I'm sure that a lot people with health anxiety worry about ALS as it is a condition diagnosed by exclusion and is one that has no cure. So, I am sorry if I sound like a hypochondriac right off the bat. These are my symptoms. Last August I experienced two classic panic attacks. I took Lexapro for approximately a month and half, during which time I experienced mania, brain zaps and dizziness. I quit the lexapro cold turkey and began experiencing headaches, vertigo and eye floaters. These conditions improved but left my anxious about my health, so in April I took two doses of Effexor XR, which I later was told should never have been prescribed to me. During those two days, I felt mania, depersonalized, and even felt like I was having a stroke as my right arm seemed to work slower along with my right leg. Since April, I experienced weakness in my right arm like when shaving or brushing my teeth. In mid-June, I developed muscle tiredness and twitching in my ulnar nerve area area my elbows that I could feel with the other hand. During this time, I started worrying about ALS, and my doctor thought I should go on Zoloft and Xanax for health anxiety. As I took the medication, I began to experience trouble swallowing along along with increased twitching. I could actually see my calf muscle twitch for periods for up to a whole day. The same goes for my right arm as well. I have been to three neurologists, since I have moved between cities during this time. Babinksi test and Hoffman were normal as well as the normal neuro workup. My MRI of the brain and MRA of neck and head were clean as well as an EEG. My third neuro said she was worried about ALS, and ordered an EMG/NVC of my right arm and said it should tell if I had ALS, but then she also said she had a patient that had a completely normal one and then a year later had full-blown ALS. My EMG of the right arm, who was done by the best neuro in Richmond, told me my arm was normal. Unfortunately, my twitching has gotten worse over the last month and I am tripping a little more.
1) After all the tests I have had, specifically the EMG, would early-onset ALS be ruled out?
2) I have TMJ Disorder in my right jaw. Could this be the cause of my swallowing problems and the weak numb sensation in my right arm?
3) Could my full body muscular twitching be caused by all the SSRI/SNRIs or my anxiety?
Thank you very much for your help and have a good day