Hi everyone, I'm currently in an episode of my health anxiety and it's been going on for about two months now. I've had a range of symptoms throughout these two months.
I noticed twitching in my right arm and then I googled this. It brought me to ALS and now I've been obsessing that I have this disease. Everyday I'm constantly comparing my body parts, especially my hand. I even do strength tests to see if I'm getting weaker. It's become something that I have to do at least daily.
The other symptoms I've been having are body-wide twitching, atrophy in my left hand (muscle under thumb), shaking when holding things, on and off left shoulder and arm pain, heaviness in chest at night (sometimes), difficulty swallowing (sometimes), upper back thigh pain in right leg, on and off stiffness in left arm, tingly/pin feeling in left hand, and stabbing like headache
The atrophy is what is freaking me out the most and what is fueling my belief that I have ALS. I'm 21 and I know it would seem very unlikely that I would have it, but I keep thinking that it's not impossible and I could be the person that has it. I've also been going back and forth though between thinking this could be ALS or cancer. Either way, I fear that I am going to be given a death sentence.
I find all these symptoms are more amplified when I begin to think about them but then there are times that when I get one of these symptoms when I'm not even really thinking about it.
I was wondering if these symptoms sound alarming or if they could be all realted to my anxiety? I'm just really worried that my belief of having ALS could be true...
And now I just had a cramp in my left leg, another symptom of ALS..
This sounds like anxiety to me! I have very similar symptoms except I am 38. I haven't dropped a pound in weight yet I can see differences in my body. Of course my left side of my body is not as large when I compare it to my predominant right. I did the dreaded "muscle twitching google" and it resulted in panic attacks about ALS that were crippling. The main thing about ALS is you have severe weakness and then twitching after there is clearly an issue such as not being able to lift your foot or a cup to your mouth. I went a week without an appetite when my worry was at its worst. Health anxiety is a very very very powerful influence on your mind and body. It can be very debilitating. I constantly self check myself to the point that it causes pain and fatigue. I toss and turn with nightmares about health anxiety issues. What makes matters worse is I drown all this worry with alcohol. Hang in there Taylor. If you truly think you have some muscle atrophy then you may want to talk to your doc. My neurologist appointment is May 8th and I booked it in early March! I'm already feeling better but I have good days and bad.
Hey, I'm sorry that you're going through this.
All these symptoms are symptoms of anxiety and as you said it yourself, the more you think about them, the more they amplify, which is normal as the mind is a powerful tool.
I've had a huge range of symptoms and I still do, I know it's hard breaking this cycle but I'd advise you to start off with psychotherapy and find the root of your anxiety.
Best of luck!
Hello Taylor
It does sound like your Anxiety, you are silly looking up various conditions, you are an unmarked page where Dr Google writes symptoms upon it and you blindly follow conditions that you do not have.
Try not reading up on medical conditions, personally I would consider seeing your GP if you are unable to cope. He would encouage you to move on with some encouragement
BOB
Taylor I had all of those symptoms when I was in my 20s. I am now in my 50s and I'm still alive! You are way too young for ALS. Many symptoms of anxiety are also symptoms of those type of diseases so people get terrified when in fact they have anxiety only. I did that to myself when I was in my 20s and I very much regret it now because I wasted years of my life worrying.
if you want to feel better, make an appointment with your doctor and get tested and when the results come back normal then it's time to start working on the anxiety you have.
Don't Google symptoms! You will drive yourself crazy and your mind will convince you that you have something terrible.
you have two choices:
spend the rest of your life worrying and feel miserable and live a very anxious and unhappy life or be a fighter for yourself, get some counseling on how to get rid of the negative thoughts, see your doctor . In other words take steps to better yourself and the way you think and your life will change dramatically!
go to YouTube and type in detachment from overthinking meditation. If you have earbuds or headphones put them on, laydown and get comfortable and listen to it. It helps you separate the negative scary thinking from yourself. There are many meditations including ones on anxiety, depression, getting a good sleep etc. pick the ones you like. They really calm me way down. It made me realize how backwards my thinking was and how it was actually making me sick.
FEAR stands for false evidence appearing real. Which means you are taking the symptoms and making them look like it's a terrible disease. When in fact it's not real evidence it's not based in reality, it's your mind blowing things up out of proportion
"WHAT IF THINKING" is very distructive and literally get you nowhere except very anxious. Go visit your doctor so you can have a clear mind and get some counseling it really helped me a lot!
stay active! The worst thing you can do is sit around and think and think. Get social, do things you enjoy doing and get some exercise! Hope you feel better
Hey!
If you have tingling or pain, these point away from ALS and towards anxiety. Also, if you are right-handed, you will have more developed muscles in that hand and arm. Have no fear! Atrophy developed as a result of clinical weakness. If you are able to move that thumb and perform tasks with it, strength test it, etc., it is not ALS!
I have also never heard of ALS causing tremors or shaking. These are not listed in the onset symptoms. Remember, if you have Health Anxiety, your body WILL manifest the symptoms you google. It happened to me. I was googling ALS and saw that a symptom was difficulty swallowing. 2-3 later I ACTUALLY started developing this symptom. Same thing happened with breathing a week after that. It's a vicious cycle. Hope you can break it!