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ScaredArkansan

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Aug 27, 2012
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Learn about ALS
Country
US
State
arkansas
City
little rock
Hello all,
Last time I posted I had decided to take control of my anxiety. I am happy to report that I have found a psychologist that specilizes in anxiety and I start with hime next week. My wife and I have decided to try again after her miscarriage and she is now 6 weeks pregnant. All of this is good news and I promised to check back in from time to time.

Since my last visit here my nerves got better and my twitiching subsided significantly as well as all of my other symptoms. Now for the less good news. Since we discovered my wife was pregnant my nerves have been a wreck. I started twitching heavily again, my hands are tremoring, and them most disturbing part is the pain. I have a deep dull ache in my hands in between my index finger and thumb. I also have this same ache some in my forearms and near my knees. Sometimes I have it in multiple spots at once, movement does not affect it and it does not feel stiff or reduce my movement. My mother has fibromyalgia and she says the pain sounds similar to hers, but to be honest I am afraid that it is cramping indicitive of ALS. I am trying much harder this time to control my fear but it is difficult.

I would not be worried about the pain if the twitches tremors and odd tingling had not reappeared as well. I know that this all fired up again much like last time, after I found out my wife was pregnant. I would very much like to hear the opinons of members here as to what this could be. We are exploring the possiblity that this could be fibromyalgia as many members of my family have it. The weird thing with the pain is that in the spots I have it they are very tender if any pressure is applied, particularly the spot between my thumb and index finger.

*Sigh* Paranoid rambling over. I know this is likely nothing but I am still concerned. I am trying much harder this time to be proactive with controling my nerves but it is a struggle. Thank you all for listening, any honest opinons on what could be up are appreciated, feel free to be brutally honest.
 
Go to your counseling appt. Deep down you know this is not als. It is anxiety over your wife and future baby. It coud be fibromyalgia but that is treatable. You should be rejoicing and enjoying this time with your wife.

There are fewer more beautiful things in life than creating life and watching it grow and develope. I wish blessings on you and your family. Take a deep breath, close your eyes and dream of the wonder that lies ahead for you. I wish you every happiness and peace.

Something else to consider is the more you stress, the more your wife will stress. I know thats not what you want.
 
Thank you for the kind thoughts. I know that my symptoms are not typical of als and that my tendency is too always think the worst. You are right in that I dont want to stress my wife, I have been working very hard to hide my anxiety from her.
 
Guys I know the general opinon is that the only thing wrong with me is that I have a screw lose but I am still worrying over this.

I still have the dull aches all over with the ocasional sharp jost. This afternoon I was awoken from a nap with a deep pain in my right forearm, it seemed to disappear once I was good and awake. I just couldnt tell if it was muscle or bone. Is it possible that these pains should have me worried? I went to my GP for unrelated matters and he ordered a massive panel of blood work to look for causes, I asked him to do another office neuro exam and he basically ignored me on it. My mother and wife are convinced it is a combination of fibromyalgia and crazy. My gp worried my when he said the pains in my hands could be small cramps, however he said he didnt think thats what they are.
 
It definitely isn't symptoms of ALS. I swear.
 
Scared dude from Arkansas,

Pinched nerve, maybe?! ALS, no way! You're making a mountain out of a mole hill! Everyone has told you that is does not sound anything like als. Be very, very happy, and get on with your life. You are wearing yourself and everybody here out. Stop. If you want to worry, worry about your wife and that unborn child. They need your complete and undivided attention.

I could go on, but I won't.
 
Cramps and muscle spasms can be symptoms in fibromyalgia,someone i know has it and they take baclofen/muscle relaxer........sounds like the twitching in part could also be caused by this.
A number of sore spots throughout the body is an indicator for fibro........a rehumatologist would do a test to identify these,think theres about 13 in total.
It may be worth seeing a rehumatologist,someone specializing in this.
We do have a fibro forum here,located further down the index forum..........not sure what info is there.
 
We talked to my GP about the Rehumatologist route and in all likely hood he will send me to one if nothing is found when this round of blood work gets back. My mom thinks alot of the pain I describe sounds like her Fibro pain, I have found out recently that not only her but about 4 other members of my family have it. My GP didn't seem to think the pains I described were cramps, he basically said that it would be unusual to have even mild cramps that didn't make movement in the affected area at least somewhat more difficult.

I also seem to get sore muscles easier than normal here lately, however that could be because I haven't worked out in probably 3-4 weeks. My back and rear in particular seem to be affected by the soreness, however I have switched sides of the mattress so maybe that is it. Honestly my first psychologist appointment can't get here fast enough, I think that if I can reduce my anxiety for more than just a day or two at a time this will subside some. I had almost a solid month a while back where all my symptoms almost disappeared and I was left with only some very mild twitching, but I was coping with my anxiety better at the time.
 
I don't want to double post but I can't seem to find a way to edit an existing post. Would it be considered a good sign that many of my symptoms have been going on for roughly 8 months without any clinical weakness so far?
 
Yes. You said it yourself, you had a month where you were doing fine. Als does not come and go. No you should go and live your life, be happy.
 
As one of the members suggested, I would try some muscle relaxants and counselling. You owe yourself to give it a try and see if it helps. Try to take a break from thinking about ALS for one day, then two... Stress and anxiety can really get things like twitching and a feeling of weakness going. Best of luck!
 
Last question I swear then I am going on a self imposed web ban. I have noticed that I have been having constant twitches around the arches of both feet that i can't always feel but are still viewable. Is this something to watch or am I spending too much time looking for these things?

Well my anxiety has been through the roof lately with some complications in my wife's latest pregnancy but today we got an ultrasound and I am glad to say that we found a strong heartbeat and normal growth! So maybe things will wind down for me now some that I know things are okay.
 
Too much anxiety and also too much stress may trigger bodywide muscle twitches which would be unrelated to any neurological disease.
Just to let you know.

Regards,

NH
 
I also have those twitches and I have been having all sorts of symptoms for about 4 yrs. It's weird, I agree. But from what I read a lot of people have twitches in that area.
 
Well guys I may have found my problem. The massive amount of blood work I had done last week came in. It was all fine save for 2 things, my vitamin D levels were very low, the normal range is from 30-100, my level was 17. My liver function was also high which interested my doctor as my father has Gillberts syndrome.

Hopefully fixing my vitamin D levels clears some of this up. I have seen several people on the BFS boards say they got relief after fixing their vitamin D levels.
 
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