johnnycr
New member
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2015
- Messages
- 2
- Reason
- Lost a loved one
- Country
- US
- State
- Wisconsin
- City
- Sturgeon Bay
Hi everyone. I'm new here. I just got back from the doctor's office and he suggested that I talk with others in order to help with my anxiety. I don't really want to talk with my family at this point because I don't want them to get all worried before I know anything. So I'm just going to share my story here because it seems like a place full of supportive people.
Back in 2011 I was in graduate school and I developed my first symptom. I was very stressed out at the time and was drinking a lot of caffeine to help me get through my long days of class and study. My first symptom was a constant twitch on my face next to my nose and below my eye. It was the same spot. Day after day. Some days it was non-stop throughout the day, through the night, and into the next day. After a few months of that twitch driving me nuts I went to see a physicians assistant. She told me it was probably stress, fatigue, and caffeine related, but if the twitching didn't go away after a few more months I should follow up.
Well, the twitching did go away... from my face. And then I started developing twitches all over the rest of my body. Then I did the stupid thing that everyone else does when they have twitches and I asked Dr. Google what was wrong with me and, of course, I found a lot of information about ALS. Well, I spent many months after that convinced that I was going to die and lived with a lot of anxiety. After not developing any other symptoms for a while, I finally started to calm down.
Fast forward to February of 2013. I had just finished graduate school in December and was working a couple of part time jobs. My 80 year old grandfather had been having some health issues for a while and he finally got a diagnosis. ALS. He passed away six weeks after the diagnoses. I was there holding his hand when he took his last breath.
Well, as you might imagine this reignited my anxiety about ALS, and I've nearly put myself into panic attacks a number of times since then. It's been 4+ years now that I've had muscle twitches all over my body and every time I have a stressful stretch of days at work they seem to flare up really bad, and then my anxiety skyrockets alongside my stress.
Well I had another stressful stretch at work these last couple of weeks so, naturally, my twitching got a lot worse and I started worrying about ALS again. But this time I noticed a new symptom. Pain in my thumbs. Particularly in my left thumb. I know I've been spending a lot more time on the computer lately and probably putting a lot of stress on my thumbs, but I can't get the fear of ALS out of my head no matter what I tell myself. It doesn't help that one of my grandpa's first symptoms was loss of dexterity in his hands. He was a woodworker, and he couldn't use his shop anymore when he wasn't able to even hold a newspaper anymore.
So I decided that I've had enough of living with constant anxiety about ALS and that I needed to see the doctor. I saw my general practitioner today and told him about my anxiety and symptoms. He felt that with my family history and the stress that this is causing me that I should go through some blood tests and an EMG test. I'm relieved to be pursing this now, but also afraid of what I might find out.
I still think that the most likely cause of my twitching is anxiety and stress, because it does seem to come and go. And the pain in my thumbs is probably just inflammation from having my wrists resting flat on my desk for hours each day. Neither my mom nor my aunt have any symptoms of ALS and they are in their mid 50s now. I would think that if we had familial ALS in the family that either of them would get symptoms before me. And what are the chances of two people in one family having sporadic, non-familial ALS? Probably one in a million! I take comfort in knowing that after 4+ years of twitching I haven't lost any noticeable strength anywhere in my body. I still go on 12 mile bike rides on mountain bike trails and play basketball for an hour every week without much difficulty. And when I go to the weight room occasionally I seem to be able to lift as much weight as always.
So, anyways. I think I'm just overly worried and letting the stress and anxiety ruin my life. I know that I tend to be a worrier. I just want to know what's going on with me. I'm not excited about paying for the tests, but I don't want to go on living in fear either. Thanks for taking time to read my story.
Back in 2011 I was in graduate school and I developed my first symptom. I was very stressed out at the time and was drinking a lot of caffeine to help me get through my long days of class and study. My first symptom was a constant twitch on my face next to my nose and below my eye. It was the same spot. Day after day. Some days it was non-stop throughout the day, through the night, and into the next day. After a few months of that twitch driving me nuts I went to see a physicians assistant. She told me it was probably stress, fatigue, and caffeine related, but if the twitching didn't go away after a few more months I should follow up.
Well, the twitching did go away... from my face. And then I started developing twitches all over the rest of my body. Then I did the stupid thing that everyone else does when they have twitches and I asked Dr. Google what was wrong with me and, of course, I found a lot of information about ALS. Well, I spent many months after that convinced that I was going to die and lived with a lot of anxiety. After not developing any other symptoms for a while, I finally started to calm down.
Fast forward to February of 2013. I had just finished graduate school in December and was working a couple of part time jobs. My 80 year old grandfather had been having some health issues for a while and he finally got a diagnosis. ALS. He passed away six weeks after the diagnoses. I was there holding his hand when he took his last breath.
Well, as you might imagine this reignited my anxiety about ALS, and I've nearly put myself into panic attacks a number of times since then. It's been 4+ years now that I've had muscle twitches all over my body and every time I have a stressful stretch of days at work they seem to flare up really bad, and then my anxiety skyrockets alongside my stress.
Well I had another stressful stretch at work these last couple of weeks so, naturally, my twitching got a lot worse and I started worrying about ALS again. But this time I noticed a new symptom. Pain in my thumbs. Particularly in my left thumb. I know I've been spending a lot more time on the computer lately and probably putting a lot of stress on my thumbs, but I can't get the fear of ALS out of my head no matter what I tell myself. It doesn't help that one of my grandpa's first symptoms was loss of dexterity in his hands. He was a woodworker, and he couldn't use his shop anymore when he wasn't able to even hold a newspaper anymore.
So I decided that I've had enough of living with constant anxiety about ALS and that I needed to see the doctor. I saw my general practitioner today and told him about my anxiety and symptoms. He felt that with my family history and the stress that this is causing me that I should go through some blood tests and an EMG test. I'm relieved to be pursing this now, but also afraid of what I might find out.
I still think that the most likely cause of my twitching is anxiety and stress, because it does seem to come and go. And the pain in my thumbs is probably just inflammation from having my wrists resting flat on my desk for hours each day. Neither my mom nor my aunt have any symptoms of ALS and they are in their mid 50s now. I would think that if we had familial ALS in the family that either of them would get symptoms before me. And what are the chances of two people in one family having sporadic, non-familial ALS? Probably one in a million! I take comfort in knowing that after 4+ years of twitching I haven't lost any noticeable strength anywhere in my body. I still go on 12 mile bike rides on mountain bike trails and play basketball for an hour every week without much difficulty. And when I go to the weight room occasionally I seem to be able to lift as much weight as always.
So, anyways. I think I'm just overly worried and letting the stress and anxiety ruin my life. I know that I tend to be a worrier. I just want to know what's going on with me. I'm not excited about paying for the tests, but I don't want to go on living in fear either. Thanks for taking time to read my story.
