Major anxiety or MS

Mental health
1

First time poster, 😊 So it started a month ago out with my girl friend I mumbled something and she had to ask 3 times what I said half joking after I said omg what if I've got ALS which both our granddads had died from but that day I started to think more and more worrying more, the next day it took hold I was convinced I'd got it googling the symtoms, I was mirror watching for tremors/twitches, catching my tonge with my teeth. Speaking funny, watching everytime I drank for chocking waiting for a foot drop.

This went on for a week I'll openly admit I woke up thinking about it and slept thinking about it it was on my mind 24/7 I cried multiple times about it.

Then I'd got a dull ache in both shoulders and forearms I had tight thighs and calves which could cramp at any minute this's lasted 3 weeks in which I'd changed my focus to MS. It was just not going I'd wake up trembling I developed twitches in my legs arms hands and lip/jaw.

So after 3 weeks the feeling in my shoulders and legs disaperred three days ago but replaced with tingling sharp pricks all over my body that won't go away I have thought of nothing more than MS or ALS for a month it ruined Christmas and starting to ruin my life. I woke up this morning looked at my fit bit and my hr was at 103 was tingling free for a minuet or 2 then trying my hardest not to think about it I couldn't think of nothing else and there they was. All I can think is what if it is ms these tingling a must be my nervous system what if I've just had my first ms attack, I can't relax now In case it happens again months years down the line.

i was healthy until I mumbled at mc Donald's now look at me, 😔

2

Did you know all of your symptoms can also be caused by anxiety?

3

It seems like you developed health anxiety from something minor like this which made you remember about your grandpa. Whenever we get obsessed with an illness we tend to feel the same symptoms. That's awesome and awful at the same moment as it shows how much strength lies within our brain,our neuro transmitters. Awful because it can be pretty convincing. Hot said it yourself that all the symptoms started when you actually obssessed on it. My advice is that you should give a visit to your GP to put your mind at rest and after that see what happens. Maybe all you need is a reassurance from a professional!

4

Hi both thanks for the reply,

I think it's the difficulty of getting past that what if mentality.

I have visited my GP 3 times for it this month lol they said lets see what happens and go back in a month but they said the possibility was there but he very much doubts it which didn't in the slightest make me feel better lol

5

So in that one month you have to try and control your mind as hard as it may be! I'm sure nothing's wrong with you! Keep us updated!

6

Hi rj    Please try not to worry too much - my husband has had this for some 3 months now and we've finally got an appointment to see a Neurologist on Monday - privately - otherwise we'd have to wait 16+ weeks ! 

7

Thanks Janet, I hope your husband gets the all clear and is nothing to worry about. You can't wait 16 weeks thats crazy

8

One thing I will add is before the whole achy arm tingling was I was massively stressed out with work and Christmas and having to replace the whole house carpets because of fleas within a week before Xmas as well as obsessing and worrying about ALS.

I do find the tingling (the remaining symptom) will disappear if I find a possible cause until the doom thinking returns shortly after.

Has anyone come across hyperstimulation? I've read that after a long period of anxiety it can take a long time for the body to recover with symptoms of muscle tension and tingling.

9

Yea I'm currently stuck on the ALS fear as well. All started the beginning of December which was just in time to ruin my birthday which was the 9th of December and of course Christmas, New Years, and now just my life as a whole. It all started with body wide twitching. Hopped on google to look for an easy answer and saw als which had never crossed my mind ever before. Right in conjunction, like the same day that my twitching started before I ever googled it, my legs were super sore like I had just worked out and they were also weak/stiff. The weakness and stiffness and soreness which was 98% in my legs eventually died down after going on for about 2 weeks like maybe stopped just before Christmas while the twitching died down a good bit but never went away. Now it's all coming back with a vengeance and I'm like wtf. The weakness, stiffness, increased twitching..it's all increasing again. In that time I've had perceived weakness in my dominant hand and some minor weakness/aches in me upper extremities but no where near to the extent of my legs. In the time since it's all started I've had a brain MRI that was negative and a visit to the neuro which he said I was fine but agreed to do some more testing just to put my mind at peace per his own words not min because he knew I was worried...that and I'm a nurse in the same hospital he's in and I went in after my shift still wearing my uniform so I think he just wanted to do whatever and go above and beyond for that reason as well. Needless to say I'm waiting on my EMG which is in 13 days. This feels like an eternity to wait and my mind is an absolute mess. My anxiety since the start of December has been just unreal same with my stress and now leading to depression. Certainly doesn't help my wife recently left me and I had to move out of our house and back into my parents. My life has literally and actually completely changed from a non health standpoint and now I'm convinced the only thing I have left (my health) is gone next. I'll remember to post back after my results come through because with my symptoms I could be the poster child of what als health anxiety is given all the symptoms I've had and could be the picture of the crazy things that stress and anxiety can do to you, things I never thought possible and still really don't because of course I'm convinced already that I have it and that I'm done for. It's hard, I know..so hard. Try to hang in there.

