Exploring ALS Symptoms: My Story

I know many prople here had a small twtich that lead them to ggogle and then the twitching was all over their body.For me it was a bit different. I was having issues with my hands and feet and being the curious guy I am I decided to google als as I had seen a comercial about it on tv that showed somebody with dificulty using their hands. The first day I read about it my whole body started to twitch as I had Dx'd myself with it. It wasn't until a few days later as I did more research that I seen twitching as a symptom and then of course I was positive I had it. This was 10 months ago and although I'm not there yet I do feel better and yes still twitch even though my anxiety has come down.Anyways my question is did anyone ever had a issue that made them extremly anxious that was the cause of there BFS??My theory is that I got SOOOOO anxcious that I triggered something in my nervous ssytem that has caused my twitiching and for some reason it has not stopped!

I am now just starting to believe that anxiety and stress play a big role in this. I was under major stress/anxiety for months before my BFS started. I have also spoken to many people who say they were under stress or had health anxiety before their's started. I think I damaged my nervous system somehow. Even when you look under General Anxiety Disorder twitching is listed as a symptom. Considering that all my tests come back normal I don't see any other explanation for this except I have thyroid disease (which was caused by stress according to my doctor). So, yes, I do think anxiety can cause this at least in my case.

You have my vote for stress and anxiety. I was very stressed and have always been an anxious person. GP even told me I was most anxious person he ever met,This started at one of most stressful times of my life. I feel I do have GAD as does both my GPs, never even bothered with a Neuro,. What we have is so different from the really bad stuff. The really bad stuff progesses in days and weeks and not months and months. dave

I was very anxious when mine started, I thought I had MS not for twitching for other symptoms and then the twitching started. The only thing that doesnt make sense for me, is that mine started in left foot and has never stopped there. I think that if the twitching started from anxiety, it wouldnt just pick my left foot. I think it would go all over from the start. I now get them in calves, right foot, legs, shoulders, back, arms...you name it! I do think maybe I always had it in my left foot and didnt notice it until I became very anxious and aware of my body.

I think so...mine started in my left tricep and spread after I researched "muscle twitching" on the internet. That search led me to the term fasiculation which led to you know what which lead to anxiety levels that were off the charts and thoughts that had NEVER entered my mind.

I had it in my legs for a long time before I googled the word muscle twitch.... only then after I was scared to death did I notice the twitches all over my body! I think anxiety plays a BIG roll in this!!!!! BIG!

Funny you guys mention the fact that you'd had them before. I'd had the occasional twitch as well for years, but never paid attention to them because they happened so infrequently. When my arm started back in March, I only got concerned because it had persisted for a couple of days and they were serious thumpers that you could see under my shirt. That kind of freaked me out, but nothing compared to the freakout that was to come...

This could definitely be true for me. The internet is a great source of valuable for information, but it can also be too much information. I am sure we can search any fatal disease and find that we have at least one symptom. I have seen two people in my life die from ALS, one of them was Bulbar, and that also caused me to freak out about my twitching. Anxiety is very powerful and whatever we focus on expands.Two and a half years later I am over all that now and actually the twitching doesn't even bother me anymore. It's still there all the time, sometimes worse than others, but its just part of who I am. It does seem however that when I choose cut of alot of carbs and eat healthy, it does settle down a little.I find it great to be able to read others comments and questions on this site, it seems that if I tell anyone in my life about it, they don't understand at all. It was very calming the first time I found this community and realized that I am not alone.For anyone who has questions about what I have been through, and how I found peace , I would welcome you to ask

In my case maybe.... but if so must have been subconscious anxiety as I wasn't aware consciously of any extra anxiety. I did have three unsual health issues (for me anyway) to hit me all within a 5 month period before the twitching started... kidney stone, finger infection that required surgery and appendectomy. But I wasn't particularly "anxious" about any of it...just in pain... so I dunno...

Hello LBK,Your story is EXACTLY like mine!! My dad was diagnosed with Lewy Body.. and I had no idea what that was. Well I googled his diseas, that lead me to tremors and that somehow lead to twitches and right then and there while on the computer I noticed I was shaky and twitching!!! Now over 2 years I am still twitching and buzzing and anxious. So yes I strongly believe repeated ANXIETY has caused this. In other words I did it to myself! I just worry way too much!! And then there are days when I believe this whole bfs doesn't make any sense and no way anxiety can cause this and then I start thinking what if its this and what if its that... MC

Amy,Isn't that weird how that happened to us!!! Seriously, I don't even know how much I really twitched before I googled the word muscle twitches.... Same thing happened to me.. As soon as I saw what came up when I looked it up all hell broke loose!!!!!!!!!!! I think anxiety plays a big role! If you search Generalized Anxiety Disorder twitches are also a symptom of that... To bad that didn't come up right away when I looked the first time!!!!

