Living in Fear

[jdawg6418]

Hi,

I have been living in fear for about a month. I am 44 year old male. For at least the past five years I have noticed that when I put my teeth together I felt some pulsing like they were trying to tighten together. It felt somewhat like a tremor. I did approach my doctor about this recently. He said it was just bruxism and physical manifestation of stress. However, I have not been able to let it go in my mind and I have developed other symptoms.

I have had twitches in my calves and arm that have had in the past but they started up pretty intense after I saw the doctor. I feel twitches at night especially and sometimes with the muscles of the head.

Also, I did what everyone says you should not do. I looked at my tongue in the mirror. when I lightly stick it out I can see some twitching and maybe what could be considered quivering. When I stick my tongue out all the way hard, I do not see quivering only a slight movement. When I keep my tongue in my mouth I do not see any quivering that I can tell.

This has really got to me.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Hi there- please read here, as it covers twitching and all the other reasons why your neurologist was not concerned at all. It sounds like they even gave you some explanation as to why you are experiencing jaw issues. And, my friend, 5 years of the same jaw sensation and you have not experienced any loss of function in that time means ALS is not the issue. I hope you are able to move on to more healthy places than Dr Google and leave your fears of ALS behind soon.

 

[jdawg6418]

Thank you ShiftKicker. Is the tongue quivering or twitching when barely poking out a non issue also. I had never investigated my tongue before and did not bring that to their attention.

I don't see it quiver though when inside.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Cut and pasted from the link I provided you:

Special note of tongue twitches. First if you stick out your tongue it will twitch. Neurologists examine our tongues at rest if they are looking for tongue fasciculations and those fasciculations are persistent not an occasional twitch. If you have been trying to examine your tongue, stop! There is also a commonly repeated belief that tongue twitches are never benign. This is NOT true- they usually are benign. The source of this information appears to be an out of context quote by an ALS specialist. He had said that tongue twitches were never benign in his experience. He has since clarified he was speaking of tongue twitching in a patient already diagnosed with ALS. In his clarification he added that in the general non- ALS patient tongue twitching was most likely benign.

 

[affected]

Please go back to your doctor, and I hope you get help for your fears.

 

[jdawg6418]

I just went back to see my general practitioner. I talked with him about my fear of ALS. I brought it up straight with him. I told him about twitches in my legs, near elbow, and back.

He checked reflexes, clonus, looked at my tongue, and did some pull back thing with my hands.

He did not refer me to a neurologist. He indicated that he does not see ALS in what I have told him or what he looked at. He said on a scale of 1 to 10, I am only a 1. 5 and the 0.5 only because I told him about the twitching this week. He only scheduled me for a follow up in about 3 months because of my anxiety.

Based on this, I should just let this fear go and not worry about pursuing this issue further, right?

If he was worried, he would have sent me to neuro, right?

He did say I have a brisk reflex.

 

[ShiftKicker]

Text cut and pasted from the link provided above:

Hyperreflexia
Hyperreflexia, or overactive reflexes, cannot be judged by you. This determination must be made by your PCP or neurologist. Slightly overactive reflexes are not uncommon and, especially if they are bilateral, may be meaningless

 

[affected]

yes, please let it go and live your life. this is a great result and we are thrilled you can move on. go back to your doctor for help it you can't move on, but we have done all we can. celebrate!

 

[ShiftKicker]

Please reread the link you've been provided. Thank you. Closing thread.