Muscle twitches please help me!!

[SheilaH921]

The muscles in my left leg wont stop twitching. It is driving me mad! I am googling like crazy and im terrified i have als. I literaly cant take anymore of this :weep:

I was at the doctor yesterday and he didnt even look at my leg or anything. He thinks its all anxiety causing the twitches. I am super stressed at the minute. I had a baby 4 weeks ago and i havent slept or eaten at all. I am trying to tell myself all this stress has caused the twitching. But now ive read scare stories on google and i cant let this fear go.

The twitching is mainly in my left leg but I do get somw in other places. I feel weird tingles all over in random places. When I look at my legs I can see the muscle twitching so its not like im imagining it.

Please tell me someone else has this too? I really am not coping with this symptom :lac:

[Mrschurchill]

Hi Shiela,

Firstly - congratulations on your new baby!
Sedondly - one twitching muscle isn't enought to warrant an ALS diagnosis! You've just had a baby! You're body will be so out of wack that the lack of sleep alone could be the reason your muscle is twitching! I get a twitchy eyelid when I am tired!

Enjoy your new baby! x

[SheilaH921]

Its my whole left leg twitching in different places all the time. Its the most awful feeling. I just dont get how stress/anxiety would make this happen in just one leg. I really am terrified :weep:

[ServerError]

You don't need to "get it". Just accept that it can. Anxiety can cause almost anything. I've had localised twitching due to anxiety and I won't be the only one.

[SheilaH921]

But how can i accept its anxiety when its the exact same symptom as als and other terrifying illnesses :(

[ServerError]

Because a doctor told you. And doctors know. Choosing not to trust a doctor is a sure fire path to never getting the answers you want from anywhere.

And diseases like ALS involve more than just a bitch of twitching.

Or, to answer your question more broadly, because a life in which you fear every twitch is a sign of a rare illness like ALS is no life at all.

[Jem21]

I had exactly the same problem with my left eye a couple of years ago, it drove me nuts for a couple of weeks then just went away. I put it down to stress or being tired.

[SheilaH921]

ServerError the doctor didnt even do anything to check what could be causing the twitches. He just automatically assumed anxiety...

[ServerError]

What would you have liked him to do?

[SheilaH921]

Look at the twitches, do a neurological exam - testing reflexes etc. And refer me to a neurologist? ......

[ServerError]

Why would he do any of that he saw no need? Why do you not trust your doctor? If everyone with a twitch was referred to a neurologist, how do you think your health service would cope?

Sometimes doctors are a bit rubbish at explaining anxiety properly to us, mainly because appointments are so short, but if your doctor saw anything to be concerned about, you'd have been told.

A simple twitch is not an indication of any need for a neurologist exam, nor of a need to see a neurologist.

I speak of someone experienced in the delights of twitching.

[SheilaH921]

Even if its one whole leg thats twitching all over and this is a major symptom of als :/

[ServerError]

I know it's scary because it's happening to you, but your doctor is in a better place to assess your symptoms than you are. Yes, ALS patients do twitch, but it is not an illness that generally presents with a twitch. I don't want to go into too much detail because you don't have ALS, so it's irrelevant.

By all means, go back to your doctor and explain your fear. You might get a neuro exam, but I doubt you'll get a referral. Would that be enough for you? At some point you will have to address the real cause of your twitch and if your catastrophic reaction to it.

[SheilaH921]

I cant stop crying. I am a mess. Ive locked myself in my bedroom and have broke down.

I will explain a bit more. I have just been through a huge trauma. When i was pregnant i had huge problems that was life threatening to me and my baby. I had to spend a month in hospital on bedrest, that was 2 months ago. I had to be on 4 hourly observations the whole time to make sure me or thr baby didnt catch an infection. When i was on bedrest i was told i needed to inject myself because i had high risk of blood clots in my legs. I then obsessed over this fear. I examined my legs constantly and googled blood clots all the time. I was sure i would get one, my mind was in overdrive. I then began to show signs of infection and they decided to induce me so i would have my son 6 weeks early. During labour my placenta abrupted and i hemorraged. I lost 1500mls of blood and me or the baby could have died. I cold feel the blood pouring out of me, i begged the doctors to tell me i was ok yet no one would answer me. I was rushed to theatre to have an emergency section. My recovery has been hell, my wound got infected, ive had 5 sets of antibiotics in the laat 2 months. My son was born with breathing problems, he got out of special care 2 weeks ago. Since then he has had lots of problems, i have had to take him to a&e three times.

That leads me to now. I havent had any proper sleep in months. I dont eat in days. I spend my time like a zombie looking after my son and the rest of it googling and worrying over these damn twitches in my left leg. I want to believe so badly that it has to be stress and anxiety. Especially when i think about what ive been through. But i cant get rid of the crippling fear that this is something more serious. I want to be happy. I want to enjoy my son. I hate this fear im stuck in this horrendous cycle of unhappiness. I just dont know what to do....

