BFS: Could Mouse Positioning be a Cause?

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kurtiscool

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StephG22,

I see your point about perceived weakness, but I have other BFS symptoms I think (see my original post). I hope anyway, otherwise I have something else!

I was on my home computer a lot last night...until 2am... and I noticed that my mouse is higher than my elbow, causing me to shrug my right shoulder to lift my arm up and use the mouse, I'm hoping this fatigued my shoulder muscles a bit and I didn't realize it until I lifted something today.

What did your brother end up having if you don't mind my asking?

Thank you (and everybody else) for the reassurance. This is the lowest I've been and I really need it. If anyone could chime in I'd appreciate it.
 
One of the guys on braintalk.org went to a canadaian doctor. That neuro said the "code" in canda was that fasics by themselves mean nothing. . .and do not warrant an "ehhh??"

So if you have fasics and pass a quick strength/neuro tests then the doctor has no reason to believe you have problems

olf course we never trust em, so we push for the emg
 
Mike,

I have the exact same thing with my right shoulder. I can be walking around Target or somewhere like that and realize that my right shoulder is shrugged and I know it's due to tension and anxiety.

I also have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel in my right hand and wrist but no EMG has confirmed it but it's suspected. My right arme does the weak thing and at work while using the mouse and keying a lot my hand gets clumsy and aches.

I found some carp tun exercises on the net and when my arm and hand acts up I go in the bathroom at work and do them and it goes away.

I think it's a combination of stress, tension and CTS. I also sleep in CTS braces and that helps because it keeps me from bending my wrists.

Hang in there
 
Her brother had MS. I thought I would answer for her since she isn't on her anymore because I don't want you to start imagining things and let your anxiety get out of control.

You had a normal MRI right? So you know you don't have that!
 
Thanks Karen. I had the MRI Friday early morning. The tech said my doctor would have the results in 24 hours and I haven't heard anything yet. Don't know how quickly they will call or if they would call on a weekend if they found anything. I really hope the arm thing goes away by tomorrow morning or very soon. It's so hard not to feel despair right now.

Thanks.
 
Yes, he has ms--he's doing great now! You'd never know he had a problem. That's nothing for you to worry about though-your mri was clean and his was loaded w/lesions. He also had the highest spinal Lyme titer the hosp had ever seen. His ms was a good thing because now he takes care of himself. His pre-ms lifestyle would certainly have killed him.
My muscles fatigue easily too. I don't know if maybe I just notice it more. Holding my arm up w/no weight causes my muscles to burn. That used to worry me a lot. I couldn't even blow dry my hair w/out taking little breaks.
 
Thank StephG22, no MRI results yet ...I'm anxiously waiting...had it Friday morning. I have no idea when to expect them to let me know. I just want to get this over with. I never envisioned being in such axiety and despair.
 
Mike, I was "lucky" enough that I started Zoloft within days of starting my BFS biz. So I never could clearly determine which yucky feelings (insomnia being a biggie) were due to starting Zoloft vs. the BFS vs. the gut-wrenching fear.

For a while, my arms felt truly funky, especially in my wrists and hands. I don't remember whether to describe my hands as stiff or just uncomfy. Stretching seemed to help, if only temporarily. Even now, 3 months later, my fingers constantly (every minute) jump/twitch, but not enough to see, and it isn't always in my right hand. And, like you, sometimes I notice that my arms are shaky (perhaps tested in a different way ;) ), maybe even more than a lot of other folks here, but they still work just fine. Like pre-BFS, I can do 10 or 15 push-ups, so it seems shaky does not equal weak.

It's possible your arm/shoulder sensation is due to the unpleasantness of starting an SSRI.

Hang in there, and you'll have more info soon!

--alyLeoNCali
 
Hi Mike,

I actually had to smile a bit when I read your post--because it truly reminded me of a stretch in time last year when I experienced the same type of symptoms. Like you've already heard from others, we've all been there!

TRUST ME, it's heightened anxiety (tying in with BFS). I never in a million years thought anxiety was the culprit for what I was experiencing. The SSRI is probably making your anxiety worse for the short term, and thus your physical symptoms are going crazy. That's the thing with anxiety---today it's one thing, tomorrow it's another and so on. The symptoms have such a wide range, it's hard to believe it's all due to anxiety--but it is.

Last year, along with my twitching, I had weeks where I'd get sensations like my leg or arm was falling asleep. I also had the sensation that someone was putting a rubber band around my forearm as tight as they could. I had tingling sensations through various parts of my body almost 24x7. I also had jelly legs and my left side felt sluggish. First I thought MS, then parkinsons, then ALS....the list goes on. After the barrage of tests, all that stuff was ruled out to confirm that I'm a healthy individual living with anxiety and BFS (or 'benign fasiculations' as my neuro calls it).

Do yourself a huge favor and stay off all health related web-sites except this one. Ok, well it's good to search about anxiety too--it will give you lots of info.

Anxiety can do really crazy things to our bodies--and it's tough to 'will' it to go away. Accept it, make yourself comfortable, and live your life with the knowledge that it will pass. Comfort is the key...and time is your friend. Mark a date on your calendar two or three months from now--then we'll see how many of these weird symptoms are still happening when that day comes. Chances are these current symptoms will be gone (the twitching will probably stay), but don't be surprised if a new symptom or two have cropped up. Thankfully, using this process, you'll see just what a weird beast anxiety is. It's not going to kill you, but you'll probably be living with it for a while. The key is not to worry nor let it get to you. That way you can stay in control of your life despite whatever symptoms anxiety throws your way.

