Exploring Possibilities Beyond Neurology

[JCVanilla4125]

Believe me Alonzo I am not in any way trying to scold you for presenting new ideas. I am in total agreement with you that it is a good thing for us to explore all possibilities. I just felt that from your posts you were trying to say that because neurologists didn't have any hard evidence that BFS was of neurologic origin, then it wasn't of neurologic origin. If I miconstrued what you were saying I'm sorry.

My point was that we should not rule out any possibilities until we have evidence to do so.

That being said I agree with you that the answer lies ultimately with some substance exerting its influence on the muscles or nerves (and on the body as a whole for that matter). That may be chemical, infectious, autoimmune, hormonal or some combination/interaction of all the above.

What do we know so far...

There is a high percentage of healthcare workers affected with BFS (these are people that are exposed to countless patogens on a daily basis).

There is also a high percentage of people who had onset of BFS symptoms shortly after a viral illness.

This certainly points to an infectious agent as the initating cause. Who knows it may take exposure to or co-infection with more than one agent to initate the process.

Beyond this is anyone's guess as to what happens next, chemical, hormonal, autoimmune...

The symptoms themselves (the twitching) however, seem to involve the nerves and muscles in some fashion at least as the target organs.

The ultimate process may in fact be multifactorial-


infectious agent-> autoimmune/chemical/hormonal response-> symptoms

Obviously, once we know the process, we can then determine where to apply the cure.

I look forward to your continued ideas and hope that I can add to them without sounding like I'm trying to punish original thoughts, I'm not!

 

[Alonzo]

Jcavan4125 and alive, both great posts. The answer is out there somewhere and it may be a lot more complex than what we first thought. Maybe it IS some form of benign ALS, I mean, why not? As Alive put it so well, there are LOTS of forms of other benign conditions that mimick much worse conditions, such as tumors that aren't cancerous, and tremors for two quick examples. I mean, just because you have a tremor doesn't mean you have Parkinson's or anything, right?

Viral infection? Maybe, but something just keeps my mind looking elsewhere. I mean at any given moment, we are ALL fighting off some kind of bacteria and countless forms of viruses with every breath we take, every nostril we stick a finger in and every eye we rub.

Some our bodies simply fight off and we never even show a symptom while others ravage the entire body at short notice. My point with the virus thing is we all seem to have sinus infections, colds, flu's, post nasil drip, headaches, muscle aches, alergies and so on pretty much on an ongoing basis and it is normal for people to have these ailments depending on their enviroments.

I mean, teachers get sick constantly from kids spreading germs constantly. Nurses and doctors always seem to be sick because they are exposed to so many people with viruses and bacterial infections. Mold, mildew, high pollen areas, dust, dander and so on can contribute to so many ailments (sinus infections, alergies, athsma, etc.) so it just seems too obvious that some of the people with BFS had some kind of infection going-on before their onset. But remember, many other's report being in perfect healt with no anxiety and still coming down with BFS... and that is why I kind of discount that theory for now.. I said "for now"... not premanently.

Because the thyroid and many other chemical based substances, (hormones, adrenaline, caffeine, vitamin D and so many other's) can cause trembling, twitches, cramps, drained feelings, fatigue and countles other symptoms that appear to be muscular or in the nervous system in origin, I just thought it might be a good place to start looking being that out of years of research and seeing patients, not one neuro has an idea as to what BFS is, or what causes it, AND most people do show some types of elevated liver enzymes. Maybe that too is as common as the body just shaking-off bacterial and viral infections.. I dunno... but it seems like a good place to start anyway.

 

[vera]

Hi all! I just read through your posts, and it's always great to keep these "debates" or lines of communication going! It is the only way we will ever find out why or how we got here.

I have a few personal "opinions" I'd like to share regarding causes of BFS.

With regard to throwing the "anxiety theory" out the window, I have to disagree. I think anxiety and stress is different for everyone. I also believe that sever anxiety can be caused by a "Chemical Imbalance". Some have it, others don't. That's why some people react differently in different situations. If my child were kidnapped, or if I were in combat, I would become a twitching basket case! I have thyroid problems, and my liver blood work came up screwy! My friend on the other hand, who has no medical problems to speak of, has NEVER experienced anxiety or panic. Even when her sister was dying, she kept it together, and never began twitching. She often tells me she can't comprehend panic attacks, or how stress can debilitate a person. While it seems everyone in my family can relate. They all have experienced it in one way or the other. It seems we are wired differently than other families, or that our chemical make-up is different.

Since I have been on anti-depressants, and a small amount of xanax each night, and therapy, I am not twitching any more than the average person. I also don't worry about it anymore, and it seems my chemicals are balanced. I am also on armour for thyroid, nothing for the liver since I (and my Dr.) don't consider this much of a problem at this time.

So, is it anxiety? Is it chemical? Is it neuroligical? It all seems to go hand-in-hand! (For just us few with a chemical imbalance or two!)

Thanks for posting! Thanks for listening!

Kim