21 year old with the ALS worries a lot of people here have

Hi I just wanted to talk about health related stuff I’ve had in recent years and I have been going down the ALS rabbit hole lately.

I’m 21 years old and at the beginning of 2023 (almost 3 years ago) I started having trouble swallowing while eating. It’s felt like it’s gradually gotten worse over the 3 years but sometimes it gets suddenly worse and then a bit better after but has been there since 2023. I did get covid at the end of 2022 but not sure if it’s related. I have had really bad health anxiety since 2019 so that doesn’t help as well. Well in recent months, I have had hand tremors and felt muscle weakness and aches. I feel more sore and tired when going up stairs lately but my anxiety has also been a lot worse. I also (and this is my own fault) have not been good with diet or exercise in the past 2 years. I don’t eat the best foods and barely exercise anymore or do strength related training. My acid reflux has also been worse lately and some doctors think that along with the anxiety causes the swallowing issues (i have ruled out tons of physical issues in my throat directly).

I finally recently got a referral to the neurologist and a few weeks back I was in the hospital for a day since I had trouble breathing at work and was dizzy and super anxious. The doctors seemed to think it was anxiety related and started me on Prozac 2 weeks back. The shortness of breath has gone away mostly. Overall I’m nervous because I know I am only 21 and there could be many other issues that cause all of this but the swallowing issues along with the recent tremors and body aches and feeling weaker have made me really worried it’s ALS. Hopefully it’s not but it’s still hard to not be worried especially since I haven’t even been to the neurologist yet.