Muscle twitches wake you fom your sleep

[LauraWoo84]

Hi all

It's been a few weeks since I have posted anything on here as I'm being focusing lot of my energy on conquering my health anxiety. I have been reading a lot of self help books, I've been exercising, eating healthy and getting as much sleep as I can. I've also been receiving hypnotherapy treatment and reflexology.

I have been improving day by day however I have inflammatory bowel disease which seems to be going through a flare up at the moment. I also seem to be spasming all over at various points, I spasmedvso much in my left breast that it woke me from my sleep and I was scared I was having a heart attack. Does anyone else suffer with muscle spasms/twitches and if so what techniques, foods, lotions, supplements etc do you take to help control the twitching. I don't feel particularly action at the moment but I guess something, somewhere is making me anxious after all I am on an anxiety forum

[Light_Bringer777]

Muscle spasm and cramps are my biggest issues right now with fatigue. Sadly I haven't found any solutions so far. Tried massages and magnesium, been on muscles relaxants on and off for a few weeks now. Would be interested in hearing what others might have found!

[LauraWoo84]

Muscle spasm and cramps are my biggest issues right now with fatigue. Sadly I haven't found any solutions so far. Tried massages and magnesium, been on muscles relaxants on and off for a few weeks now. Would be interested in hearing what others might have found!

Thanks for taking the time to respond Light I really do appreciate. The muscles that twitch The most at the moment are my stomach and either side of my neck. What muscle relaxants are you on if you don't mind me asking. I have had numerous blood tests, X-rays etc but they can't seem to find a cause for the twitching.

[Light_Bringer777]

Just regular methocarbamol and ibuprofen. Doesn't solve the issue but makes it much more manageable for a few hours in my case. Worst spots are the front and sides of my neck and sometimes to the sides of my chest, like under the arms. Dentist said it might be TMJ in my case and I'm getting a mouthguard in just a week. Fingers crossed.

[LauraWoo84]

Just regular methocarbamol and ibuprofen. Doesn't solve the issue but makes it much more manageable for a few hours in my case. Worst spots are the front and sides of my neck and sometimes to the sides of my chest, like under the arms. Dentist said it might be TMJ in my case and I'm getting a mouthguard in just a week. Fingers crossed.


Hi light what is tmj is it to do with clenching your teeth as I do that everyday

[popejoan]

Yes I have them all over. I would recommend magnesium and Vitamin B complex. It's nothing to worry about, it's only anxiety.

[Light_Bringer777]

Hi light what is tmj is it to do with clenching your teeth as I do that everyday

Yeah sorry TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint, the jaw articulation that is just in front of the ear. I'm just used to writing TMJ for any TMJ disorder. It can give any sort of symptoms and pains to the face, jaw, neck and shoulders.

As I understand it clenching and grinding are not exactly the same as TMJ issue but they often go hand in hand (I clench too).

[Anonybrit]

It should help first of all to remind yourself that 1) twitches are extremely common in anxiety and that 2) there aren't really any serious conditions that cause "random twitches here and there without any actual weakness". You can even have pain with anxiety twitches and it wouldn't be unusual.

The fact that they wake you from sleep sounds a bit odd but I would be willing to be that you are sleeping badly, having anxious dreams, and waking with a start.

Ofc, you should mention all these things to your GP so they can examine you but do just know that what you describe is very common.

With twitches it seems to be that the more you think about them, the worse they get. I'm not sure what the mechanism behind this is, but it really seems to be the case. So the more you can ignore them the better, they will eventually fade and only ever crop up when you're really anxious, and probably never be as bad as they are now again in the future. At leas that's how it has panned out for me, although I'm being plagued by an eyelid twitch lately myself! Everybody has to suffer those from time to time!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yeah sorry TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint, the jaw articulation that is just in front of the ear. I'm just used to writing TMJ for any TMJ disorder. It can give any sort of symptoms and pains to the face, jaw, neck and shoulders.

As I understand it clenching and grinding are not exactly the same as TMJ issue but they often go hand in hand (I clench too).

I've been through 6 months of facial myalgia due to grinding in my sleep and my dentist gave me an exercise which helped a bit and in the end mine went on its own. Clenching & grinding seem to be a cause. I didn't go the nightguard route though as I had read that they can be different to sleep with and I really didn't want to interupt my sleep at that bad time.

The exercise, in case its any use, is in this thread which also includes a link to a previous edition to a book I have on trigger points which may be of use as it covers TMJ:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=166483

In terms of twitching, I found it was always more common & intense when I was at the worst stagees of my anxiety. As I started to recovery, it went away on its own but I still get them from time to time but they are nothing now and don't bother me. I can remember the strong ones that make your arms & legs suddenly shoot out...it was like I wasn't in control of my own limbs at times!

[LauraWoo84]

I've been through 6 months of facial myalgia due to grinding in my sleep and my dentist gave me an exercise which helped a bit and in the end mine went on its own. Clenching & grinding seem to be a cause. I didn't go the nightguard route though as I had read that they can be different to sleep with and I really didn't want to interupt my sleep at that bad time.

The exercise, in case its any use, is in this thread which also includes a link to a previous edition to a book I have on trigger points which may be of use as it covers TMJ:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=166483

In terms of twitching, I found it was always more common & intense when I was at the worst stagees of my anxiety. As I started to recovery, it went away on its own but I still get them from time to time but they are nothing now and don't bother me. I can remember the strong ones that make your arms & legs suddenly shoot out...it was like I wasn't in control of my own limbs at times!

Thanks terry, I will have a look at the link. I'm fed up of twitching and after almost constant twitching for almost two years way before I got health anxiety I worry that there is serious nerve damage happening.

I'm trying magnesium at the moment in the hope that this may help to calm things

[Emilym80]

I take chelated magnesium, which seems to reduce the amount of twitching I notice considerably. Maybe try doing something you find really relaxing right before bed, as it might help you to drift off more quickly or be less preoccupied by the twitching. If certain areas are bothering you more than others, it could be worth getting a heat pack onto them to relax the muscle; maybe that'll stop some of it?

Best wishes

[LauraWoo84]

I take chelated magnesium, which seems to reduce the amount of twitching I notice considerably. Maybe try doing something you find really relaxing right before bed, as it might help you to drift off more quickly or be less preoccupied by the twitching. If certain areas are bothering you more than others, it could be worth getting a heat pack onto them to relax the muscle; maybe that'll stop some of it?

Best wishes

I do meditation and drink a sleepy tea which does help but not all the time, I also seem to have a really strong pulse in my neck which is constant and you can physically see which I am wondering if that is linked to the twitching