ALS worry

[Porko91]

Thanks guys, had a good day even if the beginning of the day was terrible! I just don't understand how anxiety can do this! Woke up this morning with a dead/ numbing shoulders as if I had to get circulation through them now they feel so heavy and week they where shaky as well as like they where struggling to be in that position! And now my shoulders seem so much more twitchy then normal :(

Also has anyone experienced any vision troubles? I've had vision issues for about 2 months now everything seems shaky and I can't focus properly!

[Colicab85]

Nearly ever person with Anxiety tells of vision problems.

Also, vision has absolutely nothing to do with ALS.

[swajj]

If you had ALS and woke up with a numb shoulder because of it you would still have a numb shoulder now. As I posted elsewhere a neurologist who used to visit here described ALS as a disease that does not have good days and bad days. Once it starts to affect you it just gets progressively worse. All the symptoms you describe I have had. The internal vibrating had me convinced that I was afflicted with a serious nervous system disorder. I wasn't.

You'll get over being convinced you have ALS (we all do) but your peace of mind won't last. Not if you truly have HA. Soon after accepting you don't have ALS you will think you have some other serious disease. Go and see a counsellor before your HA takes over your life.

---------- Post added at 18:32 ---------- Previous post was at 17:52 ----------

I was just trying to think back to my muscle twitches. I went on a picnic and we were throwing the frisbee around. Later that night I was sitting watching a movie and my shoulder just started twitching. It wouldn't stop. I hopped on board the MS train that night and experienced the constant twitches, numbness, tingling, vision problems etc etc and everything else I read on Google. It was mostly inaccurate. Of course the most logical explanation was that I had caused some kind of injury throwing and catching the frisbee which was exacerbated by my tense muscles. But I was way past being logical by then. My guess is so are you.

[Josh1234]

numbness has nothing to do with ALS either, as ALS affects the motor neurons, not the sensory ones.

[Porko91]

Yes I know it's got nothing to do with sensory feelings, but it's scary last night was the first night I had an uninterrupted sleep in about 2 months. It's just that my hand doesn't seem to be getting any better it's just really stiff and shakes like crazy using my phone in one hand etc. now I just checked my tongue and now when I poke out my tongue the side of it quivers then stops then goes again. It's like it's shaking in that little bit of tongue.

The muscle twitches are becoming more frequent in my arms.

And it's not what I wanted today especially after actually feeling alright this morning.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Shaking is common in anxiety though. Think about someone having a shock due to an event (perhaps they were attacked) wouldn't you see shaking to be normal in someone like that?

Have you ever seen old people who "suffer were their nerves", an old terminology, because they are frightened a lot? They would have shaky hands.

And it's quite possible to hold something in a certain way that exposes a weakness in musculature. That doesn't mean illness in any form, but a lack of balance in body strength when smaller less used muscles come into play. Holding your phone at a certain angle can account for that in some people.

[swajj]

Have you read what people in this thread have been saying to you? You don't have ALS because you wouldn't have been "feeling better" this morning. There are no good periods with ALS. Now you are studying your tongue. Why? Go and see a counsellor and stop torturing yourself.

[emmegee]

I just don't understand how anxiety can do this!

That's what a lot of us struggle with. Even being told that anxiety can and does cause all these symptoms... we just can't hop on board and "believe" it.

Personally, once my body hits full "anxiety state" with the panic you are describing, it takes a month or more to return to a "normal state" when the symptoms wane. So even if you start to feel better in a couple weeks... you may still feel strange symptoms as your body recovers.

It's a terrible state to be in, as you know. You are not alone. Definitely seek some help from a mental health professional. It will start you on a better path.

[Porko91]

When I said feeling better, I meant my head didn't feel weird of anything different at all, my symptoms on my body seem to be getting worse everyday, holding my phone as I type this my shoulders are so heavy, more still eski up every night with dead hands, arms etc. I've got my emg on Thursday morning and I'm terrified now that the only news I'm gonna get is very bad news! I feel numb like ive already accepted the fact that I have some serious neurological disease.

That's the only thing that is keeping me sane at the minute knowing that blurred vision isn't a symptom.

My coordination is still bad I used to have really good reflexes when it came to catching a ball and now my catching the ability with one hand is completely off even when bouncing a ball.

Last night every time I woke up, and when I moved it felt like it was jerky movement through out the movements if that makes any sense.

And now my twitching has spread to my arms, now back occasionally and stomach occasionally as well.

[Fishmanpa]

I've been to 4 different Doctors who have also said that it is severe anxiety!

Nuff said....

Positive thoughts