Can you please do this for me? [Archive]

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tan235

13-11-17, 21:00

Hi all,
Another one of my 'can you do this for me?'
I have twitching, yes still going, the Dr is not helpful, I just went.
All she said was, if you do have ALS you can't do anything about it. Not helpful.
I've noticed that when i blow air into my cheeks my lips tremor.
The Dr saw me do it and was a bit concerned and started tapping around my face.
She then said it may just be normal.
It doesn't feel normal, I can feel my face muscles shaking and I'm not happy.
If you guys do that - blow air into your cheeks with your mouth closed, do your lips shakes or tremor a bit?
Love to hear if someone else has this and if it is normal?

ServerError

13-11-17, 21:11

I sincerely hope nobody will contribute to your descent into the ALS rabbit hole by actually carrying out this bizarre self-test. You don't need it and it won't make any difference beyond a fleeting sense of relief that passes within hours.

tan235

13-11-17, 21:12

Well its not so much for the ALS rabbit hole, now I"m wondering if it's a normal thing that happens? I know I"m mess, I've just taken some lorezapam so hopefully that will calm me down, it's just that my whole face is twitching now .... ;( I'm so miserable.

ServerError

13-11-17, 21:18

Was your doctor actually concerned? Did she actually state any concern? It could just as easily have been a token, extremely halfhearted effort to reassure you. One thing's for sure - if she thought there was a chance of ALS, you'd be getting a referral. The more you self-test, the more you'll notice things that seem abnormal in some way. Your mind is in no state to interpret them.

Did you talk about anxiety? Clearly you're being medicated for it, but benzodiazepines are just a short-term comfort blanket. They do nothing for the underlying problem. Are you having any other treatment?

susie1

13-11-17, 21:19

Hi ,
This doctor sounds extremely unhelpful. I am not a doctor but I doubt very much if you have this illness or if your gp thinks you have either. You have to remember that GP's are just that - general practitioners - and many have no idea how to help with health anxiety. She/he sounds totally insensitive but may well have thought they were responding in the best way to deal with your HA.
I have just tried this test but I think it shows nothing - but yes , the same thing happens to me. I have spent my life carrying out bizarre tests to try and convince myself of a diagnosis. PLEASE try to not do it - it proves nothing and feeds your anxiety. I know EXACTLY where you're at. There is light at the end of the tunnel but it is a long road. take care

melfish

13-11-17, 21:20

Why were you even doing this in the first place?

tan235

13-11-17, 21:27

omg... I really hate this.. I hate noticing everything little thing that goes on.
I went to teh GP as I work in film and tv and my job is in front of the camera and which an eye twitch and now a face twitch, I wont be working much longer. NOt sure how i ended up doing the blow air into my cheeks test. It just felt weak there. So I did it and my mouth shook. I said 'what about MS' and she said, 'what about it, if you have it you can't do anything so stop worrying.'
She told me she suffers from anxiety also and printed me up some sheets of paper.
I hate feeling the shaking, can anxiety cause facial tremors? How do we get rid of this???

She has given me Mirtazapine - so I guess I'll try it.
So sad at the moment and so disappointed that I"m here in my life.

melfish

13-11-17, 21:38

What dose of mirtazapine? You don't want to go too high, as it increases noradrenaline at higher doses, which can make anxiety worse. At lower doses, it basically is an antihistamine and makes you sleep and eat.

tan235

13-11-17, 21:48

I also have nortryptaline? 10mg? I might take that one?
The dr thought the antihistamine might stop the twitching.
I'm so over the twitching, I was just drinking a cup of tea and my whole mouth was twitching!!

melfish

13-11-17, 22:05

Mirt is an antidepressant. So is the other one, but it also works on nerve pain.

tan235

13-11-17, 22:41

I have no idea what to take, I just know i need something, I can't going like this, it's draining me and stopping me from living my life which I so dearly want to live!

---------- Post added at 22:41 ---------- Previous post was at 22:41 ----------

I feel I almost need to just accept that there is something wrong with me - if it's something incurable so be it ... I can feel my whole body shaking internally today. I give up!

ServerError

13-11-17, 23:11

I'll warn you now, there is no magic thought-altering pill you can take that will make this all go away. Benzodiazepines can give you a temporary feeling of relaxation, but the complication is that some people actually find that feeling unpleasant. And you develop tolerance to them anyway if you take them for too long. Antidepressants can help create a state of mind in which you become more receptive to what you learn in therapy, or they can just take the edge of your worries. But they are not a cure.

I think it's important to be clear about this. The good news, though, is that lots and lots of people get better. Some achieve complete recovery. Some relapse and remit. Some don't achieve liberation, but learn to live with it. Some folks, myself included, actually feel better than they did before anxiety. But we can all get there.

Acceptance is such an important part of recovery. You have to accept that your symptoms are being caused by your state of mind. That's a given. But you also have to learn to accept their presence and not fight them and try to wish them away. You have to learn to accept negative thoughts without automatically identifying with them. And you have to live. Do all the living you can. You have to teach your anxious mind that there is no danger and that all this energy it's sending your way is not required. Medication and therapy work best by helping you to do all this.

