BFS: Calf Fasciculations and Weakness?

[simonw00]

Hi thereI am about 5- 6 months into my BFS now. Like many of you, my calves have been the real focal area with constant fasciculations there, compared with only fleeting onces elsewhere in my body. Throughout this time I have had periods where I have convinced myself that I was developing weakness. This resulted in frequent self testing, particularly of my calves. I tried to get into a daily routine involving doing a set amount of calf exercises when I got up, so that I wouldn't be tempted to self test later in the day. However hard the morning exercises felt and however weak I thought I was, I was always able to do the same amount of exercise, even though I had to push through some pain in order to do so. However, later in the day I would sometimes perceive some sort of weakness, or I'd trip, or the fasciculations would just get really bad, so sometimes I would do further self tests throughout the day. Calf pain began to become part of my daily life and sometimes the pain itself would worry me because I would worry that it was a cramp caused my ALS. I would then start testing myself again.About a week ago I decided to stop self testing. I think I'd always known that the self testing was counter productive but I just couldn't help myself. But for some reason which I can't quite remember at the moment I thought last week that it was time to stop. I have continued to do my usual 3 x a week power walk up a steep hill near my work (I have done this for many years in order to maintain cardiovascular fitness but, for the past 5 months I have been unable to think of anything other than my calf strength whilst I have done these walks). To be honest I have this week walked faster than usual and even run at times - I have done this probably because it is my 'security blanket' having given away the self testing./I'd like to report that my BFS is 'cured' or 'in remission' which it isn't but I can tell you all that my fasciculations are less severe - my left calf is now 90% better and my right calf is about 30% better, i.e. less frequent fasciculations and less severe when they happen. The calf pain is improving and has changed from a 'something is wrong' pain (i.e. torn muscles, inflamed tendons, shin splints...) to more of a 'my muscles are tired because they haven't done this kind of work before' (almost a 'good pain' if you know what I mean).I am now wondering how many of us over-anxious BFS sufferers have been making rods for our backs by self testing. If my early experiences are anything to go by, then I wonder whether we shaould all start giving away the self testing.Here's hoping I can fight ff the 'self testing addiction' for another week!CheersSimon

 

[MarioMasher]

In my experience, strength self testing ranks right up there with hitting yourself in the forehead with a hammer in regards to being good for you.

 

[Outlook1958]

Hey Simon,I'm glad that you're getting it under control! You see, strength testing can really cause some sort of pain, which you might perceive in a somehow amplified way because you are anxious about it. But if you still want to make sure everything's fine, just to maintain peace of mind: Your power walk (which is surely a good thing for the whole body anyway) is more than enough to be sure that your legs and feet are 100% fine. I go to the gym 2x a week where I do all kinds of excercises, including a cross trainer that simulates walking/running. I will also do some jogging around the lake here when it gets warmer (we're having a really cold and nasty weather here in Germany right now).And well, after reading a lot of reports (serious and not so serious) on **S I think there is one certain thing you can say about it... I hope it doesn't sound too macabre: If you have **S, you don't need to search for it and find it. It will find you soon enough.

 

[CrazyJace]

Hi Simon, I too was a SERIOUS self-tester; so much so that when I woudl use the hand grippers (out of nowhere, all of a sudden I was using them like 37 times a day!) I developed a finger twitch due to overuse of the hand. It was a twitch I could see and feel in my hand between the pinky and ring finger that made the actual finger jump a little. Mind you, this was after having already visited a neuro so I went from thinking **S to Parkinson's. I even went to the public library (to check out mystery novels to distract my brain) and ended up reading the first 50 pages of Michael J. Fox's biography! Anyway, my point is that I while I work out anyway, all the self testing I was doing - with weights, new fancy sneakers meant to build leg muscles, running, you name it, my body was actually looking pretty good 6 months after the birth of my first baby. In conjunction with not eating or sleeping well, it was all wreaking more havoc than good. When I think back to all that self-testing, I do giggle..though now I have a rather new twitchy vibrating thing right under my nostrils. I just posted asking about bulbar symptoms since I scared myself again. Now I'm testing eating, drinking, scrunching up my face, etc. I got a clean EMG of my limbs so apparently I think it's a good idea to obsess on another area! My neuro did look in my face twice in January and told me all looked good in there. (She says the tongue being the biggest muscle would show more obvious signs of something.) That was a month ago so maybe it hadn't caught up with me yet!?

 

[AllGoodHere]

Hey Simon - you can do it! I wish I was a self-tester so I could stop and feel better. My problem is more along the lines of making it a 'hobby' and believing I may find a reason or a cure - something that would explain this stuff that happened to me. It is the same as self-testing in the way that one wastes too much thought and energy on it - thrashing about like a child put in an uncomfortable outfit. A dog in a dress. A monkey in a coat. A nut in a straight jacket. A ....A ...A ...Acceptance is hard to come by sometimes.

 

[TimThomas24]

Wow! Simon your self-testing induced cramp/pain sounds like maybe what I've been dealing with. I did a ton of calf raises last week and have been walking on toes, and other ridiculous attempts to convince myself I'm ok. I ran on Tuesday night and actually tried to raise my toes thinking my left foot was dropping. I then did some more raises after my run. Wednesday, my left leg (where most of the twitches are) was worse. By friday I could barely walk without feeling an imminent cramp and pain in the calf and hamstring. Not like a sore muscle though (which worried me and only in the left leg not the right). Maybe just a completely exhausted and overwhelmed muscle though. Yesterday and today its still awful. I'm feeling maybe its weakness too. I feel like Jekyll and Hyde. Half my brain is saying, "this is it, you've got something terrible, ALS, etc. and its progressing in just 3 weeks from pins and needles to twitching to cramp and weakness." The other half of my brain is saying, "Hey moron! You've been pushing that left leg for several weeks, doing odd things and add to it the stress and worry and its just completely worn out." But then I worry that its not improving fast enough and the whole thing keeps snowballing. Its a real mental mess.