Health Anxiety Consuming My Life - Muscle Twitches
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hello
Glad to have found a place I can express my worries. I'm a 30 year old who has had anxiety since I was 11 years old (first case of health anxiety). Since then I have 2 major burst of anxiety that has took over my life, one where I have had to leave a job and step down from a position. This latest one though feels like its the worst yet and I am so worried.
It all started when me and my wife found out we were having a baby about 6 weeks ago which was amazing news. However a couple of days later I was driving down the motorway and bang a thought hit me "What If i'm not here for the baby and my wife or what If I get ill and I dont have many years left to support them" Major panic attack set in and I couldn't regulate my breathing, I had to pull over to catch deep breaths.
The following week I woke up and noticed I had a twitch above my heart straight away googled it "coronary artery spasm" I went into hysterics, crying panicking I was going to die. So I took myself off to walk in who checked my heart and oxygen level which were all fine. The twitch stayed for 24 hours and disappeared. A couple days went by and I was on an article about a footballer diagnosed with ALS and googled the symptoms and then my deep spiral began and convince I have it. I noticed i'd been yawning more than usual which can be a symptom of ALS so I went into meltdown so I booked in with GP who gave me a telephone consultation. I told him my concerns and he said its so rare so don't worry it sounds like anxiety but I will book you in for a full bloods test.
I went to get my bloods done, hot sweats looking at how many there are on the sheet. They told me to call back after the weekend bare in mind I was in tears what if its something wrong coming up. So time went on and I decided to phone on Friday before the weekend, bloods were in....6 out of 7 fine, then the 7th was raised which was the Liver function test. So I had to wait until Monday to get Gamma and Liver blood test, by this point i'd wrote myself off with Liver disease. Monday came and I got bloods done, phoned everyday until Wednesday when they said they were inconclusive and needed another sample. I went and gave another the same day. Friday I got my result back and all was clear. Thank god. I cried with happiness.
The next obsessive was MS a couple weeks ago (my auntie had this and passed away at 40) where I felt a numbness or tingling in my right leg which stayed for a week and I wern't sure there was a weakness but I manage to walk on it ok. Then recently i started getting these muscle twitches which I still have now, there usually in the same spots on the calfs, thigh and arms, they happen when i'm at rest sitting down usually. Last week I went on a run (I haven't done in about a year) and I think I over did it as my thighs were really sore for 3 days which got me worried again about the route of my problem ALS. i'm still going on runs daily to which my legs have been fine but I can't stop googling symptoms and it is working my up to the point of tears thinking i'm not going to be around for my wife or my future child. Ive recently started taking magnesium hoping that it helps with the twitches. Also I started CBT last week.
0 likes, 17 replies
bbdanielle stephen198930
Posted
welcome to the world of hypochondria! i am a certified member of this! but honestly alllll of this sounds like anxiety. i get muscle spasms by my left side too, and spasms in my legs. instead of googling the specific symptom youre having, google the physical symptoms of anxiety. and it feels better seeing your symptom on the anxiety list vs all the possibilities for that one symptom.
stephen198930 bbdanielle
Posted
Thanks for the reply Danielle. It really is the devil Google. Its great for some things but for us it leaves us with heart palpitatons. Thank you for your tip I will definitely do that. I always go to the negative side of things which I need to shake. I didn't realise muscle twitching was an anxiety symptom until I stumbled on this forum.
bbdanielle stephen198930
Posted
try stretching more, even if its just randomly stopping what youre doing to stretch, also try a bath with epsom salt. the more you can relax the better.
stephen198930 bbdanielle
Posted
Funny you say that. I actually ordered some epsom salt the other day and i can already feel the benefits during a relaxing bath. hope everything is ok with you.
bbdanielle stephen198930
Posted
see! theres a start! 😃 also not sure if youre willing to try scents, but if youre open to it get some lavender oil to just smell every now and then. its very calming.
