Worriedfornothing

For simplicity, the first symptom of ALS is pretty much always clinical weakness which is more like paralysis of a muscle group that was being served by the now dead nerve. All else comes secondary to this in the disease process. The only real “early” symptom for our purposes here is clinical weakness. If you do not have clinical weakness then you do not have ALS. I am guilty of looking for atrophy and all that other nonsense but just remind yourself that if you can do normal stuff then you don’t have ALS. If an entire group of muscles is not paralyzed on your body then you do not have ALS.Atrophy also takes a much longer time than people think. Think more months to years for atrophy and by then the disease would have moved on to multiple other muscle symptoms. Atrophy before noticeable weakness is a medical impossibility. I have also read that perceived dents and and thinner areas are actually just areas of lower body fat and higher muscle mass. My right hand is significantly thinner than my left and it is 10kgs of grip strength stronger. Iyou are worried about the possibility of thumb atrophy, and can still turn a key to drive to work then it is most definitely imagination and not atrophy. Actions like turning a key, screwing on a bottle cap, and buttoning activate all of the thenar muscles. An EMG is the golden ticket also. Clean EMG means absolutely no ALS. If they test even remotely near the area of concern then the EMG would notice a problem (there is never a problem in our situations). It would also theoretically notice a problem before the person themselves would notice a problem. You couldn’t be more alright given what I’ve read about your case. You just need to treat the anxiety and everything will be okay someday soon.

I have been in the disease conviction phase of health anxiety before and you are exhibiting tell tale signs of that and not ALS. I recall sitting in bed envisioning a horrible future (I won’t share the details of these thoughts). You are experiencing intrusive thoughts that trick your brain out of logical processing. Your anxiety is also lying to you about your symptoms. Hyperreflexia: You cannot reliably test your own reflexes especially if you are aware of the positive or negative corresponding reaction. Your subconscious can trigger a slight movement that fools you into thinking it is clonus, babinski, etc. It isn’t real. It is a lie. Weakness Onset: You are describing weakness and atrophy in both your leg and hand. Onset ALS wouldn’t present in both at the same time. It picks one and paralyzes one muscle group at a time from that location. You also say your legs “feel” like giving out. ALS is about failing not feeling. ALS patients feel completely normal but simply cannot move their foot (or close their hand). It is unmistakable clinical weakness and they know something is seriously wrong. We also all drop things from time to time. This is absolutely nothing to be concerned with. Before HA, we blissfully dropped items all the time and never thought twice about it. Our hyper awareness of mundane tasks convinces us that the car keys We just dropped or our the slight struggle with a tough button is early onset ALS. This is again is a lie. If you had ALS as you state then you would absolutely be unable to pick items up or hold items with the affected hand. You wouldn’t occasionally drop items you would be completely unable to pick them up in the first place. Atrophy: There can be no atrophy without clinical weakness in ALS. Since you do not have that then you cannot have atrophy caused by ALS. You would know something is seriously wrong before noticing atrophy. I really empathize with you and know how fast anxiety can derail your life.You are going to be okay and live for a long time. You experienced a trigger somewhere that led to a HA flare up. I know how dark it can feel, but just try to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I would suggest trying to see your PCP if you can. A simple neuro exam can be performed by your PCP and they can really give you some reassurance. Jumping straight to a neurologist can give the HA power by even entertaining the possibility of what you fear. More importantly , I would suggest some CBT. This therapy can help to change the mental pathways to the worst case scenario that we HA sufferers lend ourselves towards. I am in that process of recovery now. Hang in there.

Amen to this statement. My palm constantly feels tight for no apparent reason and I get intermittent pains on top of my hand and in my shoulder. it is nice to see something from neurologist confirming that this can be caused by cortisol. Thanks for sharing. I’m sure it will help a lot of people on here.

You literally couldn’t be more all set. Clean EMG means no chance at ALS.

