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Poboyross

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I’m 38, married with 3 young children, and I’m scared to the point of falling apart. I will keep the story as brief as possible. This year has been the most stressful of my life. We almost lost my youngest at the beginning of the year and she was in the hospital for weeks. We had major financial events, marital problems, potential legal problems from a trademark troll, etc etc. I started having breathing problems back in June and went to the GP. She said it was anxiety. Shortly thereafter (crazy life events still happening) I started having terrible nightmares. The recurrent one was an event from when I was a kid, and over the span of several months, I’d wake up from these dreams shuffling my feet. I was aware of it happening and that I was coming out of a dream, but when I consulted Dr. Google, RBD comes up, along with its association to Parkinson’s. I *melt down*. I’ve had massive lack of sleep for months, slondue to the youngest’s sleep issues. Spattered in those searches were pings on stories regarding ALS. I started to notice a whole lot more fasciculations all over my body. I know I’ve had some here and there over the years, but the volume went up 100 fold. I had them in my triceps, shoulders, torso, arms, thighs, feet, calves, and umentionable places. This has gone on now for about a month and a half. They seem to really like my lower legs, and the others have faded in volume, but still happen all over. I don’t have any noticeable weakness or problems doing anything. I am fatigued, but can still do whatever I need to do without hindrance. I went to my GP again, who I don’t think is very good, who did a mild neuro exam and didn’t note anything other than saying I should see a neurologist so they could do a biopsy, and that she doesn’t make any guesses on what’s going on, but that the month and a half of twitches should be investigated.

I’m scared out of my mind right now. I read things like ALS twitches can be elicited by touching the muscles. Mine may do that in my calves, but it’s hard to tell. When I saw her I had none that she would see. I notice that they seem to go away overnight, as when I wake up they don’t seem to be doing anything until I wake up, get anxiety, and get moving. Again, they’ve mostly settled into my calves. I’ve had hypochondria for decades, and my wife isn’t very supportive, so it’s hard for me to go see the neurologist. Does anyone have any insights into my situation? I’m praying it’s BFS. The thought of leaving my family behind makes me manic.
 
Hello,

Your symptoms are nothing at all, not even a bit, of how ALS symptoms start. It does sound very much stress related, however. I'm honestly not even sure how you came to the conclusion of ALS when so much more is involved than just twitching. In fact, my husband doesn't twitch at all and he has ALS. I, however, twitch like crazy if I've worked out too much, am tired or simply too stressed.

There's no need for you to be on this forum, thankfully. Do try to enjoy your Christmas and your family.
 
Dear Poboy,

First, I’m sorry for your stressful year. Hopefully 2018 will be better.

I completely agree with BFTTE that ALS isn’t a concern in your case. ALS typically presents as failure of a muscle group related to weakness. In my case it was a foot drop. It comes on out of the blue . You are describing a background of severe anxiety which is known to be associated with twitching and also perceived difficulty breathing. You haven’t described muscle failure.

I hope you will work to get a handle on your anxiety and enjoy the holidays with your family. You don’t need to be here on this forum. It will only fuel your anxiety more.
 
I agree with the ladies above. I have ALS and no twitching, your problem is not ALS.
Al
 
Please stay away from Dr. Google. It's kind of like HEAD LICE. You get one of those letters from school that say someone in your child's class has HEAD LICE. Immediately after reading it you start scratching. Nobody in your house has HEAD LICE, and you still scratch for hours. You're probably scratching now. Dr. Google works the same way. You type symptoms into the search bar, suddenly you get everything from a hang nail to necrotizing fascitis. Do you pay attention to the hang nail? No you jump at the flesh eating disease and are convinced that in hours you will have all four amputated as well as your left eye and both ears. If you have concerns, it's best to stay off the internet
Vincent
 
Vince, that’s the best explanation I’ve heard yet. It ought to be a “sticky “.
 
H k, I am just going to say that nor only are your symptoms a big Zero for ALS, I would dispute your Doctor’s claim that six weeks of twitching should be “investigated”. There needs to be more than some random twitches going on to merit “investigation”.

Oh well, you go go and bore a Neuro and be reassured. Have a great Christmas and forget ALS.
 
Can we make Vince's reply a sticky?

Not that it would do any good. Folks with health anxiety and access to Dr. Google will not process the message.

Steve
 
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