Worried I have Motor Neuron Disease

[Gazman]

How anxious have you been this past week? If it's alot then that would make you tired too, suffering from HA makes you extremely aware of your body so that the smallest of aches and pains feel 10x worse, and anxiety causes tension in muscles.

I'm not a doctor ofcourse but I have been exactly what you have been through, the twitches, the aches, the pains, the weakness that is there but you can still lift things, the arms and legs feeling odd, kind of stiff feeling, I don't think there is anything wrong with you besides HA, but go and see your doctor and be honest about your fears, you'll be ok

[mel78]

Thanks Gazman. Am physically sick with worry now. Convinced its something serious this time :-(

[mel78]

Ok, so I went to the doc. She's put the pain in my hands down to repetitive strain, but says she is not so sure about my shoulder. She has advised me to exercise and do specific exercises which target the shoulder muscles. If it dosen't improve I'm to go back in 3 weeks to get blood tests for auto immune disorders (i.e. lupus, RA). She did strength and reflex tests on my arms and hands and they were fine.

I started exercising on Monday. I'm doing 25 minutes vigorous cycling on my exercise bike each night and have been able to increase the resistance each time, so I guess that's a good sign. The exercise also makes me feel really good - in fact, my muscles didn't twitch at all yesterday - so I'm less worried about that now. I guess if I had RA or something else immune related it would be bad, but I will try not to worry about it or google it and just concentrate on the exercising and see how it goes.

I did mention to the doctor that I think I have health related anxiety, but she was fairly dismissive - "better stay away from the internet!" I think if I can't get the HA under control myself I might see if I can get access to some CBT through my work employee assistance program.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. It did a lot to reassure me when I was at my lowest. You guys are great.