Hello. I am sorry to hear that your are having this struggle, but it is one of the most common on this forum. Fasiculations are almost always benign and are probably the most common physical symptom of anxiety. I have been twitching for three months and I have perceived weakness all the time. It is completely normal for anxiety sufferers and harmless. Our mind is hyperfocused and constantly labeling every minor feeling as a dangerous threat. It can literally target all of our body parts, or several, or just one. It all depends on what your fear and what your anxious mind decides to focus on that day. I also agree that traumatic events open the door for health anxiety to grab hold. I have had a rough last few months (from my perspective). I had a near death experience, a sudden breakup, an unhealthy roommate situation, and a very unfulfilling and stressful job. I am convinced that these allowed for the HA to cast a dark cloud over my life. I start CBT soon but definitely see a strong connection between trauma and physical manifestations of anxiety. Be well.

Oh ya man. I no longer worry about the twitching. It is also normal to have them in specific hot spots more frequently. I think everyone on this forum twitches constantly and it is never an actual issue. Also on one arm feeling weaker, that is your mind playing tricks on you. I tend to hyper focus on my right side so that feels weaker. It is just hypersensitivity and nothing more. I had the exact same issue initially. be well.

Start CBT next week. It’s funny because there are moments of complete rationality and then set backs. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I have been battling the ALS fear for a few months now. I have a question about how the disease process works. How small can it really start in say a hand? Could it specifically begin in one of the three thenar muscles or would it cause failure of all the muscles supplied by that nerve at once? I ask this because my right thenar palm has a line in it and one of the muscles is puffier than the other two. I know that without weakness this is probably just an assymetry, but wanted to see if anyone had insight. Thanks.

I unfortunately have researched this topic painstakingly during my struggle with an illness starting with A (anxiety). Weakness Onset: ALS usually starts distally in either one hand or foot and then progressively weakens adjacent muscles. An onset in the back would be peculiar and I personally have not read an account stating that their symptoms started in their back (and my anxiety has caused me to waste hours upon hours researching this topic. I suggest you do not do the same). ALS weakness also suddenly occurs from what I’ve seen. One morning you can button a shirt and the next morning you can’t. One day you can walk normally and the next day your foot is dragging. ALS patients do not feel it coming on so to speak. The suddenness and severity of the weakness is what causes them to see a doctor. There is no wondering “am I weak?” with clinical weakness. It is obvious and undeniable. My advice to you is to take what you see on this site and run with it. Many of the members of this site have seen neurologists who have conveyed the same information to them about the disease that I am articulating to you. I am no doctor but have been very far down the wormhole on this disease. The more you read about ALS the harder it becomes to shake the fear because the real culprit, anxiety, alters form to vaguely mimic symptoms. I wish I found this site early on in my spiral. This place has helped set me straight on the illness. Unfortunately, I poured through misleading google links and articles full of half facts that filled my mind with confusion. I am still working to undo all the harm that did. Please do not look up anything else on ALS. If this doesn’t calm you down then go see your PCP and they will also set your mind at ease.

I can can help with this fear as I suffer and still suffer from it. It is probably the most common fear for health anxiety sufferers. I felt it would be best to respond to your question by breaking down each of your symptoms. Weakness: You don’t have ALS weakness because you state that you feel weak. ALS weakness presents with complete and utter failure of a specific muscle. You wouldn’t feel weak, but a specific muscle would be paralyzed and unable to move at all. This is called clinical weakness. If you can run two miles then it is certain that you do not have clinical weakness. If you can run upstairs then this means that you don’t have foot drop either. Sensory: You also state that you feel pain. Sensory nerves are not affected in ALS. If you feel pain then it is not ALS. I had similar issues as you. I had a nerve compression in my knee that caused foot weakness and I immediately catastrophised to the worst case scenario. I was particularly vulnerable at this juncture due to life stress and it gave health anxiety the perfect opportunity to take hold. Since my scare with my foot, the fear has not completely resolved. Health anxiety will migrate and try to cater itself to what you know about your fear. It jumped from my foot to my shoulder to my thumb. It is important to remind yourself that this is textbook health anxiety and nothing more. Anxiety can’t mimic true ALS but it can create vauge feelings that an anxious mind can mold.