I'm still twitching!!!

[lindajane1971]

I posted 2 weeks ago today scared as I had a almost constant muscle twitch/spasm in my left arm, fleshy part by elbow, I've still got it and I'm really worried now!!
today I'm getting another one!!! right arm, fleshy bit at the top, when it happens it really goes for it, very visible through my t shirt , I've tried ignoring it, distraction when it happens and even giving it a slap!!! nothing stops it!!
that can't be normal surely???
I'm worried it's the onset of some awful degenerative disease. :(

[Mr Brownstone]

I had that in my lower legs last year. Told my doctor and she said it was nothing. They went away after a couple of months. Its also a symptom of anxiety , so it could have been that.

[sedalia]

I had this on and off in the months leading up to my first big panic attack, it's one of the common symptoms of anxiety. Try not to worry about it (easier said than done, I know)....I had a letter last week reminding me to book a smear test (which I always panic about), and my eye started twitching for a few days!

[jaynehal]

I had this last year and it happend every day, my doc said it was anxiety and would go away, it did eventually xx

[lindajane1971]

thnks for the replies folks. im trying so hard to brush it off as just some twitching/spasms and im very anxious so im trying to say its coz of that too, but i just cant get my brain to believe it!!!! ive also made a big mistake......i looked it up. of course now im sure its ALS which is something i didnt even know existed before. what a idiot i am.

[Jules147]

Twitches in my arms and fasciculations in my calves were commonplace last year when I was suffering from anxiety.

They are a rare presenting symptom of MND/ALS. That didn't stop me thinking that I had it at the time though. One year later I'm fine.

Given the number of new cases of ALS/MND per year and the 6% or so that first present with fasciculations and twitches your chances of having this disease are about 1/1000,000.

70% or so of people get twitches and fasciculations when stressed, anxious, hung over or after taking caffeine.

[Kelley]

Hey.

I've had this alot over the years. Sometimes I get a really fast pulsing twitch in my neck! Feels freaky! Just lately while being on Prozac, I've been getting these spasms/involuntary jerks in my legs and feet and sometimes my arms!! I have reduced my dose as of yesterday because I really don't like it!

Kel

[jade1978]

I get twitching all the time too, where you described and also in my calfs, seen a neurologist today who says its completely benign, and down to anxiety

[lindajane1971]

i cant take it anymore, its really bad today, behind my knee started twitching today while i was shopping, i didnt even know there was any muscle directly behind my knee!! also getting it in other parts of my legs and at tea time in my stomach area, in my fingers too sometimes today, its the worst on my top right arm
got the doc on wednesday

[xtremx]

i cant take it anymore, its really bad today, behind my knee started twitching today while i was shopping, i didnt even know there was any muscle directly behind my knee!! also getting it in other parts of my legs and at tea time in my stomach area, in my fingers too sometimes today, its the worst on my top right arm
got the doc on wednesday


Hello lindajane1971

I am a fellow twitcher have been now for over a year, And i have been down the i have ALS/MND route and it gets to you at the end.

But what you are suffering from is a condition called BFS "benign fasciculation syndrome". I say this because from what i have found from a year of looking on the internet and talking to people that suffer from ALS is that twitch on it own is not indicative of ALS and twitch in als would mainly progress from 1 area not from say the arm one day then the leg and then the foot and so on (just using that as a example)

No one for sure knows what causes BFS but stress seems to have a major factor in it.

But as always get a doctor to check you over but don't be suprised if they just say nothing is wrong as that i would say is the answer they would give you.

Like i said i have had this for over a year my calf muscle are in constant twitch (fasciculation) they look like a load of worms moving around. At times my arm will twitch, thigh, eyelids,hand,thumb will sometimes move on its own, my cheek, you name it it twitches at time and yes my stomach.

Rest assured twitching is a very comman thing, BUT ALS is a very UNCOMMON thing.

[lindajane1971]

hi xtreme...... do you mean that ALS does not move around? soz I am a bit thick tonight!!!!

[Jules147]

Twitching or fasciculations as a presenting symptom is rare even in those who are ultimately diagnosed to have ALS/MND. 6% of 1 to 2 per 100,000 per year.

That's about one in a million!

I've been there btw. A year later I'm fine.

---------- Post added at 00:09 ---------- Previous post was at 00:07 ----------

If your twitches are popping up all over the place it is anxiety.

If it is in your calves it's anxiety.

If you are betting for odds at a million to one can I share your lotto win ££££millions?

[xtremx]

hi xtreme...... do you mean that ALS does not move around? soz I am a bit thick tonight!!!!


Hi linda........... You were not thick, Yeah Twitching in ALS normaly starts in one area and then spreads NOT ramdon areas around the body and also the people I have been incontact with and on ALS chat forums they get asked a Question alot.

And that Question is? I have twitching in my muscles do I have ALS and most if not all reply that Twitching in the muscle is nearly always in the very later stages of als and by then you would be very ill and have alot of other symptoms.

I would say you are suffering from alot of stress and it is showing in a differnet form called BFS which is nothing to worry about most people who get BFS find that one day they wake up and it is gone and not returned but others like me just live with it I only notice it if I let myself.

Other than what you are doing ie: going to the doctor is to relax about the whole ALS thing before it takes a grip on you and it can I have done alot of stupid things when I thought I had it and it wreck my life for about 5 months.

So see the doctor and chill PLEASE :flowers:

[Jules147]

http://www.lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk/my_files/Benign_facilitations_FINAL.pdf

You have to be careful when googling but this link gave me lots of reassurance last year.

[xtremx]

http://www.lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk/my_files/Benign_facilitations_FINAL.pdf

You have to be careful when googling but this link gave me lots of reassurance last year.

Excellent Link Jules147.
Never got anything like this when I was told I have BFS, I was just made to feel small by the neuro I was sent to by my Doctor.

[Jules147]

When I found my calves twitching randomly in March of last year my anxiety levels, already raised, went through the roof. I had visions of having to have nerve condiction tests to rule out ALS/MND or some other debilitating and progressive neurological dsease.

Such tests were not necessary. My GP did some basic tests in the surgery, checked my eyes and diagnosed anxiety. That link also helped and I stumbled upon it while googling.

I came across too many American sites where doctors seem only too eager to take your money to run unnecessary tests. This may sound contraversial bur it really does nothing for anxiety sufferers other than potentially bankrupt them.

[lindajane1971]

well would you believe it.........i made an appointment for the doctor and the very next day the spasms start to ease and on the day i seen the doctor i hadnt felt any!!!!! thats just so crazy!!
i told her what i had been feeling and she said that 17 days was a very long time to have them but like a couple of you said if it had been something nasty then it wouldnt have moved to other muscles round my body, i was reasured, im not 100% worry free of it but i am feeling reasured, however she had freaked me out by saying that if it comes back then she may test my blood for calcium. i didnt think nothing of that thinking that its a vitamin thing etc and stupidly looked it up........big big mistake and im now very anxious about it once more again tonight, but i am also thinking that since ive not felt much more since yesterday then thats a good thing???

thanks so much for all your advice on this issue, i was really petrified about it, and although im still worrying about it a bit, your advice has helped to more than halve my anxiety about it.
Im praying now that its on its way out of my life!!

[swgrl09]

Oh, I wouldn't worry about a calcium test. I forget if it is too much calcium or too little calcium can cause muscle twitching or cramping, that's all. I think magnesium too?