10

 I had that same fear back when I was in my 20s.  Plus all the symptoms you could possibly think of… muscle twitching, tingling etc. I had and still sometimes have all those symptoms of anxiety  also. I thought I had Terrible diseases  including ALS.,When I was in my 20s I thought for sure I was going to get a MS because my aunt had it. That thinking was based solely on non-reality. I never developed a MS but I tortured myself by thinking so negatively! All my test came out perfectly.   It sounds like you were doing the same thing with your fears of illnesses. As long as you get checked out by your doctor and the test come out good, you really need to put that out of your mind. If you can't do it on your own and sometimes it's hard to, I highly suggest talking to a counselor who can really help. As we all know anxiety can produce so many and such scary symptoms.

 it doesn't pay to read too much online, all we do is scare ourselves more. There is a MUCH HIGHER likelihood that your  symptoms are caused by stress and anxiety than  some terrifying disease.  

 we can't let anxiety run our lives and our minds. We are better than that and we deserve to feel healthy and enjoy life. We need to be relentless in the pursuit of our health including healthy minds.  I once heard the saying "don't believe everything you think "which is so very true.   Our minds  are  so powerful and  go to the negative if we let it.  I have battled anxiety since my 20s and I am now in my 50s. I'm at the point where  I know the anxiety symptoms so well and pretty much ignore them telling myself it will pass. You need to stay active so you're mind isn't focused on the negative.  I have found meditative audios online that deal with stress and anxiety to be very helpful, also regular exercise, eating healthy and socializing. Doingsomething for someone else can make you feel great and it takes the focus off of yourself and your worries.

The worst thing we can do is isolate ourselves which causes us to think more and more negatively. As long as  we follow up with our doctors and if the tests come out normal we really have to work hard at thinking more positively. You can find great books at the bookstore on the power of the mind and stress, depression anxiety. 

ALL THE "WHAT IFS" ARE VERY HARMFUL TO OUR MENTAL HEALTH". What if's are NOT based in reality. It is our mind going to the negative. 

Please don't do this to yourself.! I wasted 30 years with the "what if "thinking and nothing bad ever happened! 

 Another reason to get help such as a counselor is that chronic negative thinking Can actually make negative changes in the brain. .     I highly suggest seeing a counselor who can provide tools to help you overcome this. It really helps and has been my lifeline! I go even when I start to feel better.

Take the focus off of yourself by possibly doing something for someone else.

KEEP THIS IN MIND.....FEAR STANDS FOR.   False Evidence Appearing Real.    Fear is based out of non-reality

Stay Active, exercises dramatically reduces my anxiety! Socialize, eat healthy, look for free meditative audios online related to negative thinking. They're great!

11

Hi jack thanks for the post, yeah please keep us posted and I hope all is well for you mate because it sounds like you've been through a lot already.

I know exactly know what you mean with the anxiety symptoms how can it cause so strong and convincing symptoms of something sinister especially if your like me and never experience them before.

if I do have the dreaded disease I must of seen the future because mumbling (which made me start half jokingly thinking of ALS in the first place) isn't even an ALS symptom where slurring of words is which I didn't have. So this right here could be living proof for both of us either I saw the future and developed ALS or MS days later or my mind ran away with it and anxiety and stress caused havoc.

Hope that makes sense

12

I have gotten a counselor and have so far read two books in the last week one called "reside your anxious brain" and "the worry trick" and RJ who's the original poster, I suggest you do the same as those 3 things in conjunction with meds have helped with my actual anxiety and understanding how to self restructure my thinking which goes into not fighting with your anxious thoughts but rather facing them head on and accepting them as such and non-harmful. Right now I'm fixed on my test being the end all be all to this worry which I why my counselor won't even see me again until after I get the results because he's right, nothing anyone says will help me until I know nothing is wrong. I can't imagine anything not being wrong with the way I feel but we'll see. I know that, regardless, when I go for the test and the doctor sticks the needles into my muscles and (hopefully) tells me that everything is normal it won't stop my physical symptoms, they're not just going to magically go away. But what will happen should they be normal is it will allow me to accept my symptoms as non-life threatening and ignore them better which will reduce my stress and anxiety which will allow me to feel better with time and counseling help. I pray nothing is found and that nothing is wrong but I just can't imagine that nothing is wrong. Ever since my symptoms started and I related completely to ALS symptoms I've become very depressed and regularly tell myself that I'm dying and deep down I actually believe that. That belief alone has jacked up my anxiety to an all time high. I watch life passing me by and constantly think to myself that all the people around me will be okay and continue to live on and that I will soon be gone. This lead to extreme derealization and depersonalization and I've become very withdrawn only leaving the house for work and if I need to. Otherwise I stay at home in my room alone and watch tv and lay on the couch. It's been a very hard go of it since my wife left me but that pails in comparison to the feelings I've had ever since I've convinced myself that I'm dying. Anxiety is a slippery slope. I hope that my test comes back normal so I can move on with myself and help others who feel like I do and share my same fears because trust me, with my symptoms I'm having if my test is normal then I will be able to show others how much anxiety can truly have an affect on your physical life. Time will tell and right now it's inching by a second at a time.

