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Health anxiety and that old familiar sick mental mind

Dark_OlenaSenior Contributor10 Aug 2017, 4:46 pm AEST

Health anxiety and that old familiar sick mental mind

My son is 27 with a 5day cold/virus and just Tuesday night gone, his fingers started drumming his cup, and it looks like he is hitting keys on a piano, all involuntarily. He asked to go to the ER and nurse on call wanted to call him an ambulance once hearing about the twitching fingers. My mind goes straignt to MND and MS. I am feeling so depressed as I cant stop scouring doctor google and thinking this is what is his future, death.

He wont read the things I show him and he wont go to get checked out by his referal to a neurologist fromt the ER. I've crashed with panic and bouts of depression. I get seriously confused about comparing ALS with BFS. I cant eat or sleep properly. Its invading my mind and feels very familiar. Can anyone, somene tell me, this is not likely. Of all the scary things I'm reading, I cant get a decent response for ' it cant be motor neurone disease, if the finger twitching followed a cold/virus.'

Please respond, I need help. This anxiety is painful.

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In response to: Health anxiety and that old familiar sick mental mind

NikNikSenior Contributor16 Aug 2017, 8:08 am AEST

Re: Health anxiety and that old familiar sick mental mind

Hi @Dark_Olena

I'm so sorry your post hasn't had a response yet. I can understand how unhelpful and potentially contributed to more anxiety for you.

How is your son now. Has the twitching stopped?

Dr Google is a tricky thing - we want to get educated and take action, and being proactive is good. However, as you have discovered, what you mostly see is worst case scenarios (don't worry, we've all done it... I once was convinced I had cancer thanks to Dr Google!).

As you discovered through your research, twitching can be related to some serious things, but it also could be very explainable non-dangerous things.

You mentioned your son had a cold/virus - twitching of extremities (fingers / toes) can be related to having a fever. Something as simple as drinking too much coffee can cause this physical reaction too.

So when your mind does to worst case scenarios, you must remind yourself of the many many other explanations - which can be tough!

Your son is lucky to have such a concerned and caring mum! Unfortunately, we can't do much for people who don't want the help but continue to be there for them.

People can react in funny ways with medical related issues - some people feel like they know their body and do a good job of monitoring things and take a little while longer to decide whether to seek further help, while others can be afraid of the outcome to avoid the tests (eg: someone with breast cancer in the family history, refusing to get a mammogram).

In the case of the latter, it's useful to remain calm and supportive. If they are someone who is worried about the outcome or diagnosis, if there is panic, it may contribute to their anxiety and avoidance.

In these circumstances, it doesn't mean to stop the encouragement to seek help. It's helpful to not cause alarm with worst case scenarios, but more about getting to the bottom of the issue and him not having to worry about the outcome.

How is your son travelling now?

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