ALS/MND fears have me circling the drain…

About three weeks ago I began to noticed a twitch on my right index finger. I didn’t think much about it at first however I started to notice it more when it didn’t go away in a few days. A couple days later I noticed twitching in my right bicep. The next day I begin to notice twitching essentially everywhere; on my feet, my calves, my thighs, my rib cage and occasionally on my face. These twitches are almost always very brief. It is like a small visible twitch for a second and then it will go away. Within a minute I’ll notice another similar one somewhere else on my body. The only area where I’m consistently noticing twitches at this point is on my right foot and my calves . Sometimes it makes it difficult to fall asleep or to stay asleep because I noticed these twitch is going off. I don’t notice them as much or at all when I am moving around. It’s almost always when I’m sitting, standing or laying down.

I emailed my doctor about it and only got a brief response that twitching is almost always benign and not to worry about it. Within the past few days I have noticed a soreness in my right shoulder area. I don’t feel as though I am any weaker in this area at this point, but this is an unusual and unexplained feeling that has me concerned it could be the beginning of weakness occurring. I have noticed it to be a bit more tiresome to perform some routine tasks like brushing my teeth because my shoulder feels like I had just gotten a workout in with it. This caused me to “test my strength” as so many of us have done to see where I am at and I am still able to lift the same amount of weight, but it just a strange feeling it’s hard to explain. Obviously I made the biggest mistake you could make which is to Google the symptoms. All I am reading about is this is either ALS or (hopefully) BSF. I am only 37 years old, but apparently my prior military service places me at a higher risk for ALS. I now can’t help but feel every ache in every muscle and every soreness and I’m constantly worried that this is a manifestation of weakness occurring with ALS.

I have reached back out to my doctor and finally got a consult to see if I can get a referral to a neurologist. However, I think it is going to be a tough sell with my doctor as he apparently doesn’t think the symptoms are an issue. Over the last few days my mental health has been dwindling as all I can think about is this is going to be the beginning of the end in my symptoms while I get worse and worse until the diagnosis becomes obvious and it is affectively a death sentence. I’ve tried to let it go and move on, but the constant twitching is a reminder that there is something really weird going on in my body that has never happened to me before.

Hopefully I will be able to schedule an appointment with the neurologist soon and get some more clarity on what is going on with my body. Until then I imagine it is going to be a real struggle. I’m unable to focus when people are talking to me, I’ve completely lost my appetite, I’m having trouble falling asleep, and I’m having trouble staying asleep. I suppose there is not much I can do in the meantime, but I appreciate you taking the time to read my story and I know a lot of you out there can relate with similar symptoms. It has been reassuring to see old posts of people with similar issues and to see how their follow up has gone with confirmation that their symptoms were indeed benign. I hope I will be able to share a similar post in the future. Take care guys.

READ THIS!

FMP

Thank you for the response. This is one of the best comforting posts I have seen regarding muscle fasciculations. It really has helped me calm down a little, I appreciate it