It's an ongoing process. It can be hard, and you'll have ups and downs. Sometimes the downs can feel like any progress you've made is wasted. But they're actually a sign that you're moving forwards. They're a chance to put what you've learned into practice. It's within all of us to achieve this.

tan235

13-11-17, 23:22

Thank you so much for your post ....

It all rings true with me, I'm intelligent, I'm not stupid.
I understand the repetition and the consistent strengthening of the behaviour.
Yet I can't get out of it.
Sometimes I dig a little way out but fall straight back in and when I fall back in it makes the hole bigger.
All I'm wanting is the physiological sensations to go away and then I'll be great right!?

If the twitching would just go and the facial twitching, then maybe I can get on top of everything else?

The mind is hard as the symptoms really get me down and I've tried to be kind to myself but they don't go away!
But I have made an appointment with the therapist I keep cancelling on.... so that's a start.

FamilyPicnic

13-11-17, 23:35

I'm trying to do your blow air in the cheeks test but can't figure out what you mean. Can you explain it with a little more detail? I'd be happy to try for you.

Geesh, I hate it when my doctor tells me something is probably normal for me so I feel for you hearing that from your doctor. No one else in the world has whatever strange symptom I have, yet it's still normal for me? I would love to find a doctor who could actually tell me why my body does some of the weird things it does do.

ServerError

13-11-17, 23:41

All I'm wanting is the physiological sensations to go away and then I'll be great right!?

That's what I thought at the start of my crisis. It's why, when I saw a doctor about anxiety for the first time, I agreed to take beta blockers but declined antidepressants. I thought, if there was something to stop the physical sensations, it would all go away.

But it doesn't work like that. The physical sensations are symptoms of a problem in the mind. It is only by tackling that problem that you can end the physical sensations. Often, they will linger well after the mind has calmed. It's just a habit your body has gotten into and it takes time to break it.

But you would also have to recognise that our bodies create weird physical sensations for our entire lives, regardless of what's going on in our minds. I get random twitches to this day. Earlier this year, I had a twitch in my nose that lasted months. It didn't mean anything.

Ultimately, the key to being free from all this is making a long term change in cognitive behaviour, and giving your body time to catch up with that change.

Fishmanpa

13-11-17, 23:58

Listen to Server Tan... Really, really listen. Those are wise words. I personally witnessed the transformation once he did the things he said. Go back and take a peek at his posting history how far he's come with hard work and commitment.

Recovery and healing are possible from anxiety if you're willing to put the work in. He's living proof of it!

Positive thoughts

tan235

14-11-17, 00:45

atl

14-11-17, 04:58

The more you self-test, the more you'll notice things that seem abnormal in some way. Your mind is in no state to interpret them.

TRUTH BOMB right here.

Stop testing and nip this in the bud. Testing only deepens the anxiety hole you're in. No reassurance will ever be enough.

ServerError

14-11-17, 05:15

I will listen, Server did you take anti's? What sort?
Man I love you guys, I can't talk to anyone else....My family is sick of me, my friends - what friends .... I'm losing my mind ... but here at leaset I can honestly be myself and try to better myself as well...... Thank you

I took quite a lot of different meds at various time. The first thing I took for it was diazepam, given to me by a mental health doctor after I showed up at A&E. A GP gave me propranolol (a beta blocker), but I don't think these did much for me as I wasn't having much in the way of palpitations, and that's generally what they work best for in anxiety sufferers. I guess my GP was just trying to do something for me, and I was adamant I wanted to medicate the physical stuff only.

I eventually caved to the idea that I had to tackle my mental state if anything was going to change, so I was prescribed sertraline. I had really bad start-up symptoms that made me even worse and pretty much brought me to my knees. I was given lorazepam, and later on even got some more diazepam, as various doctors tried to just get me through the start-up phase of the sertraline. Eventually, things began to settle down, and it was when the sertraline really started to kick in that I suddenly began absorbing information that could help me - from therapy to my GP to books and this website. It suddenly started to make sense and I found myself increasingly able to take it in, and I do credit the sertraline with helping me do that.

pulisa

14-11-17, 08:36

I don't think you will get any better advice from any therapist or any expensive doctor, Tan. People who have been through this and come out the other side braver and stronger and prepared to share their knowledge to help others are so important on this forum.

O_O

14-11-17, 12:20

swajj

14-11-17, 12:24

Oh for goodness sake I tried it too. I never do that sort of crap.

For what it's worth my lips trembled. The more I held the air in the more they trembled.

tan235

14-11-17, 19:15

Thanks guys, today is a new day, I still have tremors or twitchin and its still all over my body but screw it!
Thank you for your wise advise, thank you for doing something silly for me, thank you for taking the time to respond and thank you for helping me.
It means a lot to me guys - I appreciate every single one of you and I hope we can master this.