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Suggest Treatment For Anxiety Attack, Muscle Twitching In Different Parts Of Body
Question: Hi. I am completely terrified right now. I am constantly thinking I have ALS. Let me give you a bit of a background. In December my dad was diagnosed with Liver cancer. On January 7th I went with my parents to XXXXXXX Kettering and experienced my first ever anxiety attack. I though I was going to have a heart attack. Had an EKG done on January 10th and everything was fine. Saw my regular doctor on the 13th and had blood work done and another EKG and everything was fine except my triglycerides which were high. She gave me .5 xanax to take as needed and 500mg lopid twice a day. I put myself on a strict diet as well out of fear of having a heart attack. Around the 21st I started getting muscle twitching in legs and other parts of my body. Stopped taking xanax because a doctor told me it might be the xanax. Have been off xanax for 4 days now but twitching is still there maybe a little less. After taking Lopid for 10 days I got very bad muscle cramps and stopped taking it. After 2 days muscle cramps were gone. As of right now, I still have twitches that jump around. I don't have trouble swallowing and I don't notice muscle weakness in my body. The twitches happen mostly when I am not moving and when I am lying in bed. Also, when I press on my legs they feel sore. Is there any self tests I can do at home to see if I have muscle weakness? Do you think I should worry about ALS?
Brief Answer:
Symptoms are not suggestive of ALS
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
I have noted your symptoms and recent history.
In my opinion, you do not have features of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and you need not worry about that.
Your symptoms are most likely due to benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS) and are getting exacerbated due to anxiety.
You can look for any muscle thinning (wasting) in any part of body. In addition, you can check for hand grip strength, functions such as lifting heavy weights, climbing stairs, getting up fro squatting position, etc. If these are all normal, it would mean there is no weakness.
I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information.
Wishing you good health,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in
Symptoms are not suggestive of ALS
Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.
I have noted your symptoms and recent history.
In my opinion, you do not have features of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and you need not worry about that.
Your symptoms are most likely due to benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS) and are getting exacerbated due to anxiety.
You can look for any muscle thinning (wasting) in any part of body. In addition, you can check for hand grip strength, functions such as lifting heavy weights, climbing stairs, getting up fro squatting position, etc. If these are all normal, it would mean there is no weakness.
I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information.
Wishing you good health,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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