Reassurance please - ALS :(

[stuart88]

Ok, I've just been at the cinema watching Avatar(which is absolutely fantastic btw).
Unfortunately for me, I was on the verge of having an anxiety attack for the first 30/45 minutes of the movie. My left foot was twitching almost constantly. Just really small twitches(which made me worry more as smaller twitches are usually associated with ALS), then just when it I thought it couldn't get any worse my foot started cramping up. This slight cramping lasted about 10 minutes.
I've been suffering from twitches for a few months now and it seems my left foot is the worst affected. Just recently my pinky toe spasmed and stuck out to the left for about a minute or so. I was in absolute panic mode when this happened.

Anyone else experienced this? Currently in the process of trying to check the strength of my foot, and checking the rest of my muscles. Oh the joys of health anxiety.

[itoldyouiwasill]

ALS is a disease that is defined solely by clinical and objective muscle weakness.

The idea that twitching or fasculations equates to ALS/MND is an outdated and ill informed fallacy that Google seems to want to run with.

It is true that a small percentage of ALS sufferers will experience some twitching but this is ALWAYS in the latter stage of the disease as it is the dead muscles horn cells attempting to fire the muscle back to life....as you can imagine a dead muscle will give you far more cause for concern than twitching.

If anybody tells you that someone has been diagnosed with ALS after twitching being a presenting symptom then the fact is that the twitches were not related to the disease and it is purely coincidental....just as hypochondriacs can get ill, ALS sufferers can also have totally benign and unrelated twitches.

ALS is not subtle. You know if you have a problem as the muscular weakness is dramatic and totally unmissable.

If I could give one bit of advice for those people who have health anxiety based on ALS/MND it is to totally disregard the bullshit that twiching means ALS. There are 1001 reasons as to why we may twitch and the vast majority are totally benign. I would suggest that the number 1 culprit is physical anxiety.

[Andromeda]

I have had this before ! often , my leg is constantly twitching when i'm in social situations or when i get nervous . - all because of anxiety ! nothing more nothing less
i'm guessing you were anxious going into the cinema ? so straight away your body is in alert mode , also if your foot is constantly twitching then it's going to cramp up as your wearing your muscles out .

if it's really bothering you then there is no harm in visiting your GP just to be sure , but it sounds like anxiety to me

also i've taken this from the 'symptoms' sections on this site , i always look at it when i'm really really stressed

Numbness or tingling in hands and feet

'What you feel:

You feel pins and needles in your hands and feet, or other parts of your body. Sometimes you get a feeling like a particular area of your body is numb or frozen. Other times you may feel a burning sensation in your arms, legs or face.
What causes this:

Since the nervous system conveys touch sensations to the brain, when the nervous system is over stimulated, it can sometimes send impaired information which will often be felt as a numbness, tingling or pins and needles. For example, when an individual pinches a nerve they usually feel the results of this as numbness or tingling in a certain part of the body.
Because the entire skin area of the body is touch sensitive (nerves cells connected to the brain through the nervous system network), any part of the skin or body can feel numb, tingly or as pins and needles.
Typically this sensation comes and goes, and will affect a wide range of body areas off and on. It's nothing to be concerned with and will subside once the nervous system gets sufficient rest.'


so i really don't think it's anything to worry about

[Gazman]

All i can say is wow!

I really could have wrote exactly what you have just wrote (except for going to the cinema ofcourse lol).

I have been twitching for 4 months+ now, i twitch all over, big bump bump bump here there and everywhere, and i've also got small little twitches in my left foot, started off on the outer edge of the foot and lasted a few weeks and now its on the top slightly to the right on my left foot, what i also find strange is my little toe on the same foot seemed to feel like it was sticking out after it spasmed once and that lasted for a few weeks too and it's fine now.

I've had around 15 blood tests, several other tests, neuro exam and brain MRI, all were clear and the neuro said it was all anxiety / stressed nervous system.

Twitching for months is a good sign it's not ALS especially if you have them all over, but it doesn't matter even if you have them in 1 particular place either, the twitches start AFTER weakness not before and usually spread from the affected limb.

I also wanted to point out that the neuro told me that after months of twitching without any other symptoms = benign / anxiety / NO ORGANIC CAUSE, ALS just doesn't represent in months of twitching i have been told.

So try to relax and not let it bother you, it can take over your life, it certainly did mine and i am slowly getting better but still twitching like crazy.

Have a chat with your doctor about your fears etc, i'm sure he/she would be able to tell you that it is anxiety and don't look for muscle weakness because you'll just develop percieved weakness and heighten your anxiety further and dont google!

[Neuro]

Right now I'm getting some muscle twitches, definitely brought on by anxiety. My legs and feet twitch like that, noticeably. As far as I know, all those nasty serious conditions come with muscle wasting and a load of other symptoms (I looked it up recently) that it doesn't sound like you have. Seems that you just have the regular anxious twitching.

[stuart88]

Thanks everyone.

Ye, Gaz. I made the mistake of testing for weakness. Also noticed my feet scuffing a bit which made me panic.

Kept my mind off it though, and I've been fine the last few days(apart from the twitching), so I guess it isn't ALS. I've heard you don't have "good days" with ALS, instead you just get progressively worse. So when a muscle stops working properly, that's it.

[Anxious_gal]

my baby toes has always gone twitchy on me!
i could feel it doing it but it wasn't till one time i actually look at my toe and saw it was twitching!