Losing Mind: Twitching, Pains, Popping

[entszelizavetth]

I'm seriously losing my mind.. Here are all my symptoms:TWITCHING( the main one, 99% in feet) it is the scariest place to be so farWARM SENSATIONS( in arm and leg)RANDOM SHOOTING PAINS(mostly in hands and feet)POPPING FEELING IN TONGUE(maybe twitches?)I had an emg 4 months ago and it was clean, this was before my feet decided to go nuts. Yesterday. I decided to try a chiropractor, told him my symptoms and he said " sounds like it could be ALS! I about had a heart attack!!!Today, I went to a new GP, we just moved, she said sounds suspicious. I told her I was worried about ALS and she said, yes I see why because it normally starts in the feet?!? She referred me to a neuro and I can't get in for 2 months!! I am so sick if this bull#^>%|!! I am not the mommy I should be to my sweet kiddos because of fear. I just want this to end. Is this really BFS? I'm starting to seriously think I have something sinister. I'm almost hoping for ms, how messed up is that

 

[jsageurge]

Go get some more rope. A lot of it. Despite two completely stupid and uncalled remarks from the chiropractor and GP, there is nothing you've described that is unusual for BFS. In my almost 8 years of twitching, even during my 3 periods of what I consider a complete relapse, if I were to look at my feet in the light they would be twitching. In fact, I'd not be surprised if calf and feet twitching were common even in "normal" people without BFS. You have my sympathy being in this state of anxiety with 3 kids, but trust us, it is not warranted.Cheers,Bill

 

[Gloria123]

Oh dear, you have gotten some terrible medical advice. First of all, a chiropractor should never ever make such a medical statement, I'm guessing he/she doesn't really understand &LS at all.You had a clean EMG. That's all you need to tell you that you're fine. You're way ahead of the game, in my opinion.I would bet there isn't a person on this board who doesn't have feet that twitch. My neuro wouldn't give me an EMG on my feet specifically, because he said the majority of the population would have bad results of an EMG on their feet (due to how we use our feet). He said the one conducted on my calves and legs were enough because it's really the same major nerves anyway. There is also a study out there that shows that many, many normal people have feet fasciculations.I know how hard it is being afraid of something like this, when you're a mom. I really feel for you. BFS has made me the biggest hypochondriac (worse than I was). Suddenly, I'm analyzing every little body function I have. Today it's my tongue randomly twitching and the fact that the tip of my big toe is numb. Tomorrow it will likely be something else. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm also a mom of young kids. It makes our anxiety re: our own health very, very intense.Please try to find some way to reduce your anxiety. I'm certain you'll be reporting only good results from your neuro visit (which I'm not sure you even need).Mitra

 

[smithylab]

I'm sorry you are going through such a hard time. I'm sure those careless remarks kicked your anxiety into high gear.I have all of the symptoms that you have, and more. I've also never had an EMG, in the 9 months that I've had these symptoms. You have had the test needed to detect anything sinister, that test cleared you. It may not be true for you, but I think about my mortality so much more now that I have a child. I am constantly worried I won't be here to see her grow up, that I am not giving her my 100% now. I'm sure you are a great mom, you just need to let go of the fear and really enjoy your life with your little ones. I know it's easier said than done, but you can do it once you accept that what you have is benign and won't kill you.Hope you feel better soon,Jay

 

[Gloria123]

Totally agree with Jay. I can't tell you how many times I have thought that it would be much easier to go through medically related things if I weren't a mom -- because it's not just my life that's impacted, but theirs as well now. I just so badly want to be there for them while they're growing up.Note how many people on this board have young children or babies. I think our symptoms are not coincidentally tied to this anxiety. I can't tell you the relation between the two, but I'm certain anxiety and BFS are related in some way.

 

[Gracer]

Holy *beep*, chiropractor is just a massage specialist. He or she can not make such statement, first. Second, ALS never could "normally start in the feet'. Suppose your GP knows about ALS only from popular sources also.It can start mostly either in distal arm or feet, seldom first issues are bulbar, but to say it starts in the feet, well... your doctor might be really not a specialist in that field. Therer are about 4 or 5 typical onsets, and any neuro knows about that, but GP may not know - and oops, scared patient!ALS ususlly does not involve sensory issues (burning or neural pain sensations). Why they decide to tell you that, really do not know.till now nothing points to ALS in your condition, just look here - almost every fellow here has the same symptomes like yours. Do they have ALS? No. You can visit neuro, but I am really sure he or she would tell you that this is not ALS in no way.

