ALS Fears again... Please reply....

[Kookey]

I'm sooo worried about this i cant sleep . My shoulder cramps , and my left foot is tingling kinda.. My right ring finger just twitched and near the ball of my left foot did too.. I cant go to the doctor unless i'm in dire condition... I'm really worried, i cant even sleep anymore :'(. Please reply.. I did the mistake of googling again..  :'(   I really need to stop ...

[beingsarahc]

Read my symptoms of ALS that'll will make you feel better!!!!!

[marc]

I have known of 4 people who have had ALS and tingling, twitching and cramps were
not any of their symptoms. Most had very severe progressive muscle weakness. One person
lived three year after diagnosis (she passed away at 66), the second person lived 4 years
after diagnosis (she was 70), the third person is now in her 60's and has lived amazingly for
many years and is confined to a wheel chair and the final person is in his late 40's and he also
is confined to a wheelchair and is pretty much immobile.

[aliciaicila]

I'm not sure if we are allowed to link to other sites from here, but I really believe you would benefit from visiting aboutBFS.com. I am a member over there, as well, with the same username, though I am not very active as I tend to use their chat room when I find my way over there. Your symptoms are too widespread to fit ALS, aside from the fact that they don't really fit ALS symptoms to begin with. I hope you will give the site a look. I believe you could benefit from paying it a visit, as well, Sarah. Good luck to both of you. :)

[mommyoftwo]

I too, am going through an als scare. This has lasted the longest of all of my fears. I twitch up to hundreds of times a day. I wish I had already overcome this and could tell you what helped me.. but maybe we can help each other through it! I am dropping things with my hands and am clumsy and that is scaring me a lot. Hope you are able to overcome this!!

[Silas1066]

The ALS fears are the worst for people with health anxiety: any twitch, tingle, cramp, etc. instantly becomes something sinister.

Do NOT go there!

In late 2005 I started developing all kinds of twitching and cramping in my body. This was following a nasty URI I had, and I was under huge stress at the time. Naturally, I googled the symptoms and freaked out. The more anxious about it I became, the worse it got.

So I put together a plan of action:

1. I started going to the gym and lifting weights: I would increase the amount of weight a little bit every day. Did a lot of leg exercises.
2. I started drinking tons of sports drinks with electrolytes in them
3. At night I would have a glass of wine and relax the best I could

As my strength increased, it was OBVIOUS I didn't have ALS (and probably didn't have MS either). You don't get stronger when you have ALS.

After a couple months, my anxiety went way down, and then the twitching started to stop.

Since then, I have learned that following a virus or infection, the immune system can become hyper sensitive for a few months afterwards, leading to muscle twitches. That is what happened to me.

Go get some exercise and relax: ALS is rare and usually affects the elderly. It is also associated with people who have had a lot of head trauma.

[Kookey]

Thank you all for replying (  ;

I got mad as soon as i posted this because my left calf began to feel weak. I dont notice it when i'm busy or walking or occupied.. I'm trying not to panic or think about it because i know i'll get panicked whic will make it worse..  And i dont know the correct definition of muscle atrophy (sp?) and i was going to google, but cant!! Ugh. Staying away is hard ;p

[Kookey]

I cant stop thinking about my left calf ... I keep thinking I have ALS .. I need some reassurance for that now :'( i cant get my mind off of it ... It's not serverly weak and I can walk and I dont trip... Im not sure if i limp or not ... :'(  Gosh im worried now

[mantooth]

Best thing you can do is be more active, if you can build strength and muscle odds are no als.

[vardnas]

I got mad as soon as i posted this because my left calf began to feel weak. I dont notice it when i'm busy or walking or occupied.

Kookey, I think you said it best right there:  that you don't notice it when you're busy or occupied or walking. Ding-ding-ding! Looks like anxiety, folks!

I'm not trying to make light of what you're going through, but that's a really key feature to anxiety that just doesn't happen with real organic illnesses. If you had ALS, it would not care if you were walking around or otherwise distracted. It would plague you at all times, irregardless of what else you were doing.

So take that to heart, and run with it (literally!). Distract yourself more. Get up, move around, stay from Google ( ), try and have some fun. You can do this!

[Kookey]

Thanks... I feel shakey and cold, slightly nauseated on and off...  I'm trying to go sleep, but i just cant :'( the nausea isnt that bad and i had diarhea (sp? & tmi)  im gettin a little concerened...