What methods can I use to overcome health anxiety?
Health anxiety happens because people catastrophically misinterpret health related information. e.g. a lump in the breast or testes MUST be cancer, forgetting someone’s name MUST be a symptom of dementia.Health anxiety sufferers may become worried by:reading articles or seeing programs about diseasesknowing someone who has a diseasethings they observe about their own body, their physical symptoms, etc.SELF HELP FOR HEALTH ANXIETYTo break the vicious cycle of health anxiety, we need to action each "cog" of the Health Anxiety machinery, by changing the way we think, and changing what we do.Quick and easy ways to get moving:Take a shower, go for a walk, or a swim, do some yoga, dance, stand up and takes some deep breaths or try Qigong - whatever appeals to you, get up and move. Better still get out the door and move.HOW TO OVERCOME:Self monitoringIdentifying and challenging negative thoughtsModifying abnormal illness related behaviours. e.g. checking, reassurance seekingIdentifying and correcting core beliefs using disputation and behavioural experiments
ALS, MS, Parkinson's, Essential tremor, Anxiety, STRESS? Anybody PLEASE HELP!?
I have an anxiety disorder, so im a bit of a hypochondriac....so bear with me please. LONG STORY SHORT: i have shakey (very slightly) hands, and a feeling of heaviness or weakness in my legs and forearms. its been going on for about a week. they did lots of blood work and stuff, and said it was all ok. also, no diseases of any kind run in my family, or cancers.... if you want to read the whole story, carry on. Over the past year or so i have had plenty of muscle twitches in all random spots of my back, arms, and legs, even my abs twitch sometimes...its dont last too long. and my muscles have never felt tired Recently, about a week ago my hands started trembling...like a nervous person...i have a slight tremor in both hands, and have seen a general practice doctor. who set me up to see a neurologist this monday. My forearms, and lower legs feel tired, and my hands have a tremor. i WOULD alsmost say i feel like my legs could give out when i walk, but i am able to jog around the block and all that, so im guessing its maybe an anxious though i have, because they feel tired...the hands shake when i hold them out to do something, like if i hold em out flat and try to keep them steady, they look like they are trembling. but if i rest my hands on a desk or something it stops... i have no other symptoms or anything like that...the doctor said he believed it was some type of benign something tremor...and he said it may go away by monday, and come back a week later, or never.... anyone have any other ideas of what this could be?
Do I have ALS? Or anxiety?
Hello Y'all, I have been having weakness and twitching for about 4 months now. I first thought ALS but was told my multiple neuro's no way. I decided to list my reasoning for and against ALS and why I can't get over it. I have had anxiety in the past but nothing like my current mindset. Reasons why I don't have ALS 1. No doctor has ever suggested I might have ALS. 2. The emg showed I have peripheral neuropathy not ALS. An clean emg means no ALS(usually). 3. 3 neurologists said I don't have ALS. 4. A neuromuscular specialist said I don't have ALS. 5. I have passed every neurological test they've given me. 6. My liver biopsy(mild fibrosis/mild inflammation) could explain the high liver numbers and theory that I am recovering from a viral infection. 7. ALS is extremely rare in people under 40, rarer to be under 25. 8. Bodywide twitching normally doesn't come much later on. It usually has a pattern. 9. My weakness in not clinical, it can't be measured. I still have full range of motion in all my muscles. Reasons why I might have ALS 1. Twitching and weakness are both symptoms of ALS. 2. I have read anecdotes on the internet, about EMGs missing ALS or twitching coming early in ALS. 3. I have a weird weakness that won't go away, present in pretty much every muscle in body( tongue, eyes, feet, etc.) 4. My throat has been feeling very tight recently and I feel like speaking is more difficult(also voice gets hoarse after too much talking) 5. Perhaps these early symptoms can't be seen by doctors or my muscles are reacting differently. 6. I doubt the doctors ability to spot a disease that there is no cure for. 7. I have never experienced any long period with such weird symptoms that won't go away. For some reason I can't get the idea out of my head that I have ALS? 2 and 3 on the bottom are my biggest obstacles. What do you think? Am I crazy? I have been anxious in my life before but I have a hard time believing anxiety could cause these symptoms. Thanks,
Does this sound like MS?
