It started with my hands. Shaky, tingly, tremors and twitches in the thenar and index finger. Went to a doctor. He told me nothing was wrong. The problem persisted. I googled my symptoms. Bad idea. I ended up down a path of fear and total life altering proccupation with my health. My face became heavy and tremored in certain situations. Paresthesias in my legs and scalp. Twitching scalp, non-stop twitching calves and eyelids. Perceived swallowing issues to the point where I stopped eating for fear of choking and went to the emergency room because I choked on water. Pretty much every scary symptom in the book. Convinced I had bulbar. Convinced I had MS. Convinced I was dying. Life ruined. GF moved out, friends all but disowned me because I couldn't stop focusing on my health and my family just plum thought I was crazy. I had a full on panic attack where I thought I was dying and ended up in hospital overnight.I swear if it wasn't for this website and the support of some good people things could have been a lot worse. Paid over a thousand dollars for an MRI of my brain. Called my neurologist every day until he agreed to get me an EMG. Called the EMG office every day until they had a cancellation. I tried Paxil, which helped initially, but now I'm off it. I tried therapy, which didn't help at all but I see how it could for some people. And I tried meditation and other new age methods of easing the mind. It wasn't until I had the Director of Neurology for VGH sit me down and tell me that medically there is nothing wrong with me that I could finally start climbing out of the hole.Almost everybody can agree that a huge part of BFS is related to anxiety and stress. For me this couldn't be more true. The day I honestly started to believe that I was OK, was the day I started to get better. I know for some people this isn't the case and that no amount of positive thinking is going to help them overcome their physical ailments, but I believe for a large segment of the people using this site, they are their own worst enemy.Get all the tests. See all the doctors and call every specialist. But eventually you have to face the fact that even if you did have ALS, MS or whatever other super-scary disease you fear, trolling around this website will do nothing for you. Get off the internet and get on with life. It's too short to spend worrying about a disease you almost certainly don't have. I know it' easier said than done, but I have been there at rock bottom and I can say with full confidence that the only reason i made it back up was coming to terms with the fact that I am the disease. My own *beep* up mind was the thing causing all the problems in the first place. It may not be true for you, but it certainly was for me.Thank you runningbear, mommyLDN, JohnnyRocket and many others. You are strangers who I will never meet but can't thank enough.
My Health Journey Begins
- Thread starter manteo258
- Start date
Hi CRich, so good to hear from you. I was wondering about you the other day. Its so good to hear that you are back to your life in such a short amount of time, although I'm sure it still felt like an eternity while you were struggling. We need more stories like yours around here. But if you ever feel like you need a boost, you know where to come for it. Please be well and like I said, it was so good to hear from you, thanks for coming back to update us on your progress, good for you 
) Take careRobynn )
) Take careRobynn )JoggingCub
Well-known member
Right on! Thanks for coming back and letting us know you are doing fine. I am sorry that you were in such a bad state, I do understand, having planned my own funeral and buying a large amt of life ins. when I believed I had the ALS word. Its all the past now. If at all I helped you, it was my pleasure. RB
JohnnyRocket
Well-known member
Great to see you breathing the free air. Thank you for sharing with the community. This will bring comfort to many.