If you can find the book: "The Anxiety Disease", read it. It's very helpful toward understanding anxiety.

Live on!
Amy
 
Thanks you guys. This morning has been aweful. I opened my eyes and my shoulder and bicep still felt weak/fatigued and I just stared at the wall in despair. I mean, I'm a logical, educated, intelligent person, and I know I've never had this happen with my arm before. I mean, I know this past week has been extremely stressful, but, come on, can that alone cause one shoulder/bicep (my right) to feel weak? These are the bad things I think. I went on the "bad sites" this morning in desparation, hoping to find concrete evidence that I'm OK, but, or course, nothing is concrete. I'm trying not to burden my g/f and worry her, but I feel so alone right now. I can hardly eat I'm so upset. Sleep is difficult. I'm sorry for being such a whiner...I never thought I'd be in this much crisis. And I have to somehow suck it up and get through work the next few days before my EMG. It's no help that work has been aweful lately, and my "job performance" is in jeopardy, which is going to make it all the harder. I was in such good spirits after my neuro exam, and then this stupid arm thing had to happen *after* it.

You words are comforting, so thank you. Please keep the responses coming if you have anything to add...I really need it now.
 
What's worse is the weakness/fatigue wasn't caused by twitching, in fact my twitching has'nt been that bad. What's even scarier is that I've notice 2-3 twitches in that muscle today. Sorry for venting so much...I'm in bad shape right now.
 
Don't go on those bad websites!!! If you read 10 positive things and one neg., you will only focus on the neg. I am starting to feel much like you again, despite 2 emgs & 4 normal neuro visits. My back feels slouchy and I get the fatigue feelings in my arms. I even feel like it's getting harder to carry my kids. I think it's something we all go through from time to time. Hang in there.
 
Thanks Rolon, I've done that, unfortunately it's hard to focus on the positive things, but I'm trying. I'm scared of my EMG appt. Wed., but I want to get done...I think it will go a long way to calming me.

I even called my doctor and left a message with his answering service. They paged him and he called back within a minute! My question was if I could take my Diazepam with Zoloft (just started 4 days ago). He said yes and given my anxiety it would OK to bump from 25mg/day to 50mg/day. I talked with him about my sx, fears, the neuro appt., the MRI and the EMG. He talked with me for a good 10-15 minutes on a Sunday no less. He's a great doctor. I asked him if the shoulder can be extreme anxiety causing tension, coupled with being on the computer all the time (shrug my shoulder using the mouse). He said absolutely, and went on to describe why a muscle would get fatigued in that situtation. I haope he's not *just* trying to make me feel better, though I figure that's part of it.
Hopefully there's some real truth to what he's saying, because I'm scared.

Although my rt leg felt better overall this morning, I mowed the lawn (trying not to use my right arm) and went to the grocery store and my lower back, rt. buttock, thigh starting really aching and my lower leg/foot/toes had this really annoying "weak" feeling, like when you lose some control of limb when it falls asleep- not the pins and needles but that disconcerting dead, limp feeling that you just want to shake-off. I walked fine for the most part, buy my sensations were very worrisome. My lft leg felt fine. I'm hoping my rt. leg is just tired from my rt leg bouncing nervous habit and driving 1/2 hr each way to work in traffic. But this one-sided symptom thing is scaring me. I keep trying to tell myself its because I'm so out of shape, plus tired and fatigued from chronic/extreme stress and my right side is the one I use more often in day-to-day things. Just hard to convince myself. And of course I'm gettting the occasional random body twitch- today they've been both arms, I think both legs and one in my back near my shoulder blade.

It's going to be rough couple days. Thank again rolon for your reassurance....I've been looking for it all over the place today.
 
One sided perceived weakness is common. In my case, both my right arm and right leg displayed it but sometimes my left leg did too. My left arm rarely felt that way.
 
I have left-leg perceived weakness all the time.

Your doc sounds awesome!

Do me a favor and try to step-back and recognize how much you are obsessing about your body. We all tend to get in 'ruts' where we not only notice every little sensation, but we tend to seriously think them through. It's like all our mental energy reserves tend to dwell on those sensations.

When life is good, we might notice strange sensations, but we just cast them off and don't give them a second thought.

Soon you will be able to 'not worry' when parts of your body feel fatigued. It's normal and it honestly happens to everyone on earth from time to time. People with anxiety get it a lot more often.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about your appt on Wed. I'm sure all will be fine. So many of us are rooting for you because we've all been where you are now. Soon enough, you'll be the one doing the cheerleading for other new members.

Rest easy!

Amy
 
Thanks, you all are great to take the time to read and respond to my posts, and reassure me.This morning I feel pretty good. I took a valium last night, and of course sleep pretty well, but was having vivid dreams. I do feel a bit "hung over" this morning...probably from the valium and all the stress yesterday, plus I pushed my self to get out and do something some housework yesterday. My body still had little points of ache here and there, but not too bad

I'm trying to take it slow and calm this morning...ate a good breakfast, took my vitamin, and my Zoloft. My doc suggested keep a journal, he said it might help me, so I've been doing that also.

Thanks again for your support...I'll keep you posted.
 

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