First of all I have been lurking this site for awhile now and I just want to say how incredibly supportive and helpful you all are towards one another. A truly wonderful group as far as I can tell.Now, if you could all dip in to your bag of support and patience for this newbie that needs a bit of support.Started a few months ago when I was under a great deal of stress about another health related issue. Anyways, the calves and the feet started to twitch, the big toe and arches especially. Then my eyelids and my lips would tremble 24/7. Of course this freaked me out and I went to doctors that told me it was all stress related. Did not buy this. This whole time I was having considerable facial fatigue on my right side and a half smile tremor and lip quivers that I just passed off as fatigue from excessive grinding from all the stress.Went to see neuro, who did clinical exam and said I had nothing to worry about, fasiculations were benign, but if I wanted an MRI I could pay for it, which I did. It was clear.Then I realized that *** didn't show up on MRIs and started to freak out about this, thinking my facial fatigue and jaw tiredness could be early signs of bulbar.Now I am experiencing excess saliva, my throat gets sore and I lose my voice very easily. My jaw and tongue fatigue after eating or even minimal amount of talking. I am having problems swallowing of late. Cheeks feel like I have been blowing up balloons. Hard to get my words out. This is all on top of the half smile tremor and twitch fest I can get going if I scrunch my face up.I would be lying if I said I wasn't riddled with anxiety, but the physical symptoms I am feeling of facial fatigue and the throat/tongue sensations I am feeling are very real. I was hoping somebody could relate or offer me some advice. I have asked for an EMG but my neuro didn't think it was necessary.Just looking for a bit of insight from a group of people I know has a lot of it in situations like this.
Welcome Newbie Seeking Support!
- Thread starter manteo258
- Start date
Well I can tell you for sure that you do not have bulbar. Without going into too much detail, people around you would know something was wrong before you do with bulbar onset. It almost always starts with very slurred speech that others hear you doing but you wont, your brain will be telling you that you're talking fine, but others would be asking you to repeat yourself or asking you if you are drunk.Its late for me so I'm a little loopy and thats the best I got rite now 
But rest assured, you do not have ALS, I promise, I havnt called one wrong yet 
) You are welcome to PM me anytime if you need more info, just dont like to post to much or it gets twisted.Take careRobynn )
But rest assured, you do not have ALS, I promise, I havnt called one wrong yet ) You are welcome to PM me anytime if you need more info, just dont like to post to much or it gets twisted.Take careRobynn )inzTwoToneTunes
Well-known member
Honestly that is EXACTELY how my bfs started. Welcome to the site. This is where you belong. As for the voice throat issues that sounds like gerd which is hallmark symptom of anxiety. BFS affects the nerves so some of your lip and facial stuff is either that or anxiety too. Trust me. i would suggest doing some searching HERE and NOT the als sites. You will find you have bfs. Guarenteed . Try to relax. DD
JoggingCub
Well-known member
One thing you say is that you can get a twitch fest going (in your face) when you scrunch up your face. This is VERY normal. It is very normal to have twitches in a flexed muscle, my neuro must have told me that 5-10 times in my three visits to see her.
Thanks for responding guys, I'm in a spot where reassurance from other people experiencing similar situations is just as helpful as any doctor telling me I have nothing to worry about.It's when things start to somewhat mimic the really scary stuff that your mind starts getting a little ahead of you. For some reason with me I get most worked up about anything up in the face and throat area. I suppose at some point I will have to accept that all the strange sh** going on can be chalked up to one of two things: anxiety and bfs. Again, I appreciate the replies.
JohnnyRocket
Well-known member
You are in the clear my man. The way your symptoms started, and what they are. Clean MRI and physical exam. My BFS started in almost exactly the same way except it started with the eyelids (24/7 for a while) then spread from there. Rest easy.