stephen198930 bbdanielle
Posted
This is kind of opening my eyes to looking after my body and mind a lot more. I have to be selfish to a degree. But yeh I'm obsessed with incense burners so lavender oil will gave to go on my list I think now, to keep on me in times of need
jan34534 stephen198930
Posted
stephen, i just wanted u to know that I had the muscle twitches in my 20s from anxiety and thought I had als or ms too.
well today i am in my fifties and still here!! The twitches are very rare now, only when im anxious, but i ignore them and they go away. you are fine! they are called benign fasciculations. Meaning they are harmless muscle twitches. Athletes get them all the time with how they use their muscles. when I was in my 20s I also had dozens of other symptoms and at that time nobody was using the Internet you can imagine how scared I was because I felt like the only person in the world getting the twitches, numbness and tingling in my arms and legs, floaters in my eyes, shortness of breath, and on and on. It’s amazing what stress and anxiety can do to the body but all of these symptoms are harmless!
with anxiety, it’s not the symptoms that are the problem, it’s the unmanaged stress and anxiety that causes the symptoms. Please don’t take as long as I did to realize this. Enjoy your life and get some counseling if you have the stress and anxiety, don’t take life too seriously, do things that relax your mind the simple things like what we have to do now such as go for walks, listen to music, meditations on YouTube are great ,
One thing I learned along the way is not to waste a single day of my life with worry and fear. I made it a point to enjoy every day with the kids while they were growing up because they grow up so fast and then they’re gone! I’m not going to worry about anything until I absolutely have to. and what if thinking is a total waste of your time and your life. it made a couple decades of my life completely miserable! Definitely not worth it.
take care of yourself first so that you can be strong for your family! ❤
stephen198930 jan34534
Posted
Thank you so much for your reply Jan. As much as it is awful to say its nice to hear you have experiencing similar symptoms and that they relate to anxiety. Such a heart warming response exactly the kind to switch that negative switch to a positive one. i feel like lately having these thoughts have made review my lifestyle. ive never taken the time in my life to really focus on my spiritual self but lately its been the only coping mechanism to bring me back from those panicky moments. if you would have said to me a few weeks ago you'd be doing and enjoying Meditation and yoga in the future i would have laughed. This has now become part of my daily life and im so thankful for it. you're words mean so much to me and you're a blessing to this community.
sophies77 stephen198930
Posted
You have no idea what a relief it is to read your post! obviously it's not nice you're going through this, but I've had more or less exactly the same plus more!! I've diagnosed myself with multiple illnesses, all bad ones - blood tests galore, ct scan, ecgs.. everything is normal! i wrote down a list the other day of what I've been experiencing and I sounded insane writing it.. my chest pains are my most worrying, but honestly please know you're not alone. and I'm going to say this even though I do it - stay off Google! it's not your friend.. feel free to ask me questions and if you want to see the list I'd be happy to send you it! insane what the body can do - it's like you read symptoms, even ones you dont have and then bam!! you have them! its horrible! 😦
stephen198930 sophies77
Posted
Thanks for replying Sophie!Its nice to read other people sharing the same feelings that I'm having, its somewhat comforting. It just shows we're all in this together even though we think its sinister we all share the same symptoms relating back to anxiety. Glad everything was normal for you with your test. Did you find it was a bit of relief? or is your mind still wandering? i was on cloud 9 with mine then all of a sudden a new symptom to push you back down. I'm doing my best to stay off google or put a time limit on it. I'd love to read your list. its exactly that how i can conjure then symptoms. The body is so powerful, I just keep thinking if it can give me these symptoms through my thinking surely i can reverse them with positive thoughts away from health related thoughts. Its just putting those ill health thoughts to the back of the mind I'm struggling with.
sophies77 stephen198930
Posted
i found it was a relief for about 24 hours and then I'm straight back to square one again and in a constant state of worry and panic, like at the moment I have blood spots on my arms, chest and belly (baring in mind I gave birth 7 weeks ago - this is when it all started) .. the doctor has checked them but I'm still not convinced they aren't sinister.
the hardest part really is trying to stop thinking but it is very hard!! I'll message you privately with the list. you'll be shocked!
stephen198930 sophies77
Posted
oh really, it is hard to shake those thoughts. Once panic sets in as well it sends your mind into overdrive. Oh really, did he give you an explanation to what they may be? or has the doctor just said its because of birth. Congratulations by the way !