[ServerError]

I'm really sorry to hear what a hard time you've had. It stands to reason you would be struggling in the wake of all that. You must seek support in order to allow you to begin to deal with all you've had to go through, especially emotionally.

To focus on the worry that is currently getting to you so severely, it is clear that you are deeply anxious and finding things tough psychologically. Your nervous system is almost certainly out of synch in response to this and is triggering your twitches - yes, it can be focused on one area. You fight-or-flight response is also tweaked and contributing to you catastrophising your symptoms. It's classic of an anxiety disorder to do this. ALS fears are common on this board. I've worried about it before until I just stopped caring about my twitches. It's a rare condition, especially in younger people, and you don't have it. But you do have a psychological disorder that makes it hard for you to accept that, even from a doctor.

Have a read of the sticky thread about MS in the top part of this forum. It references ALS as well and is a superb post.

Nobody can tell you that you'll never get ALS, but you don't have it now. Despite that, ALS is still tearing you apart, and you need to address that. Oh, and don't Google the subject ever again.

I wish you all the best as you deal with this, I really do.

[KeeKee]

You sound very stressed and have clearly been through a traumatic time, it's no the wonder you are twitching like mad.

I don't believe they're anything sinister though, I'm not an expert of course but it's a worry many, many of us have had at one point or another and it either eases off in time or we just get used to it.

It's still early days for you, has anybody offered you any therapy or anything to deal with what you've been through? I think anybody would be struggling after what you've been through.

The twitching is horrible, I know that as a while back my calf was twitching constantly, without even a second break for almost a full day. I'd never experience it before. I also get twitches in my upper thighs and bum after I've been for a walk.

I think counselling would be good for you, you have been through a lot, I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

[Josh1234]

I've twitched every single day for 8 months in a row. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of twitches per day. It's called Benign Fasciculation Syndrome. ALS is a disease of WEAKNESS, not twitching. ALS is a very rare disease, and the amount of people who start with twitching before weakness is said to be less than 1%. Do the math. A very rare disease, and only 1% or less present in the manner you do. You have a better chance of being shot walking down the street today while carrying a winning lottery ticket.

[SheilaH921]

I wish it was that easy to let this go. How do you cope with the twitching Josh? Its the fact mine is in one leg mainly, everythig online says thats a bad sign and bfs is usually all over the body. Thats why im so scared :(

[Josh1234]

I wish it was that easy to let this go. How do you cope with the twitching Josh? Its the fact mine is in one leg mainly, everythig online says thats a bad sign and bfs is usually all over the body. Thats why im so scared :(

I was quite scared for a while, admittedly. I joined a BFS group on Facebook, and after talking to over a thousand people like me, I became less scared.

Also, I know several people personally who mainly twitch in one limb.

Stop reading Google. Like, today. Stop. It's full of BS. Twitching without weakness or upper motor symptoms like spasticity, don't mean anything. I've had every type of twitch, tingle, burning, painful sensation you can imagine with this crap.

[ServerError]

I wish it was that easy to let this go. How do you cope with the twitching Josh? Its the fact mine is in one leg mainly, everythig online says thats a bad sign and bfs is usually all over the body. Thats why im so scared :(

It actually is "that easy". It's just that you have to truly see it and understand it. That's the hard bit.

Try to realise that you've not come to any harm from this twitching so far. Josh explains it very well. Just live it with it for the time being. What other choice do you have?

[SheilaH921]

Im still consumed with fear over these twitches :(

[Dave_Lister]

Hey Sheila, I was going through what you went through with ALS scare, and if there is not clinical weakness with twitching then you do not have ALS.

I have been worried about it too, and I have come to realize that it is my HA causing this irrational behavior ie: fear.

[NancyW]

A few years ago my eye was twitching something fierce for weeks.

My husband and I were visiting frI ends of ours and we got into a laughing jag about lord knows what, but my sides were hurting from laughing so hard.

When it was all said and done, my eye quit twitching.

Please don't underestimate what your nerves can do.

[Ronan23]

I went through something similar many times. I think we underestimate how powerful the mind body connection really is. I often get these horrible twitches known as fasiculations, and I've more than once convinced myself that im going to die from ALS. The truth is that it's just anxiety. The challenge is getting your mindset to a place where you can realize that there is in fact nothing wrong.

[SheilaH921]

Just to let people know, its 2 years since I made this post. I am still twitching, no other symptoms! Theres a definite link with how much I twitch and my stress levels! Dont worry if you twitch too, it really doesnt mean anything nasty, I havent even seen a neurologist and dont feel like I need to