Help me please? Advice, words of comfort

[defmunel]

For the past 3 weeks, I've noticed a decrease in my muscle ability. Just my legs really. They feel tight and tired when I walk.

I also have excess mucous for the last 6 months and doctors say its post nasal drip. I don't buy it.

Both are symptoms of als.

I'm so afraid of having Als. I'm 30 and pregnant. I'm so afraid of not being able to be here with my family, and raise my children.

Why must I suffer so much? Why can't I just be 30 and happy? For years I've felt like something terrible is going to happen to me. Most because it's gonna happen to someone. Why not me.

I wish I could be happy in my own body. But I feel like its declining. I also have an autoimmune disorder that makes my heart tachycardic almost constantly.

I dont want to die a slow and painful death. I want to grow old with my husband and be a mother to my children.

I haven't spoken about any of these fears with anyone. But I feel comfortable expressing them here.

[raggamuffin]

What is als sorry? I've had post nasal drip for 15 months. Dr said after I quit smoking the body can stomach can still generate excess stomach acid and this phlegm and mucus is the bodies way of neutralizing stomach acid. He put me on some meds recently to lower the acid and in turn reduce this mucus. Didin't work. Came off them...guess what? ACID REFLUX BABY!!

But in all seriousness if you don't find one dr helpful speak to another. But if 2 or 3 all say the same thing then tell them the fears you have. Ask for more thorough tests. But there scoimes a time when all the tests come back negative that you have to start accepting that anxiety could be causing issues.

Post nasal drip could be allergies perhaps?

The worries about impending doom etc are the fear and worry which in turn feeds the anxiety. It's become a way of thinking for so long that you can't do much else and you find yourself lost in your own world and it's a depressing and nightmareish world.

So you have to practice positive thinking and remembering that anxiety is causing symptoms. At first it feels like you're lying to yoruself but with practice you start to realize that you control the anxiety and not vice versa. Symptoms are just your bodies way of telling you it's had enough stress worry and anxiety and wants time out to repair itself.

Don't add secondary fears onto symptoms created by the body because of too much fear and worry.

Hope you feel better soon.

Ed

[defmunel]

Thanks Ed. I went to the ent a while ago. He and my gp both said acid reflux and allergies.

So instead of googling als, I googled mucous in throat. And would you believe the first thing that popped up was calm clinic anxiety. Lol.

I have to remind myself it's not serious. I've been taking omazeprole for a week. It's not doing much honestly. I'll even take tums, but that doesn't help either.

I'm going to try some hot drinks, and gargle with salt water. I need to stay positive, and not jump to the worst.

[hermitcrab]

I can relate to this fear. I tend to have similar health worries when my anxiety worsens. I will keep running through catastrophising scenarios of illness and death of myself and loved ones in my mind. It ends up creating a loop because these thoughts increase the anxiety which in turn increases the thoughts. I think with anxiety the brain goes on extra alert to scan for potential danger and when it finds none it has to get creative in order to make sense of the anxiety we are experiencing. But the good news is that these are only thoughts, not facts or reality, so it is always good to remind yourself of that. Muscle weakness and tension is a very common thing with common causes. ALS would be a very rare disease. You can't stop the thoughts from coming but you can take away some their charge by examining and questioning them. I always find that when my anxiety levels go down these intruding thoughts dissipate by themselves.

[defmunel]

You rock hermit. Thanks for understanding, and helping me see the reality.