13

Thanks Jan that really does help thankyou

14

That makes sense. Yes I've had terrible anxiety my entire life with brief years of almost non existence of anxiety even when it was probably warranted, I'm 27 now, and I've never had any of these symptoms before which is why I'm so scared it's hard to believe that it could be that simple. If my test is normal I'll probably cry a cry of relief because this has been the worst month and a half of my life beyond a shadow of a doubt. Either way we'll both get through this no matter what.

15

I was the original poster, never before posted on anything. I will definitely try those out I'll try find them tonight.

WHEN they come back normal draw a line in the sand mate and make it your mission in life to live life to the full worry about nothing what will be will be but enjoy every moment of it I know this is rich coming from a Google diagnosed MS sufferer which if I can I will do the same.

16

I know I give advice too when I can't even take my own but we both have to try. Give those books a look if nothing else they really do put things in perspective. I told myself I wouldn't read anything because I don't like reading which is funny considering how much time I spend doing just that on google. If I can put days into googling als I can put a day or two into something useful and I did and it seemed to help. Good luck with everything. Seems that's I've come across so many people like me at this point or worse that just goes to show that the mind is more powerful than you'd imagine in the first place.

17

Yeah I will do, thanks yeah I really hope things are all good for you and keep us posted on your results too - they'll be fine. 👍

18

 I had that same fear back when I was in my 20s.  Plus all the symptoms you could possibly think of… muscle twitching, tingling etc. I had and still sometimes have all those symptoms of anxiety  also. I thought I had Terrible diseases  including ALS.,When I was in my 20s I thought for sure I was going to get a MS because my aunt had it. That thinking was based solely on non-reality. I never developed a MS but I tortured myself by thinking so negatively! All my test came out perfectly.   It sounds like you were doing the same thing with your fears of illnesses. As long as you get checked out by your doctor and the test come out good, you really need to put that out of your mind. If you can't do it on your own and sometimes it's hard to, I highly suggest talking to a counselor who can really help. As we all know anxiety can produce so many and such scary symptoms.

 it doesn't pay to read too much online, all we do is scare ourselves more. There is a MUCH HIGHER likelihood that your  symptoms are caused by stress and anxiety than  some terrifying disease.  

 we can't let anxiety run our lives and our minds. We are better than that and we deserve to feel healthy and enjoy life. We need to be relentless in the pursuit of our health including healthy minds.  I once heard the saying "don't believe everything you think "which is so very true.   Our minds  are  so powerful and  go to the negative if we let it.  I have battled anxiety since my 20s and I am now in my 50s. I'm at the point where  I know the anxiety symptoms so well and pretty much ignore them telling myself it will pass. You need to stay active so you're mind isn't focused on the negative.  I have found meditative audios online that deal with stress and anxiety to be very helpful, also regular exercise, eating healthy and socializing. Doingsomething for someone else can make you feel great and it takes the focus off of yourself and your worries.

The worst thing we can do is isolate ourselves which causes us to think more and more negatively. As long as  we follow up with our doctors and if the tests come out normal we really have to work hard at thinking more positively. You can find great books at the bookstore on the power of the mind and stress, depression anxiety. 

ALL THE "WHAT IFS" ARE VERY HARMFUL TO OUR MENTAL HEALTH". What if's are NOT based in reality. It is our mind going to the negative. 

Please don't do this to yourself.! I wasted 30 years with the "what if "thinking and nothing bad ever happened! 

 Another reason to get help such as a counselor is that chronic negative thinking Can actually make negative changes in the brain. .     I highly suggest seeing a counselor who can provide tools to help you overcome this. It really helps and has been my lifeline! I go even when I start to feel better.

Take the focus off of yourself by possibly doing something for someone else.

KEEP THIS IN MIND.....FEAR STANDS FOR.   False Evidence Appearing Real.    Fear is based out of non-reality

Stay Active, exercises dramatically reduces my anxiety! Socialize, eat healthy, look for free meditative audios online related to negative thinking. They're great!