Return of strange symptoms

8 years ago I developed a mysterious set of symptoms all over my body including heart palpitations, trouble breathing, chest and stomach pain, impaired concentration, cold tingling hands, feet and lips, tremors, muscle twitches EVERYWHERE, gastro intestinal problems, insomnia, and tinnitus.  I had no actual weakness. I had an MRI of the spine and head (MS and Gullian-Barre), EMG tests (ALS), and tests for lymes, B-12, heavy metals, and ulcers.  They could find nothing wrong with me and I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and BFS. After some psychological visits and treatments with Zoloft I started to get better and mostly stopped believing that I had a neurological disease although I still had random twitching around my body sometimes. Recently while I was training for a triathlon I noticed I had an occasional extra heart beat. I ended up in the ER because I developed a full on constant extra heart beat with every regular beat.  At the ER they could find nothing wrong with my heart.  I went and saw a cardiologist who performed echo cardio stress test and was told that my heart was strong. I went on beta-blockers which got rid of the extra heart beat.  Anyway, I couldn't get it out of my head that something was wrong with my heart and then I started to have other symptoms: chest/upper abdominal pain, heart palpitations, cold/tingling hands and feet and face, trembling, muscle twitches, burping, gastro issues, impaired concentration, tinnitus and anxiety...sound familiar?  Now I've started thinking I have ALS or MS or cancer or something, but my doctor  suggested that I might have Chronic Hyperventilation Syndrome. When I started reading up on it I could not believe that I found something that matched my symptoms.  I started on Zoloft again to help with the anxiety, but I have this terrible fear that I have something worse.  Should I still see a nuerologist again to make sure I don't have MS or god forbid ALS?

[Christopher R Newey, DO]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to obtain a history from you and examine you, I can not comment on a formal diagnosis or treatment plan for your symptoms. However, I will try to provide you with some information regarding this matter.

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological condition with a multitude of symptoms. They include heart palpitations, muscle tension, fatigue, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath, headaches, and GI symptoms such as diarrhea to name a few. Anxiety can also be accompanied with panic attacks such as a feeling of impending doom or death. It seems that your symptoms do fit. It may take time for you and your physician to find the optimal pharmaologic agent to help with your symptoms. I agree with the poster that many of the illness such as ALS and MS would have likely expressed themselves by now if you were to have one of those. It is reassuring that you have had a complete workup including MRI and EMG that were unremarkable.

I would recommend that you continue working with your PCP regarding your symptoms. You may benefit from seeing a psychiatrist to optimize your medication regimen.

Thank you for using the forum, I hope you find this information useful, good luck.

[JKenton]

I think if you had ALS it'd be pretty apparent by now, if your symptoms first appeared 8 years ago. It's quite possible that you were having a reaction to something, or maybe you had some virus, maybe some auto-immune disorder, all of which can be made worse by stress. I don't know. There are a lot of things like that that fly under the medical radar and clear up on their own.

But if you do have something worse like ALS or MS? What is there to do about it? Nothing but enjoy life while you can.

The only things worth worrying about are things that can be prevented/treated, in my opinion.