Repeated Doctor Visits, Anxiety Diagnosis

[FizzBuzzer19]

Last week I visited my GP again for a check-up (the fifth in roughly two months, which is a lot for someone who rarely visited a GP before this all started). I told him about the weird rumbles I occasionally feel in my left lung when inhaling deeply, and in my spine/upper back. He examined me and attributed it to anxiety, for the fifth time. "I haven't found anything that worries me" he said. A referral to a neurologist seems far far away.Strange enough, after my visit to my GP the rumbles and even the pain in my right ribcage stopped for a couple of days and I even felt my old self for a change (that is, if you forget about the twitches here and there and the occasional internal buzzing, but they do not frighten me that much)Then last night I woke up. I was lying on my side on my right arm. When I stood up to go to the bathroom, my right arm was still sound asleep. I moved it around a bit and feeling started coming back quite quickly. What scared me most was when I lifted it up and wanted to open the bathroom door, one of my upper arm muscles didn't want to work with me and my arm dropped. I hope it is still a reaction of my arm falling asleep. Now for the entire day my right arm feels very heavy and as if it is detached from my body, and the soreness has returned full force. I also noticed that the ratcheting has returned, now in my shoulders and upper arm muscles. I have still got my full strength and have just spent a couple of hours in the kitchen making cake and muffins. Just when you have convinced yourself it is something benign, some new symptom occurs that scares you so much that you're back to square one.

 

[FantasticFurball]

HeyI know exactly how you are feeling as I have been there myself. Its awful and I fully understand your anxiety about things. Being afraid of ALS and the like really makes you aware of every body part in the body. Every move, every feeling. Everything. Your arm didnt follow you lead as it has been sleeping, which is pretty normal but the brain is kicking in with red alert: "omg its a danger." I remember that exactly fearful feeling as the first year or so with my BFS was just like that. Its terrible. I once falled down as my leg just didnt move the way I did. The first thought was something like: "oh, this is it. Finally. It was ALS afterall" or something like that. But then the feeling came back and I understood that while I was sitting in front of the computerscreen, the blood didnt make it to the leg, paralizing a couple of muscles. The sneeky part was that I didnt feel the leg was sleeping, so it came as a complete surprice leading to the downfall. Im sure that almost everybody on this board have similar stories about feeling arms or legs or body parts that where weak from time to time. You are scared right now and cant see everything clear. In this situation you really need to listen to your doctor, who doesnt refer you to a neuro becourse anything even remotely neurological is out of the question. If the doctor was just a bit suspecious, he would put you through further investigations. My own GP said the same, but as I was almost a wreck, he referred me to a neuro in the end as he told me: "Allright, you dont listen to me, so perhaps you will listen to the neuro, who will say the same - you are not ill". If I just had listen to my own GP right away, I waouldnt have wasted somehing like 1 1/2 year of my life in fear and doubts. PLease dont do the same. Its not worth it. Your doctor is right and you have no right not to belive his words.regards FantasticFurball

 

[twinTwosome]

Long before all of this started I noticed that if I carried one of my sleeping kids up the stairs (after I've been sitting for some time), sometimes my legs would feel weak once I made it to their room. Now, I am usually fairly in-shape, so it couldn't be attributed to lack of exercise. The thing is, that sort of thing never worried me for a second. I can't remember the last time that has happened, but my kids are a little too big to be carrying around anyway. (But, I can still carry those big kids around if needed without a problem.)It is completely normal to experience things like that. If you cut off the blood supply to your arm for a long time by sleeping on it--there are going to be some reprecussions. You are just as fine as your doctor tells you. Time to treat the anxiety.

 

[FizzBuzzer19]

Thank you both for your kind and reassuring words. True, my doctor is very cautious and he would definitely send me to a specialist if he suspected something was wrong with me. Especially since he knows I have watched my mother die from an agressive form of cancer. I have to convince myself that this is just one of those symptoms that come and go, before I start to think again that I have some kind of scary MND or stage IV cancer. Anxiety isn't fun.My therapist suggested to try Qigong, which is a technique using your breathing, gentle movement, and meditation to cleanse and circulate the life energy (Qi). I am going to my first lesson Tuesday night. I will be happy to let you know if it relieves some of the symptoms.