Fascikulations: 55 Yr Old Woman

I am 55 year old woman that started to have fascikulations 5 weeks Ago. First i noticed it was in my Right feet ( under ) and i A few days it spread to The left leg and feet . Now it is going on 24/7 in my left leg and feet and sometimes it comes in shoulder s , fingers and face. I went to A neurologist 2 weeks into this because i was so scared after googling ALS symptomes. The neurologist did A clinical examination and Found everything fine , normal reflexes and no weakness. I asked if i needed an EMG but he sad no because The examination was fine. Now i have Read A lot on this forum and i see that You All? Are younger than i , and after i Read The artcle about 6, 7 procent that has fascikulations as The first symptom i am really scared because i am in The " dangerous " age and The fascikulations are most of time in my left leg and feet. I look at my leg which always has been thin , but now it looks even more thinner and that scares me . I sleep very bad and When i wake up in The morning i feel so depressed and scared. I asked The neuro if it could be an early symptom before The other symptomes , but he only Said no and did not explain more. I am going to my GP ithis week , i need to talk with someone .Bibi ( not from english speaken land , ,so Sorry for my english )

Hey, Bibi -- just to let you know I am a 56 year old woman so I understand where you are coming from. Just remember - no weakness is the key. Every other symptom is normal for BFS. That's pretty much it. I'll be thinking about ya!

Bibi,age and twitching do not mean you have ALS.what you need for at least suspecting diagnosis like ALS is a clinical weakness and specific changes on EMG.we have several people well over 50 here so you are not alone.please please stop reading articles which you can not anyway digest positively right now and remind yourself that you do not have anything but twitches.

You are in the same boat everybody else is in. Wide spread muscle twitches are a good sign that is what I've been told. Your age I wouldn't worry about just like she said weakness is the key when you can't move or do something that is routine to you doing then be concerned. I have twitches really bad as well and this sight is wonderful just some of the stories on here and I'm sure you will find your not only the 56 year old on here. This site is wonderful and full of great people it was hard for at first to listen to people but I started and I've gotten better. TRUST YOUR DOCTORS they are way smarter than us haha. If he say you have nothing to worry about then don't easier said than done I know. I wasn't sleeping well they have medicine for that and it helps and if your are depressed that can be a huge factor and intensify your twitches and feelings. When you talk to your GP tell her/him that your are depressed and not sleeping and they will give you some meds to control it I know people don't like taking meds but if you have tried everything else and it's not working it's worth a try. Good luck and feel free to contact me or send me a personal message ok. Take care. Houston

Do you really think you are in a so called danger age bracket. Gender specific incidence of ALS were calculated based on combines data from six European ALS registers. Let's look at your age group. So out of 1.4 million woman aged 55 -59 only 39 woman were diagnosed in a 2 year period. Think about it..... 39 out of 1.4 million woman aged 55 -59 in 2 years.Remember it is a rare illness, but sometimes when people see how rare it is, that can help. I put all the figures and link to all the data on another post which I can't find right this minute, but they are here on this forum under my name somewhere. I have used examples from the research a few times now but have had people asking for figures from time to time.Feel your fear from your post and it does get a bit better with time.Hx

Thank You All for your response ! I am most scared because The fascikulations most come in one leg and foot ( left) just now it is going on just above my knee every second. I cant relaxe at All because of these fascikulations in my leg. Today,i have also had some in my chin and underlip. It is very hard for me to trust that this is " normal" i didnt suffer from anxiety before this , but now i am,A nerveos wreck. I dont know if i want to go to A hospital and have an EMG , but on The other side it is hard to live like this. I can see that most People here get more Calm When times go , and i wish that i could wait for that , but my fear of ALS are so enormous that i cant Think of Else and are about to cry all Day.Thank again for trying to comfort me . Bibi

Bibi, I know how you feel, we have all been there in our early days. It does get better. Remember your neuro said he saw no signs. Distract yourself as much as possible and do not google anything, but look around this site only. Or research anxiety. Try to relax and breathe deep or your anxiety will increase your twitches. I understand. Remember too, there are 5000 people here who are just like you. I am 47 female. It started at 46 and I worried more also because of age. There are many more, some in their 60's and also many older folks are not as good with computers to find this site. Remember that. You have had a neuro exam, and expert opinion. True, the thing that helps most seems to be the passage of time. Do what you can to make this a productive time and dig down deep so you know you are okay NO MATTER WHAT. You will be fine. Read lots of helpful things and work on yourself to get strong mentally, physically, and spiritually so this is not all a waste of time. maybe find a good therapist. I wish you well my friend. You are not alone!

Hi AllI have been to my GP today and she gave me A kind of antidepressive drug ( mirtazapin ) she Said it Would helt me sleep. I have only slept 4 hours pr Night for The passed weeks. I Think that she are Right that i need to sleep now. She Read what The neuro had written and Said again that he didnt Think i should have an EMG because his examination did not found any signs of Als. I am sure that my anxiety makes it All worse , so i Will do as she told , eat The medicine , and go back to her next week. She Will do some more blood test and just see How it goes. She is 99 procent sure that there is notning Wrong as she Said.I am A little better now than i was before speakning to her, but if i was just sure that it is not ALS i wouldnt need to take medicine, that s The problem , i am still not sure. I hope twitces Will decrease When i hopefully sleep more and i hope time Will show me that there is no weakness or other signs. And in that time i Can hopefully live my life better than i do now.Again thank You All for your response to my posts . Bibi

Hi bibi,I took Mirtazapine (brand name Remeron) 15 years ago after an episode of health anxiety that lasted nearly two years. Mirtazapine was great for sleeping, but it used to make me feel drowsy and somnolent all day. So after a couple of months I’ve stopped it and started a therapy combined with a lot of exercises (mostly swimming). In 6 months I was completely cured until my recent twitching obsession 15 years later You don’t have ALS, you have health anxiety. And if you keep obsessing about ALS to the point that it seriously impacts your life, then maybe you should seek some professional help to target anxiety. In my own case it was impossible to overcome health anxiety alone.

Dear Bibi,I take that medicine since more than a half year, since that all started. For me it worked fine for sleeping up to now. In bed it is the place, where I feel save, because I can sleep now. That is important, because you need a rest after all that fear. Of course it is not the solution for all the problems, but give it a try and see how it works. If it works fine, it can be helpful for the moment. If it makes you dizzy, then it is not of course. I am such an "running around" person, I need a lot to bring me down So for me its fine. No dizzyness.Sleeping is very important.