CautiousExplorer
Well-known member
Some people on this board fear they have Bulbar onset after being cleared from any serious illness with an EMG/MRI test, so i thought i'll post a list of common symptoms people with BFS may experience after the diagnosis, and a few psychological disorders that may cause twitching.Anxiety : -Perceived slurred speech-Perceived swollen tongue-Perceived cracking/hoarse voice-Lump in throat-Perceived dents-Burning tongue feelings-The feeling that your tongue is constantly moving towards one of your cheeks-Cognitive dysfunction(Brainfog, short-term memory loss..)-Emotional lability ( Crying/laughing in situations when its not right)-Cold/hot flashes-Trembling/shaking-Overactive gag reflex ( in combination with nausea ) Obsessive / compulsive disorder resulting from extreme hypochondria;-Silly strenght tests which results in even more anxiety because you will ALWAYS fail one of your silly tests-Moving your tongue from side to side as fast as you can-Exploring your body; looking for dents. Stress -Stiff/tensed muscles (fight/flight mode, ofcourse ) -Backpain, shoulderblade pain-Chest/rib tightness and pain-Aches and pains all over the body-Disturbed sleep patterns (Insomnia, nightmares..)-Frequently going to the toilet at bed times-Sexual dysfunction-IBS-TMJ-Bruxism when asleepStress slowly buildsup on a sub-conscious level. Just think of all the deadlines you have to make; projects you have to finish; family problems etc. Eventually, the bubble bursts and you are left with a whole bunch of somatoform symptoms. These sensations are real physical symptoms caused by psychological stress. Stress leads to a whole lot of things. For example; a weakened immune system and many other diseases. It also produces several hormones and chemicals which gets released all over the body and can result in muscle twitches. The same applies to anxiety.There is another condition called chronic hyperventilation, which is associated with deep-rooted stress and anxiety. You never know that you are breathing in a wrong cycle untill you suddenly start to experience lightheadedness, vertigo, nausea, pins and needles, or this awkward sensation that you have to take deep breaths because otherwise, you might faint. Sometimes you may not experience these symptoms but still you breath like you are speedwalking without noticing it.Chronic hyperventilation, which can wax-and-wane for minutes or hours and come on suddenly and dissapear, just like a panic attack disorder, causes the carbon dioxide levels in the body to fall, and result in hypersensitive nerves. The symptoms include : pins and needles, pains, muscle excitability/muscle twitches and tentany symptoms. I know many of you experience twitching without having underlying anxiety/stress; so the above doesn't apply to you. But i believe some people should think about the above first before even thinking about ALS, or MS because they experience common anxiety symptoms.However, if you experience a combination of the symptoms above, remember to get things backed up by a GP or neurologists. Untill then, think positive!Last note : Low magnesium /vitamin levels may also cause twitching. So taking a good vitamin pill that contains all vitamins and some other minerals on a daily basis is a good start!
) even if their symptoms aren't that menacing at all and doctors tell them that they are perfectly healthy. The same works for "normal" stress: My boss works like 80-100 hours a week, almost doesn't sleep and keeps on running back and forth between appointments and meetings throughout Germany - but he seems perfectly healthy, strong, mentally stable and active. If I lived that life for only a week, I'd be ready for ER again because my nervous system would start messing around with my circulation.Nervousguy, I perfectly agree with your description and the list of symptoms that stress/anxiety can cause, BUT how do we KNOW that these symptoms are caused by stress? The problem is that we don't have an LCD-display on our foreheads that shows our current stress level on a scale from 0 to 100 or something. It's different with things like physical injuries: Imagine you have pain in your knee because you fell on it. You go to your doctor and tell him the whole story... He takes a look at the knee, sees that it's maybe red and swollen, and the circle closes: The symptoms conform to the disease (I mean the injury) and the disease conforms to the cause (falling on the knee in the way it happened to you will most certainly cause this "disease"), with no ifs and buts. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way with stress. I wouldn't say there is a clear connection between the cause, the disease and the symptoms.Hmm... medical philosophy 