twitching muscles

Hi - I'm really really anxious and upset and stressed and would be grateful for any advice.

A month ago my leg muscles started twitching. Lasted a few days and then stopped. I am a total stresser about many things and put it down to stress. However, my forefinger has started to lock when I play violin (have recently started playing after a break) and I'm terrified this is "weakness" even though I don't think it is, as I can play fast tunes just fine. Finally, last week, I experienced really odd twitching between thumb and first finger and wet to GP - who said she thought the muscle looked a bit smaller and, with all this combined has referred me to a neurologist.

I said - isn't it just stress? and she said it wasn't that common and proceeded to look up fasciculations on Wikipaedia - so I have no confidence in her at all.

No one in my family can see any differences between my hands (and believe me I've pestered them about it) and I haven't noticed I can't pick things up etc.

Could it just be stress plus a stiff tendon from playing a lot of music too quickly?

So utterly freaked about ALS/MND I can't sleep or eat :weep:

Twitches are one of the most common symptoms for anxiety. On the left of this page it is listed and on many many other good anxiety sites. There are literally hundreds of post on NMP regarding twitching and everyone thinks they have a horrible nuero disease but there is a retired nuerologist that occasionally posts here that explains all about the types of twitching we as anxious people get and the kind of twitching that people with real nuero problems get. Yours sounds exactly like mine and is completely from anxiety. The retired doc goes by RLR on this site, just search for his posts. At least I think it is RLR. One more thing, some people say that magnesium will help with twitches. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Thanks so much for your response. It's great to speak to someone else who has had this.

I read some of RJR's posts (he writes very well) although they did slightly spook me as he seems to imply that the anxiety twitches look different from the *** (don't want to type the scary 3-letter acronym) fasciculations.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be OK. I find the waiting and waiting for tests and appointments excruiciating. Does anyone else struggle to eat and sleep in this time? It becomes all consuming for me and I feel so miserable and fed up. :weep:

I just wanted to reply to my own post in case anyone reads it and wonders what happened.

I saw my neurologist last night who was great, really reassuring. Said she'd met loads of people like me - simply t-e-r-r-i-f-i-e-d they had the dreaded *** and twitching like mad. Said years ago when she was a registrar she had diagnosed herself with it (wrongly). Said it's really common in stressed out people and without noticeable obvious weakness/atrophy the twitches are benigh. She did all sorts of checks...like having me walk on heels, then toes, then heel toe, then looked in my eyes, checked loads of reflexes, tapped places. She also looked at my hands and said they were fine - normal - no atrophy. So my GP was talking nonsense - and freaking me out in the process. She also said that she hoped she'd alleviated my worries (err, yes) but that it would take a while for them to go completely and I could come back if I wanted (yes, she was a lovely lady, very warm - can't all doctors be like that?)

She didn't want to do any more checks e.g. EMG. I was just happy to get the heck out of there and home and actually get some sleep/food (as hadn't slept in days).

So - hope this reassures anyone who reads my post and is also freaking out. It is quite the most horrible scary feeling to think you have some dreadful disease and be so terrified so if reading this helps someone then I am pleased.

And - of course - I'm still a bit worried. The What-ifs creep back. What if she's wrong, what if it's still the start, shouldn't I have had an EMG? Oh, I think my hands/legs feel weak today.

I'm trying to stay strong! Onwards ever onwards.

That is really kind of you to post - that was quick as well!!

I was appalled by your original post - that doctor must be very inexperienced!!

The neurologist you saw would have studied for years and had years of experience - can we really do such a good diagnosis based on a little surfing and googling?!

It is interesting that you are aware that the reassurance is already wearing off, don't ever forget that this is because of the nature of our illness...reassurance just does not cure it.

So......not ***, maybe it is anxiety lol? I am a mega twitcher/jerker so I know exactly where you are at, but just accept these as anxiety symptoms, and let them pass. They will x