Go to the Dr. and he/she might send you to a Neurologist for s brain scan. I had similar symptoms and was convinced I had MS. Neurologist performed several tests and said my scans were clear… no lesions. I was shocked. He prescribed an antidepressant for stress. I didn't think I was under stress or depressed but I took the prescription. Symptoms went away in about 3 weeks.
How do I overcome my anxiety level which has become destructive to my physical health?
It sounds like you are on the road to a bleeding ulcer. You likely need some medical evaluation.Anxieties can be a product of a traumatic experience, or a chemical imbalance, or excessive worry. From your description you could have all these in combination.What you can do is check with your doctor and if you do not get satisfactory help then ask for a referral to a specialist.You also need to realize that anxiety is a fear of things that might happen and most of those are not going to actually happen. If you are always concerning yourself with the future and everything that might go wrong this alone causes anxiety and may be the root of your problem. Take each day and live it, breathe it and soak it in. Deal with the immediate problems of the day rather than splitting yourself into a thousand pieces trying to cover the next 1000 days in the future, because that is too overwhelming.Rather than worry do something constructive that will occupy your mind for a period of time, fix something, clean something, do something nice for someone else, go for a walk, take a shower, read a book... anything rather than the profitless and even harmful focus on everything that might go wrong. Find people to talk to and get involved in something that you are interested in. Realize that nothing much in this world is really perfect, there are always flaws, but rarely are these fatal. Stop taking everything quite so seriously, even yourself, and try just enjoying something without letting your anxieties creep in. Get a dog. You can learn a lot from a dog. They have pretty much mastered anxiety.
Is this ALS? I also have depersonalization.?
Iover the past year I had an anxiety attack that made me get DP, right now as of 11/28/12 I have twitching all over my body, my legs ache, and I shaky and tingly, I can lift weights, an example is: I squatted 275 lbs in weight lifting today, I can curl 25 lbs dumb elks with my arms, but while I'm lifting, such as while I was squatting, I felt shaky and tingly, and lightheaded, does this sound like ALS?
What Are the differences and similarities, between MS and ALS symptoms?
ALS and MS are two different diseases.ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (aka Lou Gehrig's Disease), affects upper and lower motor neurons. Damage to upper motor neurons (ie nerve cells arising in the brain), typically cause symptoms of stiffness, abnormal reflexes, and loss of fine motor skills. Damage to lower motor neurons (ie nerve cells arising in the spinal cord), typically cause muscles to weaken and atrophy, as well as twitch abnormally. By definition, it is a degenerative disease, which means that there is invariably a progression of symptoms over time, the rate of which may differ to some degree on an individual basis.MS, or multiple sclerosis, is an inflammatory disease that acts only within the central nervous system (ie the brain and spinal cord) and spares the peripheral nerves. Rather than destroying nerve cells themselves, MS causes symptoms by damaging the sheaths around the nerve cells (called myelin), leading to a reduction in the ability of the nerve cells to conduct electrical signals. Symptoms can vary greatly between individuals, ranging from visual disturbance to muscle weakness to difficulty with cognition. In general, there is greater variability in the course of progression of MS than ALS. With MS, most patients initially have discrete episodes of symptom attacks, between which they may see a complete remission of symptoms.
Do I have ALS I am super scared?
I would like to start off stating I am a hypochondriac so I may be over reacting but I am just so scared. I am 16 years old and I feel like I might have als. I know ALS is SUPER rare in kids but I just have so many symptoms. For about 3 months now I have had a major loss of energy and been having trouble getting school work done. Recently my legs have been twitching and almost always have tension, my left one much more often. I also have stiffness in my left side of my neck and left shoulder and left breast. Along with the neck and shoulder pain I have left jaw pain and actually just started going to physical therapy for it along with the neck and shoulder. Like 2 weeks ago all the sudden I couldnt lift nearly as much as before in gym all the sudden. My hands are also very twitchy. I have not had any vocal cord issues but I feel like I might have slurred speech. Also I checked my reflexes and my leg seems like its overly reflexive. I am super worried do my symptoms sound like ALS?
Every time I turn around I feel like I am going to trip or fall over. Do I have ALS?
You wouldn’t feel like you would. You actually would be falling and tripping.What you have sounds like anxiety. You wouldn’t feel like you are going to fall. Instead, you wouldn’t be able to lift up your arm or your leg, or a finger.Jump on one leg, for each leg. Then do one push up. If you are able to get one leg, or prop your self up with your arms. The chances of you having ALS are slim to none.ALS is very rare.