Iamphoenix
New member
Hello:I would first like to thank everyone who actively participates in this forum. I have read countless hours of your replies and they have calmed me down countless times when the ALS panic began to set in. I am 24 and have suffered from health related anxiety for many years. I have a very stressful career as a regional director in the emergency management business. It’s a 24/7 type of position and although I love it, it’s still stressful. I have been taking Zanex for about 6 months now to control a variety of health related anxiety issues and general anxiety. About a 6 weeks ago while sitting on the couch, I noticed some random twitches in my calf muscles so I picked up my blackberry and googled muscle twitches. Of course, the first thing I saw was an advertisement banner that stated “Muscle Twitching & ALS.” My emotions immediately spiraled out of control and I have yet to regain control. I did a little more research and found two pieces of information that reassured me: in ALS the weakness usually comes first and in BFS the twitches can usually be stopped by moving that muscle. I had and still have no clinical weakness, although I have a lot of fatigue and have probably been for years. I also was able to stop most of my twitches either by contracting the twitching muscle or by getting up and moving around. My muscle twitches are worst when at rest and I really don’t notice them at all when I am working on tasks around the house, riding my bike, in a mind intensive meeting, etc. But, I do have twitches all over my body now, mostly in my calf muscles, but also in my upper arms, abs, chest, butt, lips, eyelids, feet, and hands. I saw my GP about 2 weeks into the twitches for my blood pressure. I told him about the twitches, so he did some strength tests and tested my reflexes. All was normal and he told me not to worry…I was fairly convinced that I simply had BFS and there was nothing to worry about, although as many of you know there is usually a small glimmer of worry in the back of our minds. However, a few days ago I noticed a few new symptoms that started to make me worry. First, I felt like I had an increase in the amount of saliva in my mouth and even that the corners of my lips were wet from it…bulbar onset ALS was the first thing that came to mind, the panic was back. However, I was able to read that although many with ALS have saliva issues, it’s not an actual increase in saliva, it’s the inability to swallow it. I had no trouble swallowing it, I simply became more aware of it… Second, I started to have a lot of pain in my right arm, possibly from tightness in my neck (something I commonly battle) or my continuous strength tests. However, icing and massages from my wonderful wife seemed to help and my muscles seem to bet getting less sore. Third, I started to get tiny spots, about the size of a dime, that seemed to buzzing in a pulsing fashion with a pattern of 1 or 2 seconds on and 2 or 3 seconds off. The thing with the buzzing was that I couldn’t make it stop by flexing the muscle and they seemed to occur in places where I didn’t really have muscles (tops of my foot, the side of a finger joint, or the side of my knee). This buzzing made my worry, mostly because I couldn’t make them stop, even when the muscle was flexed. I called my GP’s nurse who talked to the doctor and reassured me that I didn’t have ALS. However, he honored my request for a referral to a neurologist. I have an appointment in a week…I would really appreciate feedback on my situation, especially the tiny vibrating spots as these really set me over the edge.Thanks!Travis
) The twitching may go away or decide to stay but either way you'll be ok!DD