Twitching for two months

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

Hi all,

New poster here but have lurked for some time. I have had some body wide twitching for around two months now. It all started when I slept (passed out from drinking) on my arm funny and had a tingling sensation that lasted about a week and a finger twitch that lasted a few hours. The duration of the tingling sensation really threw me and had me very uneasy.

Of course I went to Dr. Google and within a week I felt like my calves were going nonstop. It has since moved on from my calves (still there but not as frequent) to my eyelid, eardrums, thighs, butt, and sometimes arms/shoulders. I feel like I am having at least 2-3 twitches in my body per minute.

For the first month I was an absolute panicked wreck and since have started seeing a psychotherapist weekly which has helped with a bit of CBT. I have also been to my GP a couple of times and have an appointment at a neurologist on October 29th.

I just feel like I cannot shake the constant thoughts about neurological disease with the relatively constant reminder (twitching).

Does anyone have any advice on how to cope?

Thanks

Nick

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

Having a really rough night. Just dont undertstand why this is happening to me. I cannot get ALS out of my mind. It is awful...

[TylerB]

https://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=196071


Read that as many times as you need to. It really helps.

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

Thanks Tyler.

I have my first Neuro appointment on the 29th. Have you gone through this twitching fiasco as well?

[coolman832]

I myself have been twitching everywhere everyday for about 5 to 6 months? It started when my doctor told me I had a vitamin deficiency and it is still continuing because my vitamin d level is still low. If you are under 18 im pretty sure it is pretty much impossible unless you have family members with ALS. I have only heard of teenagers and younger people getting ALS because it runs in the family. I have never heard of it just being random. Twitching is nothing really to worry about. If they annoy you so much I suggest taking magnesium pills or vitamin supplements. I am 100 percent positive you are worrying for no reason :D

---------- Post added at 20:37 ---------- Previous post was at 20:36 ----------

Also the more you think about it the more you will twitch. :D

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

I am 27 so not THAT young anymore but I would think still pretty young for that. Thanks for letting me know, I have been taking a magnesium supplement for about a week now and it hasn't really done anything yet.

Totally understand how thinking of it more makes you twitch though. Tonight I was watching Thursday night Football with a friend and at a few points i totally forgot about twitching and didn't twitch (at least didn't notice) and then once I realized that I hadn't thought about it I started twitching again.

[coolman832]

Yeah if you're only twitching when sitting down or in a stationary position not moving at all the twitching is one hundred percent anxiety. Also if you have any facial twitching specifically eyelid twitching the twitching as a whole is one hundred percent a vitamin deficiency. Also ALS doesn't start off as twitching at all( to prove it I challenge you to find a case where twitching was the FIRST symptom). ALS twitching also doesn't happen where its like you're arm twitches then your leg, then your finger, then your eyelid, then your face, and then your butt cheeks. ALS twitching is never ever body wide in the early stages. Its true most people with ALS have twitching its just like saying most people with ALS have are right handed. It doesn't mean anything. The only reason you should be worried about ALS is if there is hyperflexia, (over reactive reflexes which cannot be tested by yourself only by a doctor), Atrophy (can only be diagnosed by a doctor), and weakness. Now most people when they read about the weakness they start to strength testing themselves and start to feel "weak". This is not weakness rather perceived weakness. If you can stand on your tipy toes, run fast, walk straight, write with a pencil, type on a keyboard, you are perfectly healthy my guy :D Also you are under 30 years old just like me, the odds of it happening in general are 0.0004 but the fact that we are both under 30 brings our chances to a whopping 0.000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 000000( you get the idea)00000... Now if you are over 30 the chances are 0.0004, 0.0004 are the chances of you getting struck by lightning not once but twice, and if you are under 30 then the chances of you getting ALS are so ridiculously low that I would consider the chances to not be a terminal decimal but an irrational one that absolutely means it is pretty much impossible that you have ALS unless you have someone in your family with it. Even if you had a family member with it I still wouldn't buy lottery tickets for 2$ each based on how rare ALS is in the first place.

---------- Post added at 16:04 ---------- Previous post was at 15:44 ----------

I was also scared of having ALS for like two months but the fact is nobody ever ever has searched up their symptoms for ALS and got their diagnosis correct. In fact most people that are scared of a disease they think they have don't have it at all so just enjoy your life go with the flow forget about the twitching just move on and enjoy life :D Find a good past time like sports or maybe watch sports :D I know people who have been twitching everyday for almost 20 years they don't have ALS they are healthy and they weren't even scared when it started. They just ignored it because it is normal.

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

Thank you so much for your reply. Truly appreciate it.

[coolman832]

No worries just stop worrying :D

[Hypo84]

Twitching is completely harmless. You have what is called BFS ( Benign Fasciculation Syndrome).

I have the same thing. Eventually if you stop worrying about twitching it will stop, and then it will return again etc.

It can't be ALS.

[Dave4443]

I'm glad you said ear drum because I've been having that too haha

Have you had a lot of stress at all? New job etc mine started when my stress began and got worse when the stress ended...
Had a constant ear drum twitch for a few days now too, it's not als I had the fears too and if it was i doubt I would be able to gym as much as j do still.

It's just an annoyance, which causes anxiety, which causes more twitching

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

Thanks again to all for your replies. Helps so much.

Dave - such a weird one, right? I even get them downstairs which is so bizarre.

