Symptoms for 14 months

Hi all,

My symptoms started in September of 2015 after a very stressful time in my life. I developed fasciculations all over my body, the majority in my feet, calves, thighs and abdomen/back. I have a few twitches in my tongue throughout the day as well that I can physically feel. Also I get this thumping noise in my ear when a male with a deep voice talks which I am assuming is a fasciculation of some sort in the ear. I have brisk reflexes but I am very anxious so I'm not sure if that is relavent. I keep thinking I will be that rare case that turns into als. I am looking for support and maybe people who are going through something similar. I was told by a neurologist at Columbia my twitching is benign due to stress which I have tried to accept but when I tell you I twitch every 10 seconds for the entire day I am not exaggerating. I have a follow up appointment at Columbia at the end of November with a neuromuscular specialist. I am literally scared for my life Thank you for taking the time to read this and I am really so saddened that this awful disease exists.

I have great news for you - twitching means NOTHING.

Did you read the post at the top of this section titled READ BEFORE POSTING?

You won't be able to 'get support' here by people going through similar because this is not a general health forum. This is an ALS forum. This section is for people like you to ask about your symptoms and be answered by people who deal directly with ALS. Those who are worried they have ALS, but don't, are not allowed to post on any thread other than their own here in this section.

All the best, you are letting your fear take over, and there is no rational reason for it. You can get help with this anxiety.

Tillie,

Thank you for your response. I have read the stickies and also numerous posts on this site including ones where Fasciculations preceded other symptoms. I have tried to find support on the BFS website but the moderator is no longer is active/accepting new accounts. I did not realize other people without als could not post under another thread so thank you for letting me know. I can only hope what you say is true just very scary to be experiencing this because I think it is pretty rare for anxiety to manifest in a way like this.

Dina

It's actually really typical anxiety manifestation.

However, it could also be a host of things that are able to be solved. The chances are that after 14 months of twitching and not a single symptom of ALS, it is not going to suddenly become ALS. It simply does not happen that way, or so rarely that focusing on it is the big red flag.

DMART, you have no reason to suspect ALS. Too rare to consider.

Your doctors will track this down. One question my favorite doctor would ask is: "What changed? One day you didn't have a symptom, and the next day you had twitches. So what happened that day?"

Thank you Tillie and Mike, I really value your insight. I guess I do have to remember that statistically I should be ok by this many months of twitching. I did have a mental breakdown on september 5th, 2015 and was not sleeping well at all due to overnight call responsibilities at my job. The twitching started later that day, maybe my bodies way if saying calm down! I have made a lot of changes by giving up overnight on call and trying to be more calm overall, but the twitching has not changed if anything it has gotten worse. Thanks again I really did find comfort in your responses.

Dina

It's actually really typical anxiety manifestation.

Ditto