ALS Fear

[IAAnxiety]

Hello, everyone! I’m new here. I’ve struggled with HA for over 20 years, and it sucks! Recently, I started having a muscle twitch on the outside of my palm (think the muscle part of the hand below the pinky). It’s been twitching for a month. I have no weakness, but the twitching is driving me insane. It’s not constant. I can go several hours without a twitch. But when the muscle does twitch, it brings with it waves of panic and anxiety. I sometime want to chop my hand off just to avoid the feeling. I’m hoping someone out there has some insight for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hellothere16]

You’re anxiety and stress over ALS is making you twitch. Anxiety does that: don’t worry, you’re ok!!!

 

[IAAnxiety]

What I can never get my head around is that anxiety can just raise its ugly head out of the blue. One doesn’t have to be anxious for the physical symptoms of anxiety to start. It’s hard to keep that in mind. And then when the physical symptoms start, the anxiety takes on a life of its own.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hellothere16]

Very very true. That’s your unconscious? mind. You don’t actually have to be thinking about it actively. The brain is complicated. Just know that you’re ok. YOU ARE HEALTHY. YOU ARE FINE. YOUR ANXIETY IS PLAYING TRICKS ON YOU AND MAKING YOU THINK THE WORST.

 

[Bobnnat]

Hellothere is totally correct. There’s a biological reason, but in short it has to do with levels of cortisol in your body. Once high, usually due to stress, it takes a really long time for levels to come down, and at any point, an anxiety attack, twitches or any of the numerous symptoms of anxiety can occur. I get ocular migraines. They comes days after a stressful experience.

ALS is about doing not feeling. If that were ALS, you wouldn’t be able to do things. Example would be hold a cup, walk up stairs, turn a key etc. Twitching anywhere is one of the most common anxiety symptoms. I had a left eyelid twitch for months. Only the left. It suddenly just stopped.

 

[IAAnxiety]

Thanks so much, Bobnnat!! The reassurance is much appreciated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Walking Circles]

Twitching isn't abnormal at all, I've had twitches all over for years and years. Your health anxiety causes you to ping on it, and that in turn makes it worse. Since we have health anxiety we are much more prone to noticing things that most people have but simply pay no mind to.

 

[Mandi]

I went through the same thing a couple of months ago. Every muscle in my body would twitch. I went to the doctor and it turns out I have thyroid trouble. A week on medician my muscle no longer twitch. Muscle twitching and hand tremors is the only symptom I had.

 

[SB2017]

Hello, everyone! I’m new here. I’ve struggled with HA for over 20 years, and it sucks! Recently, I started having a muscle twitch on the outside of my palm (think the muscle part of the hand below the pinky). It’s been twitching for a month. I have no weakness, but the twitching is driving me insane. It’s not constant. I can go several hours without a twitch. But when the muscle does twitch, it brings with it waves of panic and anxiety. I sometime want to chop my hand off just to avoid the feeling. I’m hoping someone out there has some insight for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did your twitch eventually stop? Mine is twitching in this exact same spot for about a month. Only that spot.

 

[IAAnxiety]

@SB2017. Yes. It went away for about five months. Now it’s back with a vengeance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jerry2]

HEalth Anxiety can certanly make you twitch a lot more. I've had a index finger twitch for 3 days in 2011. Then I googled about some vitamin that I need. I found out about this horrible disease ALS and at the next 12 hours leteraly, I twitched like a Christmas tree. In about 20 locations. Permanently for days and I needed 1 year of fear to calm myself so the twitches went to some lower level. I still got them 10 years later, just a month ago I had a constant one in shoulder for 14 days. Made me nuts although I am way beyond ALS scare (now I have esophageal scare) ;-/

You are fine!

 

[Oldwoods]

I’ve had muscle twitches for 4 months now. Arms, legs, abdomen, side of head. I’ve learnt to ignore them for the main part. Now I have tingling and burning sensations on my face (3 weeks). HA is a never ending, when you win one battle the next one seems to start.

 

[Kaylab3]

I’ve been twitching all over for 7 months. Went down the als rabbit hole too. It’s horrible place to be. But like everyone said, twitching itself doesn’t mean much. Als is progressive and aggressive. Twitching in als comes after the muscle is dead.... you would be significantly weak. Breathe, you are anxious, I understand but replace this fear with something so it doesn’t consume you