terrified i have als please help

[ccole415]

hellp everyone I would like to start by saying I am proud to be a member of your community and being able to talk to people who care means so much and to thank you for taking the time to read this. I am terrified I have als and it is reaking havoc on my mind. I have been experiencing symptoms for about 3 -5 weeks. it started with twitching in my calves almost 24/7 witc I don't really notice when I'm standing at work. people tell me I have nothing to worry about because I am so young but I recall reading a very sad story about a mother who had lost her 16 year old son to this disease god rest his soul.I am a 21 year old male and I have had twitchs in other areas such as all the way up my legs,butt,eye,face, and body. I have been very fatigued latly but I don't kno if that is because of my being up all night worrying and reading storys from you all or the result of somthing much worse. I believe I am experiencing weakness in my hands and forearms but I don't kno if this is a result of als or the constant strength tests I put myself through. today at work I was able to jump up and grab a beam and support my body weight with my fingers. I also tend to walk around on tip toes and. stand on one foot on my tip toes to test my calves. it seems more like a sore muscle or pain type of feeling and I often hear pain is not associated with this disease. the twitchs seem to have subsided more latly but seem to b smaller and more fine witch I hear are more closly associated with als. I have noticed twitching in my arms and front of my shoulder latly witch is really scaring me. the hand soreness started right below my thumb and it is sore below my pinky on the side too. I have neck and back pain every now and then but that could be due to my crappy fouton matress lol. I don't have any medical insurance so havnt pursued any medical advice yet but I think its time to go see my gp. sometimes I feel like I am actually ill with this disease and sometimes I feel like a hypocondriac who is losing his mind. maybe google can just turn some of us mad lol.


my main questions are:

-have any of you had twitching as your forst noticable symptom
-if twitching starts in the legs is it possible to feel weakness in the arms/hands first
- is your personal opinion that I have anything to worry about?
- should there be significant weakness my now instead of the "I think its weak"?


I know none of you can diagnose me but I would like to hear feedback from people who have had first hand experiences with this and I appreciate it very much. I have also had episodes in the past where I have ended up in the emergency room due to anxiety but those symptoms were all heart related and as soon as ekg and everything else came back normal I felt better. I have never had amxiety symptoms like this tho that's why its hard for me to beleive . I never received any type of medication or help for the anxiety I just try to deal with it on my own but I'm not quite sure this is anxiety but I will admit I have been under a lot of stress latly. I thank you all again for taking the time to read this because I know you have your own problems and look forward to getting to know you weather I am diagnosed or not. even if this is not als I have learned so much about it in these past few weeks I want to do whatever I can to help find a cure and or make quality of life better god bless you all your in my prayers.


cory

 

[Alyoop]

Sorry That you are so worried. All these twitches, sound normal and nothing like ALS. Like many people the more anxious you get the worse they will.They are particularly common in very fit people who are working out!

You need to forget about them, They are a normal phenomenon experienced by many healthy people. Its only thanks to people running to google, that so much anxiety is caused by them. You have no weakness. Anyone that can pull there body weight up on a bar by there fingers is incredibly strong. Your hand pain is probably caused by that!

It sounds like you are very healthy and what what my Dr calls the "worried well". I have always liked that term, It keeps doctors is there nice houses.

So be happy, you sound fine. Many here will be jealous of your bulging biceps!

Cheers from Down under
Aly

 

[wright]

Your story isn't the story of someone with ALS. Why? ALS does not move as fast as you have indicated your symptoms have moved . . . ALS does not start with body-wide twitching . . . and you have no weakness, which is the hallmark sign of ALS. Muscle twitches in the absence of weakness means nothing . . . and . . . even if you have muscle weakness with muscle twitches, it still wouldn't necessarily mean you had any type of deadly condition.

The internet has obviously scared you, which means you should immediately get off of the internet and deal with the stress in your life you say you have. Stress can cause one to twitch more noticeably (everyone twitches, by the way), which is more than likely what is happening to you. If you need more peace of mind, please go see a GP and/or neuro so you can fully dispell your fears and get on with living you life.

