I have petrified myself ALS help me

[Anxious lu]

I was googling twitchy legs in relation to anxiety and an als strength test came up..

I tried it out to see what I was like and I could complete the test but did struggle.. Im not a fit person and my balance was a bit off..

I then progressed to google If ALS would show on an MRI scan and scrolled down google and a page said that it doesnt..

Now Im absolutely shitting myself about having ALS to the point Im crying..

When I write this I notice my knees are clenched so am hoping it is down to tension but I often get random twitches mostly in my legs..

I feel sick to the stomach I don't know what to do?!??!

[almamatters]

Sorry for are feeling like this. I really feel for you. I have these random tingling, twitching, legs hands and arms and constantly worry about brain tumours. My brain MRI was clear as everyone probably knows. Then I thought diabetes was causing it, but those tests were fine. I literally some days cannot walk and lose feeling in both of my legs. This is one thing I agree with my GP about, that it is anxiety related (with me anyway) and that if I am able to calm myself down, it does improve. If you google, then it will obviously tell you that it is something horrible, Did you say you had already had a MRI, if so and it was clear then that has got to be reassuring.

[Anxious lu]

Yes I am obsessing over it now..

The MRI showed clear but then I found ALS doesnt show up on this scan.. it was reassuring for a while until I found a disease with muscle twitches that doesnt show on this scan..

I am only 20 and what to live my life but I feel like I will die prematurely..

I dont know what to do anymore the twitches arent constant but are every day at the moment .. ive had them elsewhere in my body but they are mainly in my legs.. When I am up and about I dont notice them but when I am rested they are often there twitching away!

[matrix123]

ALS at 20 is next to impossible. You have to calm down

[Anxious lu]

OH IS IT? I forget how young I am sometimes its just so scary everything is so scary all the time..

Why cant i get over the fact I am not dying or I am not going to die prematurely.

When i thought i had HIV i didnt when I thought I had stroke and heart attack I didnt, cancer.. no, brain tumor.. no

the list goes on.. however everyday a new disease and even knowing I havent had the previous thousand diseases I think this time I'm right..

[almamatters]

I agree, if you are only 20 then would think the chances are zero!! I diagnosed myself with brain stem tumour , lung cancer, lymphoma this is in the last 3 months and I have not got any of them! If you saw a neurologist before your scans then would have thought he would of had a an idea if he suspected anything like ALS. HA is horrible I know only too well.

---------- Post added at 12:59 ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 ----------

Anxiety can cause muscle twitches. My legs and hands are always twitching when I am worried.

[Anxious lu]

No unfortunatly the scan wasn't for ms it was in relation to symptoms of stroke.. obviously i didnt have stroke. Those fears came after but knowing there was no abnormalities on the MRI KIND OF put that to rest..

Thank you for the support guys.. I need to see a neuro in january about my migraines and Im terrified he will say its something worse etc..

If the possibility of me having ALS at twenty is close to zero maybe I should GET OVER IT.. easier said than done..

[xtremx]

Hello anxious lu.

1st, yes you are right ALS will not show on a MRI,
2nd ALS at 20 yes next to zero
3rd twitching muscles does not point to ALS if anything muscle twitching is one of the final stages in ALS by then you would have many other symptoms and be very ill,
4th stop doing any kind off strength test you find on the net ie hoping on the stairs and doing the other stuff it could cause you more harm than good ie strains and sprains.


5th I have been and done all you have and it is a very scary place to be and that was over 20 months ago and my muscle still twitch like mad non stop it is nothing to worry about look up aboutbfs.com that will explain a lot. But please try to stop worrying about ALS I got into such a state at one time I was writing letters to my wife and kids to say sorry for not being around to see them grow up and I was already planning to leave home And just vanish from the face of the earth as not to be a burden to anyone. Bloody glad I did not as I am still here and no ALS.




If you need to chat about anything send me a message as I have spent a lot of time reading up about ALS and reading up on ALS forums to help ease my mind when I was going down that road.

[Anxious lu]

Well thank you so much.

What you went through sounds awful it's just terrible that we can belive we have something without proof so much .. I did that was HIV I felt uncomfortable around my niece incase she caught it.. And every time I pricked myself at work with a clothing tag I would bin it etc..

I'm glad your over it now and can move on I hope I can forget ALS and move on

[xtremx]

You will get over it and move on but what you have to try and do is when you have got over the ALS scare is to try and learn from it that you NEVER had it and you NEVER had HIV.

We can never say well never suffer from something but we can learn not to let our minds over rule or common sense.
I have had a HIV test done (when I was 18) because my tattooist was also on drugs and would tattoo people in his house and most of them were on class A drugs and sometimes he would not sanitize the needles But that was a fear that came to nothing.

But a friend told me that having Anxiety mean that ever niggle and twinge, or ache and pain is amplified because we are always look for it.
I'm only just learning this but a friend of mine is teaching me about it and how to hopefull over come it all.
I will be posting my friends message to me as he hopes the teaching he is giving me will help others as he is a fellow suffer that is using his understanding of anxiety to hopefully help others