My anxiety was improving....now Its making me think i have ALS

[Ill_Ryder]

Yup. Last update i said that i went to the hospital once again for anxiety. It has still been troubling me since then. About 3 weeks ago, my anxiety was improving. I went to the doctor recently for a physical exam. Had bloodwork done, and an injection and the normal questions associated with the exam. I was given a number for a place that provides mental health services. After that, i went on my way. However, i still have this weird thing with my throat which i researched and i think it might be a vocal spasm of sorts. I would feel some sort of sensation of tightness or something stuck in my throat and sometimes, it would take away my ability to breath for about half a second. I keep looking at the causes yesterday and i found something. This can be caused by anxiety, and from being sick at times. Usually when i get sick, its a sore throat. However it also turns out that this can be the the first symptoms of ALS. i kept reading but i had to stop as it started to scare me. Now i feel like i have it. I looked at the symptoms and twitching and spasms can also be symptoms, which i also have. Shortness of breath can also occur if this disease attacks the respiratory system first. Now, im not sure what to do. Im shaking, though im not sure if its from being scared, and its my hands, arms, and legs that are shaking. When i walk, my legs are shaky and i feel tense. The vocal spasm issue also leaves me short of breath at times. Im so scared and confused. I dont know if this will worsen tomorrow. Im terrified at think that i could have a disease that will devastatingly drop my life span to 2 to 5 years of life left. Someone please help me

[Hidden]

Research anxiety instead of searching symptoms, you'll be amazed xxx

[Ill_Ryder in reply to Hidden]

I have. Thats the problem. Anxiety can be so similar to symptoms of many other things. I dont know what to believe anymore.

[thislittlelight in reply to Ill_Ryder]

The problem with researching symptoms on the internet is that way too often, the absolute worst case scenario is the one we focus on. We can go through pages and pages of results that tell us it could be any number of less serious things... But then we see one page where it could be this awful, rare disease, and because of our anxiety, THAT is the one we focus on. Then our anxiety gets worse. Then, we notice more "symptoms" and research those, and find something else to worry about. It's a never-ending vicious cycle.

My advice is stop googling symptoms. Instead, get a notebook, on the first page list all the random and weird symptoms you have noticed. Don't associate them with any particular disease or disorder, just list them all.

Turn the page, then on the next page I want you to write down every time you start feeling anxious. Put the date and time, put whether there was something that happened that made you start to feel anxious(and what it was) or if it just kind of came out of nowhere. And then list any and all symptoms you're feeling at the same time.

Then skip a few pages so you have room for a few days of that, and next start keeping track of when you AREN'T feeling anxious at all, but still having any of the symptoms. Again, time, date, and any symptoms you're feeling WITHOUT feeling any anxiety at all.

After just a few days of being really diligent about this, you are going to start to see some kind of pattern emerge.

I know it seems like a lot of work, but I've been in a similar situation for the last year or so, I have anxiety and depression issues, but I also have other diagnosed medical problems. I needed a way to figure out which symptoms were anxiety/depression related only, and which didn't seem related at all. For example, I was getting frequent headaches, and that can be something caused by anxiety, but after tracking everything for a few days, I was able to see that the headaches were happening at around the same time everyday, and didn't seem dependant on whether I was feeling anxious or not.

It's very useful to see which symptoms have a noticeable pattern with anxiety and which don't.

This was really long lol I'm sorry. If you read all of it, good for you lol! If you ever want to talk, I'm here. I understand and I'm so sorry you're going through this. Hang in there, and try the journal! Tweak it to suit your situation however you think would be best, the important thing is just to be able to figure out any patterns that are going on.

[Madrilean77]

Hi Ill_Ryder,

That's exactly what It's happening to me at the moment. Apart from the very same strange throat/ choking/ not being able to swallow symptoms, yesterday my upper lip started twitching uncontrollably. What was the first thing I did then? Yes, I googled it and got ALS as first result. I was tempted to read about it but I decided to put my phone aside instead and focus on my rising anxiety feelings and my symptoms for a few minutes. After that period, the twitching had almost dissapeared and found that I was breathing and swallowing automatically, without having to think about it.

Respiratory symptoms are so worrying and anxiety can take the best of us sometimes but, when we feel that dreaded rush of adrenaline and abject fear starting to grow, we need to be able to say STOP ( say it loud, I promise it helps!) and show anxiety who's boss. : )

Hope you feel better soon.