WOW. I'm very surprised how many of us have a simular story. Looks like the mind is very powerful. Thing I don't get is that if anxiety had a big role to play in my bfs why the heck does it not go away even when I'm not anxious. Perhaps this will take some time.

Accoring to the anxity centre, anxiety effects take 4 times as long to go away as they take to appear. So look at it as more of a long term process. This isn't something that will just go away overnight, you have to be patient and give it time.

I finished college on 12/07. I started work full-time and was sent to a training school in October of 2008. I started to have extra stress and anxiety at that time. By December of 2008 I was twicthing. Today, I am two days away from a second opinion.However, this all started when I became super stressed....

My experience - Anxiety = BFS 100% certainty. Ok, maybe 95%. I am envious of those on this forum who can claim a virus or reaction to meds, but for me it is all about anxiety.

Sometimes its like having a head in the guilliotine waiting for the knife, that fortunately stays in place... We know that we are doomed, if weakness sets in. But we tend to forget that it is the same situation as the rest of the population. BFS doesnt lead to ALS. And twitching itself do not put us in greater risk than the rest (mayo-study). Actually the risk for us having ALS is lesser than the average, as we have been tested for this specific disease.

I am sure that my twitches were caused by anxiety. They started after a three month period of health aniety. Also i noticed that any time anxiousness increases the twitches increase as well.

What do people think is the connection between anxiety and twitching? I think this depends on the individual's situation. Here are my theories:1. If a person has a really minor twitching issue, they probably twitch like the normal population but happened to google and now are worried for no reason. It is like worrying that coughs are a sign of lung cancer because until you googled you did not know it is a lung cancer symptom. For this person, "anxiety" is their problem not twitching.2. If a person has a lot of anxiety and this disrupts their immune system so that it responds improperly and creates antibodies that impact the nerves, then you could say anxiety played a role but also the immune system and maybe even a virus or other condition like a virus also played a role. This would be a person who clearly has more twitching than a normal person and the twitching was just set in motion by a chain of events in which anxiety played a role.3. Both of the above people, could have a worsening of twitching when anxious because anxiety produces adrenaline (or other chemicals) that excite the nerves. Anything that does this (like caffeine and exercise) can make twitching worse. This phenomenon does not mean twitching is the caused by anxiety alone but just that the twitching that already exists due to more complicated factors is exacerbated by it.4. Some people also hyperventilate and the altered acidity of their blood creates twitching. If this is the problem, the twitching will go away completely when the hyperventilation stops.

I'm definitely sure that my twitching started after an extended period of anxiety. I was 17/18 when twitches first started and I'd been going through a lot of stress with school, but mainly through a severe bout of health anxiety, when one thing led to another, twitches started, and the ALS/MS fear has been with me ever since.Over the last few years, I've been through periods where my twitching has settled and I've barely noticed it, because I wasn't feeling too anxious; and likewise, when it flares up it seems to coincide with anxiety. I've had a pretty intense period of twitching for the last two months or so, and I'm going through some major anxiety and stress. It's definitely related.

When there is no explanation then there is THIS "obvious" one that is anxiety or ... "god did it".As far as i know, there is a lot of thing we don't have explanation BECAUSE we don't have any means at this PRESENT time to know what is going on, especially if there is no research done on the subject and also if it is BENIGN (You don't died of it).For example, one time there was ulcers in the stomach. My brother in law was told it was STRESS/ANXIETY. But now ... we know that more than 90% of case is the bacteria "helicobacter pillory" that the so called "doctors who know everything" said "it was not possible".And now my brother in low is cured with the right treatment.This is the case with this crap.Next time, your nose will grew up like pinocchio you will think it's ANXIETY? ... because there is NO explanation? ... an no means at this time to see something?Many other illness (like IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrom) have NO explanation and obviously ... it's STRESS! Why get this and not the other one? ... since it's stress. Why not both?If you think it's stress ... it's the wrong way.I know it's NOT stress that causes my last flare-up because- I was on long holidays (quit finally my job myself, thanks god!) and went to Europe for long- Had enough money- Quit smoking- Did a lot of exercise (hiking in Alpes)ButGot flu like illness ... and "bam" got a BIG increase in that crap and also NEW and insane symptoms i didn't experience before with my first attack in 1992 (sharp pain like pin poked in my skin/bone shortly and repetitively in the same spot, new increase in shaking, chills, burning sensations and much more. Before it was only twitches and tingling i was used to)