Motor neuron disease

[LE]

I worried sick that I have this.

Have pressure on one side of face near eye. On same side I have noticed when I smile this side pulls up more. I've looked back at photos only see this has been happening for just over a year.

My left calf feels slightly thinner than my right. Also feel I'm tripping up sometimes when out on uneven ground with my left foot.

I've just turned 36 and I'm terrified. I saw a neurologist last week but it was morenfor headaches and the eye pressure. I never mentioned the smile. He did donsome neuro tests but no walking ones.

[Colicab85]

The Brain Tumour to ALS thing seems a very common progression in Health Anxiety.

You don't have ALS, I know this.

[LE]

How do you know it's not? I'm scared.

[SLA]

You are expecting your body to act and behave like a perfect human.

I have noticed when I smile this side pulls up more.

Normal

My left calf feels slightly thinner than my right.

Normal. You should see my legs. You'd laugh.

Also feel I'm tripping up sometimes when out on uneven ground

Thats why you need to go careful on uneven ground. Sometimes you trip.

I've just turned 36 and I'm terrified.

I'm about to turn 34 and I am terrified too!!


You aren't thinking rationally. Nothing you mention remotely points to ALS.

[swajj]

Read below. It is part of a post that a neurologist addressed concerning someone's fear that they had MS. Then maybe do a search for the username. You might find his posts reassuring.




RLR
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: , , USA.
Posts: 287



Re: MS worries
It's important for you to acknowledge that clinical diagnosis, particularly where neurodegenerative diseases are concerned, is quite complex and under no circumstances can accuracy of such a task be accomplished by attempting to draw subjective comparisons between the symptoms you feel and some list of clinical findings consistent with Multiple Sclerosis. I can tell you that with a great deal of confidence and certainty because I'm a retired neurologist and was in practice for more than 40 years.

The case with absolutely all neurological disease is the specific company that certain symptoms keep, or in other words the specific presentation of very specific symptoms known in clinical medicine to be distinguished from other conditions. You make no mention of a single one of these specific caveats which would suggest the possibility of MS.

Self-diagnosis can be the devil's own quill in persons with health anxiety, for the more apprehensive they become that their summations are accurate the more anxiety is produced, followed by an increase in somatoform or physical symptoms which only serves to reinforce their notions. It is a cycle that can be very difficult to break and it's critical for you to realize that the reason for such resistance has to do with the development of a specific type of fear that suggests a threat to survival.

This type of perception causes the brain to respond in a very particular manner that is genetically pre-wired in the brain to identify and overcome the threat such that feelings of safety are re-established. Again, this is an innate survival response induced by the brain and it's the very process which causes persons to feel compelled to confirm their suspicions and because it feels natural, the individual is often convinced by the "gut" feeling that their suspicions are accurate. In actuality, the exact opposite is most often the case and efforts to self-diagnose are far from the requisite accuracy.

Indeed, anxiety can induce physical sequelae very similar to some neurological diseases and the reason for this is quite simply that both anxiety and true neuropathology invoke changes upon the one and only existing nervous system. Thus, the layperson looks directly past this obvious fact and instead is driven to make associations which by their interpretations, seem completely rational and substantiated.

[axolotl]

I worried sick that I have this.

Have pressure on one side of face near eye. On same side I have noticed when I smile this side pulls up more. I've looked back at photos only see this has been happening for just over a year.

My left calf feels slightly thinner than my right. Also feel I'm tripping up sometimes when out on uneven ground with my left foot.

I've just turned 36 and I'm terrified. I saw a neurologist last week but it was morenfor headaches and the eye pressure. I never mentioned the smile. He did donsome neuro tests but no walking ones.

This has been a very common fear on here recently. I've had it briefly myself, during a wider spell of MS fear.

There has been some very good advice on here recently, but the main gist is the symptoms of ALS/MND are dramatic and fast. People's presenting symptoms are they suddenly can't do something they could do before, such as button up a shirt, or lift a kettle. Your "symptoms" are not dramatic, they are instances where you're self-analysing yourself too much, and wondering if things you've never noticed before are normal.

Having a possibly slightly crooked smile for a year doesn't fit with a fast and dramatic illness, does it?

It is also very, very rare.

You asked another user how they can be sure you don't have ALS? That's not the right question. We can't open your head and have a look. But we can say there isn't a single thing you've said that points to anything other than over-analysis and anxiety we've all experienced in some way or another.

[KeeKee]

I'm about to turn 34 and I am terrified too!!.

That made me laugh!

LE, my left leg is noticeably thinner than my right. You can visibly see the difference when I wear skinny jeans (which is every single day). This is completely normal and I'd guess pretty common, especially if you're right side is you're dominant side.

When I smile one side of my mouth is higher than the other, I also have one upper eyelid droopier than the other. Both, as far as I am aware, normal.

We aren't meant to be symmetrical.

[Colicab85]

How do you know it's not? I'm scared.

Like I've mentioned to another poster recently.

Nearly all instances of MND start with a really obvious thing, like slurring words, not being able to swallow correctly, not being able to grasp things or walk properly.

Also, like Terry (i think it was Terry) said, the odds of you having a Brain Tumor and ALS at the same time would be astronomical and less than a week ago you were terrified of a BT.

---------- Post added at 12:49 ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 ----------

Read below. It is part of a post that a neurologist addressed concerning someone's fear that they had MS. Then maybe do a search for the username. You might find his posts reassuring.




RLR
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: , , USA.
Posts: 287



Re: MS worries
It's important for you to acknowledge that clinical diagnosis, particularly where neurodegenerative diseases are concerned, is quite complex and under no circumstances can accuracy of such a task be accomplished by attempting to draw subjective comparisons between the symptoms you feel and some list of clinical findings consistent with Multiple Sclerosis. I can tell you that with a great deal of confidence and certainty because I'm a retired neurologist and was in practice for more than 40 years.

The case with absolutely all neurological disease is the specific company that certain symptoms keep, or in other words the specific presentation of very specific symptoms known in clinical medicine to be distinguished from other conditions. You make no mention of a single one of these specific caveats which would suggest the possibility of MS.

Self-diagnosis can be the devil's own quill in persons with health anxiety, for the more apprehensive they become that their summations are accurate the more anxiety is produced, followed by an increase in somatoform or physical symptoms which only serves to reinforce their notions. It is a cycle that can be very difficult to break and it's critical for you to realize that the reason for such resistance has to do with the development of a specific type of fear that suggests a threat to survival.

This type of perception causes the brain to respond in a very particular manner that is genetically pre-wired in the brain to identify and overcome the threat such that feelings of safety are re-established. Again, this is an innate survival response induced by the brain and it's the very process which causes persons to feel compelled to confirm their suspicions and because it feels natural, the individual is often convinced by the "gut" feeling that their suspicions are accurate. In actuality, the exact opposite is most often the case and efforts to self-diagnose are far from the requisite accuracy.

Indeed, anxiety can induce physical sequelae very similar to some neurological diseases and the reason for this is quite simply that both anxiety and true neuropathology invoke changes upon the one and only existing nervous system. Thus, the layperson looks directly past this obvious fact and instead is driven to make associations which by their interpretations, seem completely rational and substantiated.

This is a phenomenal post! If it isn't already, I would sticky this!

[NancyW]

I bow to RLR, wish he was here now.

Is there a,way to compile all that we have of his postings and save them to one spot?

[Josh1234]

ALS doesn't cause pressure, nor affect the eyes, nor the face really until the very, very end. Move on, now.