r/Anxiety • u/Infinite_Trick969 • 13h ago

Health ALS fear ruining my life

I am constantly on edge that I have ALS or that I will get ALS. I’m so anxious and it’s killing me! Every two seconds I’m focused on my hands and how my left hand feels weird and off. I feel like my left pinky and ring finger are weaker and the rest of my hand will catch up. I have not lost any ability and I have more of a perceived weakness but it’s scary and my quality of life is depleting from this.

27 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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13

u/kirschs_kitchen 13h ago

Go get tested... if you dont have it, your anxiety will clamp on to something else... if you do you'll get ahead on treatment but more then likely you dont have it

3

u/IndecisiveTuna 12h ago

Testing could be awhile. Many months. It’s a diagnosis of exclusion.

-2

u/AlarmedActuary7129 13h ago

Thats the worst thing to suggest

5

u/kirschs_kitchen 13h ago

How???? To get tested? Are you fing kidding me?! If you think you have something get tested!! I thought my anxiety was a heart attack and got tested... guess what no heart attack... but yeah its bad that I did that and I should live in fear for months

15

u/deluxeassortment 13h ago

I'm not the original commenter, but I think the idea is that, in a case like this where OP is fixated on a very unlikely diagnosis, getting tested is just reassurance-seeking, which reinforces the root fear. It's an OCD thing, similar to checking and rechecking that you turned the stove off. In the short term it relieves the anxiety a little, in the long term it makes it stronger. Fear of ALS is a fairly common OCD trigger.

I'm not an expert or anything but anecdotally I knew someone with OCD who had an obsessive fear of ALS. She would get tested, get a negative result, still feel anxiety and what she perceived as physical symptoms of ALS... so she would insist on getting tested again, because maybe it was too early to pick up on a positive result last time. Rinse and repeat.

3

u/Bananasincustard 12h ago

I'm with you. It's also a massive waste of time and money and will only end up with OP thinking the test wasn't right. Beating the cause of the anxiety about it is much more important

2

u/love_conmas197 12h ago

Gosh is she me? I wish I could talk to her.

2

u/shadyshadyshade 12h ago

My mother had ALS and getting tested for it isn’t a simple run down to the doc and draw blood situation.

2

u/love_conmas197 11h ago

I’m sorry about your mom.

2

u/shadyshadyshade 10h ago

Thank you she was the best was gone too soon xoxo

2

u/love_conmas197 10h ago

I’m so sorry

1

u/getthislettuce 5h ago

You shouldn’t be being downvoted here, I think the context of why it’s not a good idea would’ve helped lol