LOL. Perhaps this is the therapy we all need. :)

[SuziQ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gyL1QFcls0

[chrissi]

Haha, that was REALLY funny, a good answer to a lot of BFS worries

[SuziQ]

Haha, that was REALLY funny, a good answer to a lot of BFS worries

Yes, it sure is! It's CBT in an abbreviated, abridged form.

[chrissi]

I love abbreviations:) BTW, I know you had the same *beep* of symptoms as robynn and me. As you maybe know, I got a good hold of my BFS but I still have my flare ups. Did you ever get to a point when it was completely gone for U? (not so much the twitching , but pain and tremors)

[SuziQ]

I love abbreviations:) BTW, I know you had the same *beep* of symptoms as robynn and me. As you maybe know, I got a good hold of my BFS but I still have my flare ups. Did you ever get to a point when it was completely gone for U? (not so much the twitching , but pain and tremors)

Actually, I would say it is pretty much all gone for me, now. My symptoms are so minimal and minor that it is odd if I notice a twitch or a tremor at all. Tremors and weakness were the worst for me. If I don't stay on a regular fitness regimen, I do find that my limbs can get "wonky." But I think that is normal for most people.

My husband also had a lot of perceived weakness and really aggressive fascics, and he has neither one to any noticeable or bothersome degree.

If you had met me right when this thing hit me hard, you would not recognize me now. Back then, I was an obsessed, terror-stricken, shadow of a human being. Now, I am joyful, lighthearted and full of peace.

It took several months of calm before I finally reached a place of acceptance and victory over the anxiety, but I've really never looked back. Does that answer your question?

Blessings to you,
Sue

[chrissi]

Yes, that answeres it a lot. Actually I am quite comfortable with the level my BFS has reached now and I have many many days without any symptom. I think yesterday I did not have any single twitch nor any pain. If my tremors take over it causes me some problems at work, but it is OK. If it stayed like that for the Rest of my live I could definately absolutely live with it, but if it would completely go, well.....I would not miss it LOL. Especially as I really have to work on it to stay down, and U know......I am a very lazy person

[plainslady]

I love this! I tell myself this all the time. "STOP IT!" Goes along perfectly with what I've been working on, retraining myself to handle my worries and fears in a healthy way. I used to be fond of saying "I can't help it, this is just the way I am." Over the past 6 months I have learned that is IS quite a bit I can help, and it is worth the effort to gain more control over my thoughts and the way I respond to anxiety. Thanks for the laugh!

Frances

[SuziQ]

I love this! I tell myself this all the time. "STOP IT!" Goes along perfectly with what I've been working on, retraining myself to handle my worries and fears in a healthy way. I used to be fond of saying "I can't help it, this is just the way I am." Over the past 6 months I have learned that is IS quite a bit I can help, and it is worth the effort to gain more control over my thoughts and the way I respond to anxiety. Thanks for the laugh!

Frances

Yes, during our psychiatric rotation in nursing school, the clinical instructors were nurse practitioners; private therapists who subscribed to a certain therapeutic modality, (Gestalt, I think.) They had strong humanistic biases, and both of them were completely adverse to any sort of cognitive/behavioral therapy because, according to them, it placed humans in the same category as animals, or even robots. I shared the same prejudice against Pavlov and his dog, lol, however, when I got older and more experienced, I learned the intrinsic value of reigning in our thoughts as a means of controlling our anxiety.

"I can't help it" was my handy excuse for a while, too. Then I read a book on cognitive therapy, and it changed my life forever. Heck, there is even a biblical mandate for cognitive therapy, if one were so inclined to appreciate such a thing, (and I am.... ) Phillipians 4:8 says, "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." It certainly can't hurt!

Blessings,
Sue

[Issi]

Hello SuzieQ,

I just need to say that I red several of your posts. These and many, many of the other posts helped me during the worst time of my life. I have been in this stuff for nearly 6 months now and I have experienced such a lot of symptoms, twitching (not so much as many others), numbness, stiffness, tingling, sore muscles, trembling/vibraton all over, spasms in my esophagus, mouth issues esp. some speaking problems which I freaked out over.
The first months I really thought I have to die and I couldn`t believe the doctors and neuros – the clean EMGs. Then I found this page which was a life-saver. I noticed there are lots of people full of fear and messed-up and everybody thinks the same, “I am the exception”. Nobody is the exception it`s just really hard work to accept that this BFS doesn`t hurt u it`s annoying and the symptoms are very impressive. As said, now I have almost been 6 months in, taking Celexa which really helps to control anxiety. I still have dark days and fire questions to Leanne, Chrissie and others but slowly it is getting better.

For those people who just come around, please believe the veterans, they are right !

Thanks a lot to u all.

Ines

[SuziQ]

Hello SuzieQ,

I just need to say that I red several of your posts. These and many, many of the other posts helped me during the worst time of my life. I have been in this stuff for nearly 6 months now and I have experienced such a lot of symptoms, twitching (not so much as many others), numbness, stiffness, tingling, sore muscles, trembling/vibraton all over, spasms in my esophagus, mouth issues esp. some speaking problems which I freaked out over.
The first months I really thought I have to die and I couldn`t believe the doctors and neuros – the clean EMGs. Then I found this page which was a life-saver. I noticed there are lots of people full of fear and messed-up and everybody thinks the same, “I am the exception”. Nobody is the exception it`s just really hard work to accept that this BFS doesn`t hurt u it`s annoying and the symptoms are very impressive. As said, now I have almost been 6 months in, taking Celexa which really helps to control anxiety. I still have dark days and fire questions to Leanne, Chrissie and others but slowly it is getting better.

For those people who just come around, please believe the veterans, they are right !

Thanks a lot to u all.

