Worried about als

[matt1990]

I am so terrified of als. It is probably the worst disease out there. After reading about it last week I began to notice these strange symptoms tonight. My left hand knuckles and wrist are stiff or cramping up for no reason at all while my right side is fine. There is a stiff joint sensation in my left hand middle finger and the finger next to the pinky, altough there does not seem to be any particular weakness in my hands. There is numbness and stiffness running down my left forearm with a lot of popping when I twist my wrist. The tip of my left middle finger is numb too.

I have no idea if just reading about a disease can make anxiety mimic the symptoms. The only thing I have been doing out of the ordinary is I just bought a ps3 and have been playing it a couple hours for the past couple nights, but I dont see how this would cause any stiffness.

This is really freaking me out. I will be 23 in a few days. I have read a lot of stories about people getting this horrendous disease even in their 20's.
I have noticed a clear pattern of it usually affecting a certain type of person who is athletic, outgoing and engages in strenuous activities. This is exactly me!
I weighed the odds in my head and no matter what I just cant shake the feeling I will get this disease at some point in my life.

[matt1990]

HELP! I'm afraid of dieing from this. Since I know als affects one limb first I have unwillingly focused on every little ache in my left arm and hand. My arm is going numb, the way it feels when you cut off circulation. I did wake up this morning in a panic, but then when I calmed down I noticed my hand is doing better except now my left arm is numb!

[cpe1978]

Ok, time to rationalise.

Put your right arm out in front of you........

Focus exclusively on your wrist, nothing else and imagine a warm band round it. Keep concentrating for 3 or 4 minutes. Can you make your wrist feel warm? Your brain can create an awful lot of physical sensations.

[matt1990]

I know it's rediculous I didnt have symptoms of this disease before I read about it! Is that normal with HA?

In the back of my mind I keep thinking 1 in a million chances do happen and 2 in 100,000 are even more common, so the weird feelings in my left arm must mean I have the disease. The irrational thinking even has me wondering if just thinking about a neurological disease will give it to me.

The fact als is unpredictable in who it affects has me worried about having it.

I'm obessively panicing and constantly checking to see if I still have the ability to stand on my toes, checking if my left arm is smaller than the right, doing chin ups to feel any strength differences in my arms.

My mind is spiraling out of control.

[cpe1978]

The chances of a 23 yr old having ALS are so slim. You are right, not impossible, but you probably dice with much more chance of death each time you walk down the road. Ok so 2 in 100,000 people get ALS each year.

Well the vast majority of those people are in their older years, so let's pretend that when you are 60 your chance is 20 in 100,000, imagine how that reduces the odds for people your age. But even so not worth worrying about.

Google a random number generator, pick two numbers between 0 and 100,000 and see how long it takes to hit one of them

[matt1990]

I want to get past this fear without relying on a doctor visit. That seems like a bad habit to start everytime I fear something. I'm just not sure how to put the thought of disease to rest without debunking it with logic.

For example I knew I "had" bacterial meningitis recently and was scared sick until enough days passed that I could logically rationalize ok if it really was bacterial meningitis then I would be deathly sick and laid out on my back by now. Since then I havent worried about it again.

How do I apply this to my als fear?

[Ccat]

Hi Matt

You can get repetitive strain from using play station a lot/on computer a lot etc- i really think its that- maybe cut down or have breaks.

Cat x

[matt1990]

Please somebody tell me if these symptoms are related to als!

I do not have muscle weakness and there is no loss of motion. Its that my left hand fingers feel tighter than normal, wrist pops when I move it certain ways, sometimes the fingertips feel numb and the left forearm has a numbing sensation.

I am scared out of my mind right now because I was bad and googled it again. I made a big mistake by going to an als forum.I've read anxiety does not cause symptoms on just one side.

[swajj]

Do you trip and fall for no reason? Is your muscle wasting away? I'm guessing no. Those are the most common symptoms of ALS. It is an unrelenting disease. Once muscle weakness starts it keeps getting progressively worse. It doesn't go away for a bit and then come back. Or as my doctor says "it doesn't go on holidays". Half the people here have had ALS I had it too. Stay off Google it will do your head in. You don't have ALS. You have anxiety. The numbness and all your other symptoms are happening because you have become over sensitised. HA makes you notice things happening to your body which you normally would never pay any attention to. For instance, a slight pain suddenly becomes an agonising one. Your ALS symptoms will pass when you start manifesting the symptoms of some other disease. Have you had a brain tumour yet?

[Fishmanpa]

You ask how to overcome the fear of als. I recommend buying a lottery ticket as you have a better chance of hitting that compared to getting als.

Good Luck!