scared21m
New member
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2012
- Messages
- 1
- Reason
- Learn about ALS
- Country
- AUS
- State
- nsw
- City
- cowra
Hi Everyone
I am a 21 year old male living in Australia.
Around 7 months ago I had a strong twitch in my right tricep and stupidly typed in 'twitching muscles' into google and was bombarded with pages and pages about ALS. The twitch lasted for about 8 hours and kept me up all night worrying. The next day it went away and for 2 weeks I was fine. Then I got another big twitch in my left thigh muscle around my knee which also lasted hours and kept me up all night. The twitches stayed after that and spread body wide, which i know is not at all consistent with ALS but my mind for some reason kept fixating on the fact that there could possibly be the slightest chance that I have this horrible disease.
The Twitches all over my body continued, my anxiety over them rose and i kept reading more and more about the symptoms of ALS up until about 2 months after the first twitch when i noticed while at the dinner table with my fork in my hand as i raised my hand to my face to eat that my left hand/forearm was shaking. Naturally this scared me even more and i remembered reading that ALS can cause weakness (although nearly always before twitching) and thought that this shaking could some how be a sign of weakness.
This shaking has continued in my left hand and forearm for the last 5 months and I also get twitches in my forearm if it is at rest and not in a certain position, my left arm feels very clumsy every time i eat or raise a drink to my face or reach out for something etc. Usually when my arm is in a position where the muscle is slightly or completely stretched I will not get twitches in it.
I have been to see a doctor and he tested for weakness in my fingers and arms and said that I am showing no signs of having any weakness. This calmed me down for about 10 days and I was feeling on top of the world until I started fixating on the twitching in my arm again and had a bad night at dinner with my shaking arm.
I test my strength constantly and I can perform all the strength tests everyone suggests. I have been chopping a lot of wood lately and check my finger strength constantly by picking up large bits that weight about 8kgs (think thats around 12 pounds or so) with my thumb and fingers only and no palm touching and can do this easily until i increase the weight to a rediculously large log. I can also hang from a pole by my left arm only and I am a larger man.
I give all these details as a lead up to my questions:
1. Can ALS cause weakness in the forearm and not the fingers towards the start of the disease?
2. If you read this and in fact believe I do not have ALS and this sounds like the rantings of a deeply obsessed hypochondriac, can you once and for all convince me that I do not have this terrible disease?
3. Has anyone else had similar symptoms and overcome them to come to the conclusion that they had these symptoms due to anxiety or another cause?
Please if you read this and can help me please reply, I am at the point where I just don't want to worry anymore and am constantly tired and don't want to eat. If this offends anyone (and I am almost sure it will) I apologize and my thoughts are with anyone that is living with ALS.
Thankyou
I am a 21 year old male living in Australia.
Around 7 months ago I had a strong twitch in my right tricep and stupidly typed in 'twitching muscles' into google and was bombarded with pages and pages about ALS. The twitch lasted for about 8 hours and kept me up all night worrying. The next day it went away and for 2 weeks I was fine. Then I got another big twitch in my left thigh muscle around my knee which also lasted hours and kept me up all night. The twitches stayed after that and spread body wide, which i know is not at all consistent with ALS but my mind for some reason kept fixating on the fact that there could possibly be the slightest chance that I have this horrible disease.
The Twitches all over my body continued, my anxiety over them rose and i kept reading more and more about the symptoms of ALS up until about 2 months after the first twitch when i noticed while at the dinner table with my fork in my hand as i raised my hand to my face to eat that my left hand/forearm was shaking. Naturally this scared me even more and i remembered reading that ALS can cause weakness (although nearly always before twitching) and thought that this shaking could some how be a sign of weakness.
This shaking has continued in my left hand and forearm for the last 5 months and I also get twitches in my forearm if it is at rest and not in a certain position, my left arm feels very clumsy every time i eat or raise a drink to my face or reach out for something etc. Usually when my arm is in a position where the muscle is slightly or completely stretched I will not get twitches in it.
I have been to see a doctor and he tested for weakness in my fingers and arms and said that I am showing no signs of having any weakness. This calmed me down for about 10 days and I was feeling on top of the world until I started fixating on the twitching in my arm again and had a bad night at dinner with my shaking arm.
I test my strength constantly and I can perform all the strength tests everyone suggests. I have been chopping a lot of wood lately and check my finger strength constantly by picking up large bits that weight about 8kgs (think thats around 12 pounds or so) with my thumb and fingers only and no palm touching and can do this easily until i increase the weight to a rediculously large log. I can also hang from a pole by my left arm only and I am a larger man.
I give all these details as a lead up to my questions:
1. Can ALS cause weakness in the forearm and not the fingers towards the start of the disease?
2. If you read this and in fact believe I do not have ALS and this sounds like the rantings of a deeply obsessed hypochondriac, can you once and for all convince me that I do not have this terrible disease?
3. Has anyone else had similar symptoms and overcome them to come to the conclusion that they had these symptoms due to anxiety or another cause?
Please if you read this and can help me please reply, I am at the point where I just don't want to worry anymore and am constantly tired and don't want to eat. If this offends anyone (and I am almost sure it will) I apologize and my thoughts are with anyone that is living with ALS.
Thankyou