 

[Fjordian]

Did you ask why they suspect something like that?They are pretty far off to my opinion. The only suspicion why 'it could be ALS' is real (clinical) weakness which is a red flag to a doctor/gp/neuro. Twitching in feet is very common and is nothing sinister, we all have that here.Sensory issues like warm/cold sensations, tingling, shooting/stabbing pains steers you away from ALS.Try to relax (music, walking, meditation helped for me) and do not listen too much to assumptions of people, even though they mean well.

 

[TwitchyMD]

When ALS starts in the legs, actually it is the tibialis anterior muscle who is tend to be affected first, resulting in foot drop. Twitching in feet is EXTREMELY common amongh healthy people and maybe is a result of slight irritiation near the nerve roots or along the course of the nerve body - the feet nerves have the longest bodies, just imagine the wire going from your feet up, it can be slightly damaged somehwere.Can you move your big toe up and push it down?If the EMG was done in the region of your issues, you should not worry at all.

 

[christinasgirl123]

Wow, I should add those to my *beep* Bingo sheet for incompetent and insensitive doctors' answers. Actually that is just what it is.... BS. While good and experienced doctors should by now know about benign fasciculations can appear in all possible muscles , ANY doctor ( good or bad) should know that twitching in feet and calves is so damned common that it strikes most people once in their lifes or forever, you don't even need BFS for that. Randomly chosen people without BFS showed up to 100 Fasciculations within 2 Minutes EMG , usually not even being aware of it.

 

[Gracer]

yes, distal is the fartherswt from the trunk. so fingers are distal and shoulder is proximal. ALS always strikes distal muscles innerwation, so people usuallu loose their foot ot fingers, but never shoulder or tight first, and then fingers or foot. it is also sometimes called ascending pattern (but often people have hands lost first and only after that disease affects the legs). I can say that among the stories I managed to read in my early times, upper limbs oncet was prevailing do not worry because of two persons who really should not say those things to you - neither because of knowledge, nor from the point of medical ethics, as far as I can understand it.

 

[cpenkoa]

Oh my god lol, i dont visit this site anymore because im coping fine after more than 2 years now with bfs, but i genuinely cannot believe what you have been told I can understand you must be going through some serious anxiety after them suggestions, but you just need to discard it all, everything you've mentioned is completely normal with bfs, and what the hell.... most people twitch mostly in their feet/legs, even my friends/family who dont have bfs say their legs/feet twitch alot!Just try and stay calm and cope until you visit your neuro, because im certain you will get good news

 

[ftheatre]

Try to keep cam, your docs would have diagnose ALS to anyone here, but ... no one have ALS on this board.I have seen an ALS specialist, told him about my twitches. He started to say me the following :- Twitches under the knees is of no interrest for him, complete garbage. Everyone is twitching there, some notice it, some don't, most don't care, we are just over focusing on it.- Twitching above the knee could be of medical interrest, meaning you could try to find the cause if it starts to bother you, but without other ALS symptoms (true weakness, atrophy, pathological reflexes) is in no way indicative of ALS.I hope you will find some reassurance in this, many people here know exactly how do you feel today, we have been there. Stay calm, try to relax (I know, easier said that done), dont google your symptoms. You will be there for your kids.

 

[jessicajenny]

Hi Violetmom,Like many others here, I am a mom too. It is a special kind of hell imagining getting a serious illness and untimely death with kids to raise, isn't it? I've had symptoms and anxiety over symptoms for over 4 years.Something profound stated by my husband and therapist alike, and I think mentioned on this board is...it is not the disease we are so afraid of robbing us from our children, but the anxiety we face every day. That robs us of our time. I think I remind myself of this every day, when anxiety and fear start monopolizing my thoughts. That fear takes me away from my kids. Easier said than done, but certainly worth the effort!