I got the twitches after a week where I was extremely stressed out about a mild concussion that I was on the receiving end of. I was constantly wondering if my brain fog would ever go away or if I was now living in a new normal. There was also a tingling in my thumb and pointer finger that just wouldn't go away. Eventually it did, but then the twitches began. I was constantly checking different health websites and I am sure you know how all that ends up.

I have just started lifting again and it seems to help assuage some of the fears, but I think (hope) that time will be the best remedy.

[Aet1999]

Hi, I have had twitching for about 6 years now, everywhere on my body. Usually the same place for a couple of weeks, then it will switch up a bit. I was really worried when it first happened but its something I'm used to now, it's been 6 years and nothing bad has happened due to a disease or anything like that, it's just part of anxiety. I hope this might make you feel a bit better about what you are going through x

[NancyW]

I personally know 4 people who died of ALS, non of them twitched..

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

This is super embarrassing. Does anyone else get twitches of the anus? I am cringing typing this question but just wanted to throw it out there lol.

[Fishmanpa]

This is super embarrassing. Does anyone else get twitches of the anus? I am cringing typing this question but just wanted to throw it out there lol.

No, but I've had Porch Cramps (https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Porch%20Cramp) (and this is actually my word living in infamy! ~lol~)

Positive thoughts

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

Haha, that is awesome!

[coolman832]

Yes my left butt cheek occasionally wants to get in on the action :blush:

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

So - I had my neuro appointment today. The Dr. did a full clinical neurological examination. Tested my strength, reflexes, and balance.

She found nothing remarkable or any weakness or anything. She diagnosed me with benign fasiculation syndrome. I am trying so hard to just accept it and move one. She did not even mention an EMG and I am curious why she wouldn't bring it up at all.

[LeFi_81]

Tell us how your Appointment with the neurologist went. as I think many People deal with twitching Problems.

Take care.

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

The appointment went well. She seemed unconcerned and gave me the diagnosis of benign fasiculation syndrome. She mentioned that it was probably post-viral and that it may subside or may stick with me for quite a while.

She did also mention that my anxiety about it being something sinister was probably making me hyper-aware and that I probably was twitching before as well (maybe not as much) but not noticing it.

Anyways, my only question is it seems like a lot of people on here and also on aboutbfs.com got EMGs and my neurologist didn't even mention that as an option. I should probably feel good about that but here I am lol.

[PotatoKing]

Yo,



I had very similar symptoms. Twitching all over body, after the bouts of twitching my legs would feel tired it almost felt like I could barely stand. Had seen neuros, that laughed at me when I asked about ALS as the reflexes were fine. They didn't do an EMG either. And I really really wanted to go to another neurologist because I felt that maybe she didn't consider my symptoms serious enough... But then..



Then I have started to notice the pattern for the twitching. It has started when I was severely stressed at work. I had almost stopped when was on holiday as I literally didn't have time to worry. It has returned with force when I read more and more about ALS. It was significantly reduced when I have started seeing therapist about HA problems. It then had returned when I had to work super long hours again... Well, you get the idea. That has been almost a year of twitching now. Some days I don't feel it, some days I feel like my muscles are operating completely separately from my wishes and hopes, sometimes I feel cramps ...



So don't relapse. You probably not gonna stop twitching, but ir our case - twitching is normal.

[AndtheDrumsGoOn]

Thanks PotatoKing, appreciate your response. Feels good to be in this together!

[JMV12]

I started twitching all over about a month ago. It happens randomly and mainly when I am not moving around too much, especially while in bed. I went to a few different doctors, including a neurologist, and they pretty much suggested it was all stress related and that I should visit a psychologist. The neuro did order an MRI of my brain and cervicals to rule out anything, and he said was completely normal, as well as other basic reflex tests. I haven't had an EMG done, but since I don't really notice any severe weakness, I'll hold off on that for now :)

The only differences with my case and that only a few people have mentioned as well are that it really all started with tingling/numbness in my left hand about 6 weeks ago, which then spread to my other limbs over just a few days. Sometimes I get pain and cramps, especially in my legs and if I walk around a lot (which I have to do for work.) Another thing is that the fascs didn't really start until after I read about what I call the Big One and saw that all the pages I visited mentioned them as a common symptom. Yet another thing I go through is that I would read how breathing became impossible in the later stages, so of course I started to believe that I couldn't breathe properly and started to yawn uncontrollably without pulling in any air, even to the point of having to develop a breathing/relaxation exercise to calm myself down. Sometimes it takes minutes, sometimes up to an hour . . . but doing other things helps with it as well, like chewing gum, drinking water, eating a snack, or just keeping my mind busy with a task like playing guitar or singing. If I really couldn't breathe or had any kind of motor neuron problem, I wouldn't be able to do most or any of those things . . . right?

I'm becoming slowly convinced that it must be some sort of emotionally triggered event, especially after reading posts on this forum. I had a major negative emotional experience a few months ago, and I guess I didn't grieve properly in the sense that I didn't cry or felt depressed about it, really. I don't really show clinical weakness (though I do test my limbs throughout the day), I certainly don't have atrophy, don't stumble or fall or drop things, and no speech problems. None of that, as of yet, and hopefully never . . .

So yeah, tingling and numbness in my hands and feet, cramps and some muscle pain in my back and legs, random fascs, and random weird episodes with my breathing. That's what I'm currently dealing with . . . but if it were anything more serious, like the Big One, I guess the MRI and/or the neurologist or the other Drs. I visited would have seen it.