Hi, This is my first post to this forum. To briefly introduce myself, i am a 24 year old Norwegian male that started with the twitching(at least that i noticed) during October last year. I'll start from the beginning: Sometime during last fall i noticed that my hands were trembling. I didn't really think much of it as I had just moved and started working, thinking that it was due to change in eating habits and less sleep. I looked up trembling, twitching etc at the Internet although I didn't twitch at the time. The trembling continued, and I later noticed that not only my hands, but seemingly the entire body seemed to be trembling somewhat. Then the twitching began. I noticed it first in my left arm and just below my left eye, not really giving it much thought as i went over quickly and didn't return for some days. Then i started getting twitches all over, although far more on my left side than the right. Googling began, and the fear of ALS took over, as seems to be the case for many here. I began getting some really aggressive left shoulder/back twitches, and called the doctor, getting a neurologist appointment about a month after the twitching started. The neurologist did some strength tests, reflexes etc and said that he was certain that i was perfectly healthy, and that the twitching probably had started due to me being previously very active, with heavy workouts 5 days a week and then abruptly stopping some months previously due to masters thesis and summer vacation. I asked about an EMG just to be sure, but he stated that this wasn't necessary as it would only prove what he had already said. He seemed very certain, and for the next few days I twitched far less than I had previously. Then it flared up again. About a week ago, i started becoming really concerned. I noticed what seems like a smaller muscle between left thumb/index than my right. Another thing i noticed is that if i stretch my thumb to the side, there is a larger hole between the two tendons(?, don't know the word for these in english) at the base of my thumb of my left hand than my right. Should i be concerned about this being atrophy? Additionally, my left foot has been acting weird. Somewhat tickling sensations, sometimes pain, cramps more easier than before and the balance seems to be worse standing on my left foot than on my right. If i stretch out my toes on both feet, the tendon in the arch at the left foot is far more visible than in the right. The outside of the foot also seems to be less muscular on the left side. Atrophy?Today i decided to test my finger strength, leading to this post. Keeping my fingers extended it was far easier to push down my left thumb than my right. I then tried lifting a bag with a book in it with my thumb, thumb extended. I could barely do this without my left thumb "falling" downwards. With my right thumb, it was no problem. Of course, it might be natural that my less dominant hand and its fingers are weaker, but I am afraid this might be due to the possible thumb atrophy mentioned above, i.e. due to early als. I am quite concerned now, even though i am aware that the chance of this actually being ALS is low. The twitching is mostly in my left arm/shoulder/back. My thumb/left arm might be atrophied, and my left thumb is weaker than my right, i.e., seemingly onesided problems. I hope someone can post some encouraging words, or of similar experiences turning out to be this benign phenomenon. Sorry for this long post.
24 Y/O Norwegian with Twitching
- Thread starter Aediximic
- Start date
You're fine. I have all the same stuff and my hands look horrible. I've got dents and ridges and everything else. And I'm not symetric, feel weak, am weak, etc. Of course, you already know you are fine. When ALS starts with twitches it generally starts in one limb and progresses orderly. You quickly exploded to whole body twitching, which sounds typical of BFS and anxiety.Most of my recurring bouts of anxiety were caused when I thought I had stopped twitching and then started again. You've got to stop caring about the symptoms and the causes and just learn to live with the new you.Here's a program I made up (so it's not worth much) that helped me get over my anxiety:1) Internet: Limit your time on aboutbfs and never read about ALS, MS or Parkinsons. 2) Have a rational statement of health, which includes every reason you can think of that you don't have something bad (keep adding to the statement everytime you think of something new). Read this whenever you get lost in fear. 3) Never look for atrophy or perform any self-tests. 4) Keep a daily health journal. This includes tracking how well you're doing on this whole plan and your physical symptoms for the day. A lot of times you'll find that you're not doing as badly as you thought or that you're not "going down hill" by reviewing this information. If you have a bad day (anxiety-wise) you can usually look back at your journal and see why.5) Do something that makes you feel good every day (even if it's just taking time to listen to some of your favorite music). 6) Do something extra good for everyone in your family every day (this will make you feel better, too). 7) Do something good for someone you don't know every day (now, you're really beginning to feel like a good guy). 8 ) Eat right every day. 9) Light exercise every day. 10) Increase production--at work, at home, at church or some non-profit. 11) Try as much as possible to continue on with every day as normal. If you change your plans, make your day better (meaning more accomplishments) not worse. 12) Think about your thinking and distract yourself when necessary. As you are working on the above, you will still have to work on changing the way you think. You've got to get the stream of negative medical thoughts broken. Think of your favorite hobby topic (like history, sports, whatever). Get a book on the topic and try to interrupt yourself with something you find interesting whenever you think bad things. For awhile, this might be nearly constantly. But as you continue to enrich your life and the lives of those around you, you will find that you need this less and less.It's a hard program to follow, but it worked for me. It took awhile before I was able to do everything on the list. Some days I wouldn't do any of them. But I just kept at it and it worked.
Thank you for the response, ill try to follow your advice
The fasciculations do seem to be worse when i'm anxious. I wonder if more twitches can be related to a combination of less sleep, sitting by the computer, anxiety and regular eating habits? When I was home at my parents for Christmas, I hardly noticed any twitches at all. Then when I went back to work, pronounced arm twitches came on during the day, and has continued on and off since. What is the most concerning to me, is that all the weird stuff seems to happen on my left side, even twitching at the left side of my stomach. When it happens e.g. in my right arm I feel almost relieved. I suppose i should trust the neuro though and take relieve in all the posts at this forum with similar symptoms.
The fasciculations do seem to be worse when i'm anxious. I wonder if more twitches can be related to a combination of less sleep, sitting by the computer, anxiety and regular eating habits? When I was home at my parents for Christmas, I hardly noticed any twitches at all. Then when I went back to work, pronounced arm twitches came on during the day, and has continued on and off since. What is the most concerning to me, is that all the weird stuff seems to happen on my left side, even twitching at the left side of my stomach. When it happens e.g. in my right arm I feel almost relieved. I suppose i should trust the neuro though and take relieve in all the posts at this forum with similar symptoms.LeftyCanuck1
Active member
Hi Totto: Welcome to the sight, you have found the place that is going to be the best medicine for this disorder. Follow Jelie's advice, I have been using it and it has helped since Christmas to control most of my anxiety. I won't give a percentage but alot of this disorder is compounded by worry and you need a method of guarding against the habit of worry creeping in. Believe your Nuerologists they know, they live and work in this world and image if some person with out knowledge of your work place came for advice and then didn't believe you.Read alot of past posts and follow the advice given.Good luck, Lefty C