bulbar AND limb onset?

[melfish]

Is this even possible? It's one or the other, right?

[AntsyVee]

Why even go down this road? You know you don't have ALS.

[melfish]

Because I don't know that, in all seriousness. I know it must be annoying for others to read, but I'm still sick with worry. And my bloody left thumb has started twitching :/

---------- Post added at 15:08 ---------- Previous post was at 15:07 ----------

I mean, I know I have bad health anxiety also, but the two aren't mutually exclusive

[Fishmanpa]

Please read this... (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=196071)

Positive thoughts

[nivekc251]

No it doesn't happen like that in ALS, but it does in BFS. I twitch everyday today my eye bottom lip hand and calves have been twitching. Try to relax and schedule an appointment with a neurologist so he or she can look at you like you're crazy and tell you that you don't have ALS lol. If a clinical Neuro exam and an EMG can give you peace then do it.

[Zomboy]

Melfish, as someone who had the same fear for almost 3 years (every single day) all I can say is please turn around and stop worrying about it.

AntsyVee said it, don't go down that road..
In 3 years I thought I had all the symptoms, speaking, swallowing,weakness....
And after all those years worrying about nothing one day I got carpal tunnel syndrome and experienced actual clinical weakness, if you didn't know already this is real weakness, the one doctors look for.
The doctor just put his finger on top of my thumb and it just went down even though I tried my best not to let him push it down.

Then something just flipped in my head and I was like "HAH so that's the kind of weakness everybody is talking about".

What I want to say is ALS is about failing not feeling or perceiving.

I'm free of this worry for more than a year now, the thing is I shouldn't even have worried about it in the first place.

[melfish]

Ha, I already know I'm crazy

---------- Post added at 15:35 ---------- Previous post was at 15:31 ----------

Thanks again, Zomboy. I was deadlifting 100 pounds yesterday (I weigh 120), so my grip can't be all that weak. I have had a lot of pain in the thumb joint for some time, and have difficulty squeezing with the hand because of it, but it's not weakness per se. I stop what I'm doing because of pain, not muscle failure.

[Scotttt]

I know a lot of people have said this but I cannot stress enough that you do not want to get caught in the blackhole of worrying about ALS.

Ive been at it almost a year and it is hell. If you have been to a doctor, even a GP and they said that you don't have ALS, then you don't have it. It is not a disease that a doctor would easily miss.

I twitch literally everywhere. hands, feet, legs, arms, neck, eye. I am just starting to accept them and not fear them as much. Twitches are anxiety, muscle fatigue, or a totally normal part of being alive. I know this can be hard to accept.

If you can walk, talk and hold a cup of coffee the odds of you having ALS are as close to zero as it can be.


Please let this fear go before it takes over your life.

[melfish]

Thanks, Scotttt. The fear really is all-consuming, and it's exhausting. I've got a lot of other stuff going on in my life right now, which has been put on the backburner due to my overwhelming ALS fears, and at times I can't help but wonder if it's my mind way of channelling the anxiety into one place. If that even makes sense ...

[Scotttt]

This past week I have been very stressed with work and I have been twitching more AND worrying about them more. Stress and anxiety will find a way out, for us its my focusing on irrational health fears.

Have you tried meditation or maybe even seeing a therapist? both have helped me in the past. There are also some great help on the Top Tops section of this site.

[melfish]

I'm going to look for a CBT therapist. I've got a bunch of mediation books, and I really need to get on to that. I've been reading a lot of Stoic philosophy too, and it's such an appealing way of life, but putting it into practise is another thing entirely. And of course, there's that little voice constantly in my ear, saying "But what if you're RIGHT?"