Thank you just going to read them now
Italia06 stephen198930
Posted
Stephen many of us with anxiety and health anxiety seem to catastrophize. Very common with generalized anxiety disorder, suffers tend to believe they have MS, ALS or Parkinson's. Judging by what you wrote it appears you suffer from GAD or in particular chronic worry that's excessive.
I can relate I've suffered from GAD for about 20 yrs now, I'm 44. About 5 yrs ago I was working two jobs with nearly no days off for a good stretch. It finally caught up with me. I finally went in for severe dizziness and balance issues along with excessive fatigue. The more I began to worry about this the worse my exercise intolerance became. I began to have body wide muscle twitching nonstop, numbness and weakness that would come and go, muscle aches, etc... Today the dizziness and off balance sensation is nowhere near what it once was. I still have muscle twitching but it'll vary on any given day. My doctor refused to wast a neurologist's time since I didn't have hyper reflexes and still have full function and strength and no signs of drastic weight loss or atrophy. Yes I could get a second opinion, but realized if I'm still able to function I would likely prefer not knowing I had an illness like ALS if I still have one, two or three years left of function or more. Moreover, what would be your quality of life if you knew immediately that you had ALS, but actually ended up having 2-3 yrs of perfect function before symptoms set in?
Also, a lot of conditions mimic ALS as well so it is a complex process to diagnose. Herniated discs or spinal stenosis, late stage syphilis, GAD, lyme disease, kidney disorders and so on can present with similar symptoms. Above all, anxiety symptoms can be so severe you can have muscles cramp and seize up. You can feel so extremely weak one day yet the next without noticing you're moving a 50lb box just fine and suddenly realize it in the process that your thoughts are likely irrational.
Continue to work with your doctor Stephen with your concerns and work to be a little more rational instead of jumping to the worst case scenario like ALS. Each case of ALS is unique so reading about one case doesn't mean you've got it. I remember reading one person's advise which was, "if you're able to walk, talk, write, run and jump" you don't have ALS and until otherwise enjoy life. Meaning until you lose function that's more or less irreversible, then don't waste your precious time in worrying about it.
If you'd like to message me direct feel free. Regardless, good luck.
stephen198930 Italia06
Posted
thanks for the reply italia, Honestly these illnesses never even crossed my mind until you get caught up in a rabbit hole tracking the symptoms. Usually it was just cancer crossing my mind.
Sorry that you've been going through GAD for 20 years like I've said to other guys on here its nice we all have similar stories and symptoms (as awful as it sounds).Do you worry about your symptoms anymore or are you completely living day by day?
it's just crazy how much anxiety can take a toll on your body and present itself in many physical forms.
You're message is really inspiring its true I gave to start living in the moment and ride high until something knicks me down which I hope is in the very distant future.
Thank you once again for your kind words they really have helped!
Italia06 stephen198930
Posted
in 2015 i used to think i wouldn't make it to 2016...likewise for the following year and so on to give you an idea of the mental toll these physical symptoms have on your mind and body. yet, here i am five yrs later weighing the same and with full physical function.
now i try to focus on one day at a time, one moment at a time. worrying about down the road scenarios only add to the anxiety and symptoms. yes, i'm still guilty of it so it's an ongoing challenge.
some days i'll feel good and strong physically...the next will feel like i haven't had sleep in a week. a big part of the challenge is really looking at your lifestyle from afar. one minute your legs will feel weak and then you realize for the past three years you've sat in a chair most of the day googling symptoms or just doing enough to get by at work only to come home and sit down or lay in bed the rest of the day. then your realize maybe your legs feel weak and are is because you haven't used them much at all these past few years; you don't use you lose.
yet there you are irrational immediately when something feels odd. it's tough to have introspection when you're caught up in the vicious cycle of anxiety, so focused on symptoms.