 

[alex scared]

hi . . Its pretty scary innit. ? I am pretty new to this too but hopefully i can be of some comfort . . First thing that noticed is your age . . If you add another 20 years you would still be considered young . . Its not impossible but i not seen many in that age group. . Secondly self strength testing wont prove much . . Weakness is detected clinically by someone in medical trade . . Makes no differen
ce how many push up knee bends you do . . There is an amazing guy on this forum who got diagnosesd and then ran half marathon . ! Point being your idea of tired weakness is no match for trained clinical examination. . Twitchin is also something that can be a million things . Most of which are harmless . . I twitched for 8 years and i not got als mnd. . . dont get hung up on twitchin . . To put your mind at rest get yourself examd . .explain your concerns . .i reckon you will be fine . . Good luck . . . Alex

 

[ccole415]

. thank you very much again for taking the time to read this thread I know you very much have problems of your own. I know this can be symptoms of anxiety but who can not worry about stuff like this? this is a great community to take the time to help stupid hypocondriacs like myself ( or atleast I hope I am lol) I keep telling myself I have nothing to worry about but then sometimes I feel worse and I am convinced I am ill. I believe you are right because right after my calves started twitching was when I helped my father move into a new house. the day after I helped him my tricep was twitching like crazy and hasn't ever since that's been my comforting thought. thank you again for helping put my mind at ease and I would like to do anything I can to help you guys out can't really dnate right now but I will as soon as I am more finacially stable. please let me know if there's anything I can do to return the favor of your help weather its just a friend to talk to o whatever. I don't mean to sound all wussy and sympathetic but I am very grateful for your help I was very worried about this. thanks again and aly I see you have been diagnosed I hope your doing well

 

[Alyoop]

You are very sweet. I have ? diagnosis as far as I am concerned! Husband does not agree tho.
so glad that you have found the forum helpful. Have a lovely life with those biceps of yours (just kidding) I have a rather odd sense of humour.

Aly From the most beautiful country in the world(when the earthquakes are not rumbling, and the weather bombs are not striking)

 

[ccole415]

lol yes aly I hope they stay buldging too. I always think I feel somthing in my throat or when I hold my hand out straight with my fingers extended all the way they seem to teitch with like a creaking type of effect?.... I kno I keep going on but its just hard to get all the worrying symptoms into one post. I also noticed that when I looked in the mirror one night before my pupils were differently sized I then googled this (always my downfall) and one of the indicators of that could be neurological disease and that sent me into full panic. I bet it was just poor lighting or somthing cuz my mom said they looked fine. its just so worrying but I decided to take some of your advice and go out and live so I went and played disc golf today in the woods ( you throw a frisby like disc at a chain link kinda thing on a post for those of you who don't kno what it is) I felt rather fine out there just got more fatigued then usual. its all a waiting game I guess and until I get some rock hard evidence one way or the other I jut have to keep telling myself I'm fine. I have learned a lot tho and having such a scary thought as having this disease has givin me a new prospect on life its to short to waste a single day. its weird how it takes stuff like this to make you realize how much you really love certain stuff and certain people. I also get stabing pains periodically in different places but that doesn't seem to be associated with als . I can't really think of anything else right now that's really nagging my mind so I guess that's it lol its just the fingers "creaking" type of twitching scared me the "creaking" kinda feels like bones rubbing or somthing and its like my fingers wanna pull back into a fist really weird. but that's it for now thank you all again.

 

[ccole415]

I almost forgot I meant to ask if any of you know of any mnd that may progress quickly like this? I kno this is an als forum but maybe somebody does kno somthing about similar diseases they think this may sound like thank you for any information that may b givin..... and for the record I do have a hernia. hemroids. and frequent heartburn if anybody knos if these may be associated with some symptoms thank you very much and god bless

 

[wright]

The only "symptom" you have is twitching . . . and everyone twitches. You don't have any weakness, which as I have already said, is the hallmark sign of MND. I'm not at all sure why you're going down the MND path because nothing at all points towards it . . . nothing. Twitching means nothing in your case . . . nothing. Furthermore, it's your anxiety and strength tests that are causing you to have perceived weakness and it's your anxiety that is causing your increase in twitches . . . just like I already said. We have already told you that you need to let this go, so I suggest you do it.

 

[Phil M]

I had als for almost a year before I twiched at all. My first signs was severe cramping, and now that I think about it, I had some cramping for atleast a year before it became apparent something was wrong.

 

[Alyoop]

I heard something very interesting a couple of years ago when at an MS conference.

One of the doctors said, that the average person will have up to 20 different things happening to them in a day, that they will only notice if they are thinking and looking for them Eg, Twitches, shooting pains, difficulty swallowing, and yes the pupil thing. Bet you have never really looked before? Its normal to have your pupils a slightly different size. He got us all to sit still for 5 minutes, and he was right. You felt the pain in your toe, the twitch in your chin, Think about it. It is spot on.

I do not feel my fasciculations anymore, unless I think "where are they. sit still and Pow away they go.I can pinpoint them all over the palce. So I don't think about it. Try and do more stuff outside and move on.
Aly