Frightened Fireman with ALS

Hi all i'm a 28 year old fireman from the UK,On about the 12th May 09 i suddenly noticed a large "twitch" in my left shoulder... Thats odd i thought. It lasted about five seconds and disapeard. Less than 24 hours later i had ALS thanks to google!! Unfortunately the muscle spasms i could live with, The FEAR i can't. I'm a fireman for christ sake yet i am petrified of a 1 in 100,000 disease that genrally affects over fortys. Anyhow it lasted around 6 weeks a mixture of fear and twitching. The usual suspects Neck, Arms, Legs, Stomach. No routine to it. Then i had a vacation and without noticing it stopped. Soon i was joking with friends "remember when i thought i had MND?" Then disaster my BFS and ALS has returned!! It consumes me with panic and is out of character for me. Do i have only 4 years left... Anyhow away from this it has been a bad 18 months1. Got diorced2. Changed job3. Mother died (relatively suddenly and very young 49)4. Grandad died Is my muscle twitching related to this? Is it a real illness? Will it go away? Why cant it be ALS? Why as i have no pain only mild discomfort am i consumed by panic? ARGHHH!Seeing my GP on friday, My best mate who is also a GP reckons it is stress and he knows me well. He is not concerened but knows nothing about either ALS or BFS. My new girlfriend whom i was so happy wth probably thinks i'm a nut job!Seriously is this normal?

On one hand I am worried myself, even though I was even given the all clear, on the other hand I want to tell you that you are FINE!!!Twitching, then it goes away... you have had more stress in one 18 month period than most people have in 20 years or even more. When I went to the specialist, he told me that anxiety can show any symptom it wants to... I just wish I could take heed of my own advice, but BFS is a disease of anxiety.Please try to stop worrying (I know easier said than done), but you are young, and an active fireman who is probably quite strong. *** is a disease of weakness not twitching.Take Care of yourself.

Welcome,Deeprooted stress and anxiety can be a cause for BFS.. But some of us 'twitchers' also got it after an viral infection.Ill try to answer some of your questions :"Is it a real illness?"What do you mean by 'illness'? Its a 'real' benign condition. By real i mean the diagnosis is real, and its not somatoform ("its all in your head".. not ). The cause for BFS can be both 'somatoform' and viral tho, it is unknown at this point . BFS wont be that disabling after a while.. only when the twitches wake up your girl who is sleeping in your arms. "Will it go away"Yes and no. Most people have a very mild case of BFS. They just have a 'hotspot' near the corner of their eyes, or near their thumb and it will last for a week or 2 and just dissapear.We are so unlucky. It can last for weeks, months, and even years."Why cant it be ALS"It could be anything. There are no guarantees in life. You are healthy now, go out and live. You might get struck by lightning tomorrow.. should you worry about that already? The 1:100.000 incidence rate still applies to EVERYONE. Even us. Someone can have 2 'diseases' or 'syndromes' at the same time. Can someone with Multiple Sclerosis get cancer? Ofcourse they can. What i am saying is that BFS has NOTHING to do with ALS. We have all been through this hell before : Testing your strenght - checking your body for atrophy etc.. etc..I hope your girlfriend supports you, or just try to act normal and not so neurotic about it when she is around. I see you're 28 years old. Thats about 1/3 of your life. Do not let this syndrome destroy some of the best years ahead of you. Get a diagnosis from a neurologist and put it at rest. I really wished allot of people on this forum did that, but didn't.

It sounds like you have had a really stressful, anxious year and it does seem like this twitching etc, is often caused by anxiety or stress.From what I've read if you had the disease you are fearful of, twitching wouldn't disappear and then come back, it would be a constant progression and you would most likely have muscle weakness at the same time.I've had twitching bodywide since march, and the neuro seems to believe its caused by anxiety - I find it hard to believe as I was feeling better at one point , not anxious at all and then it got worse again, I do know however that before I had any symptoms I was really stressed and run down at work so I can believe that this triggered it.It really sounds liked your symptoms are a result of your stressful year, hope you feel better soon.