Worried about ALS

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bethanywheeler1

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Learn about ALS
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Good afternoon,

Thank you in advance to anyone who responds to this thread. I just wanted to ask the opinion of you all. I am 20 years old in a very stressful college major. Around 6 months ago, I developed an eyelid twitch on my left eye. About a week after that, I started to twitch everywhere. I mean, literally everywhere. Since then, I have endured periods where the twitches are very apparent and times where I do not even notice them. I have even went through times where I am pretty sure the twitches were gone completely. I am going through a lot of anxiety right now, as I am sure most of us are, and I have started to convince myself that my left leg is smaller than the right. I am worried that it is atrophy, but I feel that if I actually had atrophy, i would also have weakness. I am right handed so I would not be surprised if I am more dominant and stronger on my right side than my left. I have seen my doctor who referred me to a neurologist, but I did not follow through with the appointment because the twitches had stopped around the time that I was scheduled to see the neurologist. I have no weakness, and no problems doing any of the things that I used to do. I guess I am just worrying more than anything, but I wanted to see if anyone had any advice for me to quit worrying.

Thank you in advance.
 
My advice is to find something you enjoy more than worrying, that you snap to when worrying threatens to break through. For many people, that is some kind of content/art creation, bodywork, social interaction, reading, YouTube, nature walks, etc.

Optimizing your sleep, hydration, nutrition, stretching and chair/bed positioning may also help.

If your major is stressing you out and it's not going to get better, maybe it's time to reconsider it. Your body often sees a fork in the road before you do.

Best,
Laurie
 
Why thank you for the quick advice. You don't think I should waste my time worrying about ALS in my case?
 
You don't think I should waste my time worrying about ALS in my case?
No. Twitching is common, nonspecific, and meaningless in the absence of muscle function failure which you have not described. Up to 70% of people have twitching at some point in their lives. Some twitch for years due to benign fasciculation syndrome.
 
One last question, do you believe that if I had true muscle atrophy that I would also have weakness? My left calf is slightly different than my right, maybe even smaller. I am not 100% sure, but it has me worried even more.
 
In ALS weakness will come before atrophy. And no one is symmetrical Your anxiety has made you hypervigilant. Best to stop googling and leave this site
 
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