and she used to worry about me too like constantly .... at the end of the day it's not your fault and you only worry because you care!
Thank yoh for your lovely reassuring responses guys :) xxx
Anursewithanxiety
16-02-17, 00:56
Also it seems like everyone gets an EMG out with the uk because they don't have free healthcare. Likely your GP will see you say there's nothing to be concerned about and you have to move on from there. Here in the U.K. You cant say I want to see a neuro you have to actuallt warrent that ie have clinical weakness atrophy ect. And even if your referred for peace of mind it's unlikely they'll do an EMG if they don't think you need it. this is something I'm finding quite hard as I feel I'm not being assessed properly but it is just a dif in the systems and people else where are prob being referred when they don't actually need to be x
TheAnxiousWriter
16-02-17, 01:06
Hey,
I've had twitching in the past, too! Don't worry about it, it's an anxiety symptom. If you take some hot baths, it will ease the twitches. Two or three consecutive warm baths later, and you'll be twitch free! Also, try some stretches. Stretches work for any kind of anxiety symptom.
Hey,
I've had twitching in the past, too! Don't worry about it, it's an anxiety symptom. If you take some hot baths, it will ease the twitches. Two or three consecutive warm baths later, and you'll be twitch free! Also, try some stretches. Stretches work for any kind of anxiety symptom.
Interesting suggestions!
Hot baths relaxed me and helped with my anxiety and stress [which long term will help with twitching] BUT short term after the hot baths I'd actually be twitching much more. OR... Because my muscles were super relaxed maybe the same twitches just felt stronger because they were working against relaxed muscles rather than tense?
With the stretches for me it made the pain MUCH worse. Everyone is different and it's definitely worth trying stretching but for me at least the tension/tightness caused by twitching/stress was totally different from tension from running. Very odd as you'd think stretching would always help but for me made it much worse :o
Maybe because your stretching the muscle close to maximum safe stretch and then on top of that you're getting the twitching whilst the muscle is already stretched, maybe pushing it beyond its safe stretch limit maybe?
Just some thoughts on my experiences :)
Can you describe what your perceived weakness is like? I'm going through a big ALS scare at the moment
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