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Thread: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

  1. #1

    Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Hi, been reading for a while and have finally got the courage to post.
    I am beyond scared right now.
    Muscle twitching in legs the started maybe two months ago, both legs. Right leg has been numb a couple of mornings of late, hip and lower back in a lot of pain.
    Had some in stomach also, along with an eye twitch. Both have gone really. Stomach still feels a bit woosy, and eye seemed to have improved by curtailing phone use and using optrex
    Woke this morning with a pronounced twitch in lower inside left bicep, its gone now, but have been noticing some general weakness in that arm and tingling in thumb and index finger.
    Have suffered serious bouts of HA before but this seems the worst by far, the symptoms are all fairly new and very, very frightening.
    I am a mental mess right now, any help appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
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    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Hi welcome to NMP. All of these symptoms could be anxiety related. Have you seen a doctor about this? If not then I suggest you do so that you can get reassurance.

  3. #3

    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Quote Originally Posted by Annie0904 View Post
    Hi welcome to NMP. All of these symptoms could be anxiety related. Have you seen a doctor about this? If not then I suggest you do so that you can get reassurance.
    I did, he said its not neurological, but I nearly broke down so I think he was focusing on the depression side of things.
    The twitch this morning made me basically crack up.
    My nerves are gone completely.

  4. #4
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    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Did he suggest anything for your anxiety?

  5. #5

    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Quote Originally Posted by Annie0904 View Post
    Did he suggest anything for your anxiety?
    He put me on setraline 50mg. On it only 4 days, not a huge difference yet.
    Was on Dosulepin (prothiaden) from 05-08, but found coming off very hard.
    I am convinced my symptoms are real, but equally I know how HA works having had 2 bad episodes in my life

  6. #6
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    3,735

    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Sounds like that benign condition of twitching that is caused by anxiety. I was told by neurologist that twitching from any neuro condition would be accompanited by def neuro deficit for eg keep falling over or drag a leg etc.

    Also your leg twitching could be connected to a bad back as you mention back pain and numbness. I have herniated back discs and get bad muscle twitching and pain when my back is bad.

    If it was ALS or MS then your Dr would expect you to get red flag symptoms of muscle weakness and neuro deficit so be reassured that you have neither.

  7. #7

    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Quote Originally Posted by countrygirl View Post
    Sounds like that benign condition of twitching that is caused by anxiety. I was told by neurologist that twitching from any neuro condition would be accompanited by def neuro deficit for eg keep falling over or drag a leg etc.

    Also your leg twitching could be connected to a bad back as you mention back pain and numbness. I have herniated back discs and get bad muscle twitching and pain when my back is bad.

    If it was ALS or MS then your Dr would expect you to get red flag symptoms of muscle weakness and neuro deficit so be reassured that you have neither.
    Thank you for reply.
    Can you explain Neuro deficit?
    And how specific is weakness?
    I am truly fed up being like this, thought I beat it last year but it has come back so heavily I cannot believe.

  8. #8
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    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Quote Originally Posted by scared_ter View Post
    He put me on setraline 50mg. On it only 4 days, not a huge difference yet.
    Was on Dosulepin (prothiaden) from 05-08, but found coming off very hard.
    I am convinced my symptoms are real, but equally I know how HA works having had 2 bad episodes in my life
    I have been on dosulepin since 2004 it seems to work for me and I only take 25mg now. Give your new meds time to start working and I hope you feel better soon. I am sure your symptoms are anxiety related.

  9. #9

    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Quote Originally Posted by Annie0904 View Post
    I have been on dosulepin since 2004 it seems to work for me and I only take 25mg now. Give your new meds time to start working and I hope you feel better soon. I am sure your symptoms are anxiety related.
    Thank you.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
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    612

    Re: Hi, new here, at my wits end with als fear....

    Quote Originally Posted by scared_ter View Post
    Hi, been reading for a while and have finally got the courage to post.
    I am beyond scared right now.
    Muscle twitching in legs the started maybe two months ago, both legs. Right leg has been numb a couple of mornings of late, hip and lower back in a lot of pain.
    Had some in stomach also, along with an eye twitch. Both have gone really. Stomach still feels a bit woosy, and eye seemed to have improved by curtailing phone use and using optrex
    Woke this morning with a pronounced twitch in lower inside left bicep, its gone now, but have been noticing some general weakness in that arm and tingling in thumb and index finger.
    Have suffered serious bouts of HA before but this seems the worst by far, the symptoms are all fairly new and very, very frightening.
    I am a mental mess right now, any help appreciated.
    As a man with a HA problem who just managed to overcome his ALS fear, let me help you.

    So, you are afraid you'll be joining the luminaries of sports and science like Lou Gehrig, Stephen Hawking or Fernando Ricksen? Don't be. The thing with ALS is: it is devilishly hard to diagnose it (because its symptoms are common with soooo many other illnesses and it mostly doesn't show on scans) but, luckily for everyone with HA, it's fairly easy to determine when you don't have it. In your case, it's clearly so.

    Firstly your symptoms. Muscle twitching in legs, eye twitching, mild nausea, dizziness, tingling. ALS start in one limb, or in your mouth. It can't start in both legs, or both legs and an arm. Secondly, when you have ALS, it's the other way around-FIRST atrophy and weakness, THAN twitching. Thirdly eye muscles are either not affected by the disease at all, or are the LAST muscles ALS affects-that's why people like Hawking, who would otherwise be locked-in from ALS, communicate with blinking-their eye muscles are ok. Last, but not the least-ALS is a MOTOR neuron disease, not sensory. That means people do not experience pains, numbness, tingling and other strange sensations, and that's why it's so insidious and dreaded. Therefore, the things you feel-definitely not from ALS.

    This should be enough to persuade you you don't have it, but if it's not-here some self-tests that you can make to rule it out:

    -Staying on one leg: stay on one leg for 3-5 seconds. If you can do it, you don't have ALS. I know, you can panic and shake and fall and that can create more panic-that doesn't matter, since it's enough to make it once in 100 attempts and you still don't have ALS. People with ALS can never make it-they are never able to balance.
    -Jump at the stair with both feet. If you can do it, you don't have ALS.
    -Catch something moderately heavy-for example, a pint of milk, with only your thumb and index finger. If you're able to lift it, even for one single second, you don't have ALS.

    If you're worried about bulbar (mouth) onset of ALS, try these:

    -Whistling-if you can whistle, whether by sucking air or blowing it, you don't have ALS.
    -Breathing through pursed lips-if you can do it, you don't have ALS.

    Of course, even if you "fail" some of these things, it can (and odds are it is, since your odds to get ALS are something like 1:10000000) be something else, anxiety being the main culprit.

    So, your troubles are not the symptoms of ALS. Alas, they are symptoms of the health anxiety disorder. It IS a disease, just like ALS-only not that deadly, luckily. But still, it should be treated. Therefore, try to calm down, read this carefully, if necessary do this little exercise to put your mind at ease-than start treating what really is a problem-HA.
    Last edited by Andrash; 12-01-14 at 16:35.

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