Ines

Ines,
Thank you so much for your encouraging comments. If there has been one blessing of having BFS, it has been in the opportunity to meet so many incredibly special people like yourself. I really do think there is some common thread amongst us; that we have an intensity and audacity of spirit which is a bit higher than the average population. This can be to our detriment in some ways, but it also makes us passionate, creative, vulnerable and tender-hearted people.

Concerning your "I am the exception" remarks; well, I often like to say that we ARE the "exception," just not in the sinister, malignant, NMD way that people mistakenly believe. We don't get to be the rare and unlikely case study that makes medical history and gets published in all the journals, but rather, we are special in areas that matter the most. We're exceptional friends, partners, daughters, sons, parents, neighbors and lovers. And, because of our momentary "brush with mortality," albeit illusive, we are also exceptional human beings who live and love deeply.

You are right, it is "hard work" to get our thoughts to cooperate when the syndrome we are afflicted with changes our very brain chemistry, but life is worth the effort! I remember an article I read in a medical journal about a study which proved that thought precedes and even mediates neurotransmitter activity, and I was forever changed. It sounds so implausible because we are forever thinking ourselves as passive conduits to whatever the environment foists upon us. However, it is quite the opposite. We do have the wherewithal to alter our patterns and our destinies. We need only have a mustard seed worth of faith and a willingness to walk it out.

Blessings to you,
Sue

[Issi]

Hello Suzie,

Thank you so much for your post which really helped me to obtain a broader perspective of this BFS thing.
I think there are so many things between heaven and earth which cannot be explained or even described. But now I know for sure that our mind influences our body more than we are able to imagine. Right now, it`s really a constant struggle with myself with good or very good days and still moments of fear as well as a body which sometimes feels very worn out. I think time is the best healer for that curious BFS thing.
Managing this ever changing symptoms is a real challenge for me and it seems that I`ve almost started up like mommy and Chrissi. This trembling thing for example is very bad, I also drop things and sometimes tip over cause I feel so uncertain on my legs. I feel sore after excercise etc. etc. I have always been a very sportive person so this thing hit me quite hard. But nevertheless it`s a challenge I have to accept and make the best out of it.
I am just wondering Suzie how u have dealt with it, is there any concept which might help to ease the symptoms or is it just a matter of "wait and see" ?
I am from Germany and this BFS thing is hardly known here, so after medical exam and EMG, doctors send u home saying your twitches are benign but as you know the best, it is so much more than this. To be honest I don`t mind the twitches at all but the remaining stuff is hard to accept esp. when it gives u a feeling of weekness.
Again, thank u so much for your post which I think really describes what it is...you are a star

Ines

[SuziQ]

Hello Suzie,

Thank you so much for your post which really helped me to obtain a broader perspective of this BFS thing.
I think there are so many things between heaven and earth which cannot be explained or even described. But now I know for sure that our mind influences our body more than we are able to imagine. Right now, it`s really a constant struggle with myself with good or very good days and still moments of fear as well as a body which sometimes feels very worn out. I think time is the best healer for that curious BFS thing.
Managing this ever changing symptoms is a real challenge for me and it seems that I`ve almost started up like mommy and Chrissi. This trembling thing for example is very bad, I also drop things and sometimes tip over cause I feel so uncertain on my legs. I feel sore after excercise etc. etc. I have always been a very sportive person so this thing hit me quite hard. But nevertheless it`s a challenge I have to accept and make the best out of it.
I am just wondering Suzie how u have dealt with it, is there any concept which might help to ease the symptoms or is it just a matter of "wait and see" ?
I am from Germany and this BFS thing is hardly known here, so after medical exam and EMG, doctors send u home saying your twitches are benign but as you know the best, it is so much more than this. To be honest I don`t mind the twitches at all but the remaining stuff is hard to accept esp. when it gives u a feeling of weekness.
Again, thank u so much for your post which I think really describes what it is...you are a star

Ines

Right back atcha, my friend. You have a really great command of English, btw. Better than most Americans, frankly.

Um. How have I dealt with it? Sometimes, not so great in the beginning, I can't deny that. I did really think I was suffering an incurable, degenerative disease and so, like most people, I was pretty freaked out. Once I found this forum and started reading about others with weakness and tremors, it was as though I'd finally found my way home. I instantly realized that I'd been fasciculating all along, but because it was my least functionally debilitating symptom, I hadn't paid it much mind. Because I'd been barely able to walk, stand, or even dress and feed myself, I naturally concentrated more on my perceived weakness than on a couple million twitches. And when I read "bfs in a nutshell," about how perceived weakness can feel so freaking real, despite a normal neuro exam, I realized that this was what I had been experiencing. So, for me, this board literally was salvation for me.

Tremors really are a nuisance, I know. I used to cry over them a lot. My husband would arrive home from work to find me in my bed, sobbing with the covers pulled over my head because I just couldn't stand to watch myself shake any longer. If I tried to do any activity requiring fine motor skills, like button my sweater or use a fork, it was a total Shakefest. And forget about working out; my core and leg muscles used to tremor visibly and violently if I would do so much as a single sit up or squat. This is where you really have to summon your courage and just charge ahead; force yourself to do the things that make you feel whole and healthy, regardless of how your body rebels. Really strive to ignore the symptoms and distract yourself from all the weirdness. Eventually, with time and consistency, the shaking and symptoms improve, as does your attitude about them.

It's also important to be vigilant in filtering what you allow into your thought-life. Once I found this forum, I stopped visiting the MS board that I'd been frequenting; not just because I no longer needed it, but because it was harmful to me. And clearly they didn't need my presence there, either. The folks with MS and **S have a hell of a lot more important things to do with their lives than constantly answer questions from some neurotic ninny like me.

Blessings,
Sue