View Full Version : Twitiching
Ok Ive had muscle twitching for about 7 weeks now. My Gp says it's Anxiety, but i keep thinking Motor Nurone Disease/ALS.
Ive managed not to google for a few weeks and have started to feel better mentally, (but still the twitches and other symptoms persist.) However i just googled ALS Patient stories to find out their first sypmtoms. I was confident that it would confirm my feelings, that i have anxiety, but it did the opposite.
One woman described the muscle twitching as Popcorn Sensations in her leg.
I actaully get this feeling. This woman was also passed off by drs as having Anxiety.
I have 2 types of twitches:
- 1 single twitch, which is like a pop, or bubble feeling in my muscle which lasts for 1 second only. I get these all over.
- Vibration of a muscle which vibrate for a 2 - 4 seconds
Who else gets these ? Are they both the same thing ?
My other symptoms include a weak feeling left arm. The muscles in my upper arm hurt a bit...... a bit more like a dull ache when i use my left arm. I would rate the pain a 3 out of 10.
Im also getting this minor jerking feeling. Sometimes it occurs in my legs in which the leg moves ever so slightly. Other times it feels as if my upper body wants to jerk. Feels like its comming from my waist and obdomen area. The Dr said the twitches and jerking were all related.
Overall, how long is this ment to last. Having all these symptoms is 100% abnormal for me which is why im having so much trouble believing it.
If your Dr says Anxiety then say to him: '' Ok, then treat me for it''!!
It's not nice to have someone tell you yeah it's anxiety go home.
He is a Dr, so try and treat the anxiety and if it does not improve then your Dr will know what to do next.
Just make sure you get treated for anxiety.
Also the twitches you are talking about are sooo normal for anxiety.
I thought I had ms at one stage but really what are the chances of actually having a moto neuron disease??? really slim!!
Ignore the twitching but scream at your Dr to treat you for anxiety.
:)
milly jones
19-06-08, 11:59
hi hun
i get several different types of twitches etc due to anx
i get a eye tic which happens when im really under pressure
i get leg jerking especially at night
i get a sort of warm wave over my thighs after ive been anxious
i get a shiver down my spine after an anx situation
i put them all down to muscular activity either before or after a potential pa, when the muscles are tensing or relaxing
hope that helps hun
milly xxx
precious78
19-06-08, 13:05
I get muscle twitching all the time. And I have thought exactly the same as you. I googled too much and almost sent myself mad with worry.
I get tingling in my legs all the time. Sometimes when I have been bending over my legs shake (I think this is because I have tight hamstrings now but at the time I thought I had MS).
I get constant twitching in my calves, especially at night when I am tryignt o relax.
Also I noticed you posted about arthritis type symptoms. I have got this now too. I keep getting aches and pains in my joints so I am convinced this is something bad. Especially my wrists which ache.
My shoulders are really bad as well. I keep getting grating sounds when I move my shoulders, also snapping sounds like the tendons are tight. I think it must all be tension but it is so easy to convince yourself it's something else.
itoldyouiwasill
19-06-08, 13:08
Ok Ive had muscle twitching for about 7 weeks now. My Gp says it's Anxiety, but i keep thinking Motor Nurone Disease/ALS.
Ive managed not to google for a few weeks and have started to feel better mentally, (but still the twitches and other symptoms persist.) However i just googled ALS Patient stories to find out their first sypmtoms. I was confident that it would confirm my feelings, that i have anxiety, but it did the opposite.
One woman described the muscle twitching as Popcorn Sensations in her leg.
I actaully get this feeling. This woman was also passed off by drs as having Anxiety.
I have 2 types of twitches:
- 1 single twitch, which is like a pop, or bubble feeling in my muscle which lasts for 1 second only. I get these all over.
- Vibration of a muscle which vibrate for a 2 - 4 seconds
Who else gets these ? Are they both the same thing ?
My other symptoms include a weak feeling left arm. The muscles in my upper arm hurt a bit...... a bit more like a dull ache when i use my left arm. I would rate the pain a 3 out of 10.
Im also getting this minor jerking feeling. Sometimes it occurs in my legs in which the leg moves ever so slightly. Other times it feels as if my upper body wants to jerk. Feels like its comming from my waist and obdomen area. The Dr said the twitches and jerking were all related.
Overall, how long is this ment to last. Having all these symptoms is 100% abnormal for me which is why im having so much trouble believing it.
All over twitching is not indicative of a ALS/MND presentation in the least. The twitching in MND is pretty much the last act of a dead muscle and it comes after objective muscle weakness and objective atrophy. To equate twitching alone with ALS/MND is out of date and totally incorrect.
How long is it meant to last? My twitching, aching, buzzing, vibrating, cramping etc etc has been going on for pretty much a year to the day! It will last as long as it takes for your bodies nervous system to reset itself and too recover from the damage that accumulated anxiety has done to it....the longer you interpret these sensations as the symptoms of a terminal disease the longer you will go on stressing your CNS and therefore the longer you will stay in the loop.
I do not Google my sensations any longer as from an early stage it became quite obvious to me that no good or reassurance will come from it. You say you wanted to find evidence that your sensations where anxiety and not ALS, well instead of going to an ALS board just look at all the anxiety boards that are chock-a-block with people who twitch and who have twitched for years and who suffer from anxiety....why would you be any different?
I do not think it is fair that you bring back ALS testimonies to this sort of forum. People choose not to Google as you can stumble across totally unverified and untributed information that you can take as fact and that will send you into a downward spiral....you have obviously done this and I supsect you then get the urge to have to share this information is order to purge and 'share out' the anxiety that this has caused you, this is not fair as people who visit here may not, by definition, be mentally strong enough themselves at this moment in their lives to handle this.
ALS and MS are incredibly common concerns of health anxiety sufferers and this is because that they effect the same part of the body. You need to accept that ALS and MS symptoms are caused by organic disease whilst anxiety sensations are caused in the first instance by our minds and that this then gets reflected physically....ever so real but benign and ultimatly controlable.
We are going through exactly the same process at the moment – except that you fear ALS and I fear MS. We think we feel almost ok mentally (despite the fact that most of the time we are always thinking about our worst fear – I’m thinking of keeping a record of how often it pops into my head) but still get weird physical symptoms. Then we have situations where it gets too much for us and we give in and end up googling. This is when the fun really begins. We find patient stories of people who seem to have exactly the same symptoms we have. I totally understand why you have done this and I'm sure lots of other people here have done this too! We panic and either make our symptoms worse (which should be the main clue that this is all caused by anxiety), or we get brand new symptoms which alarm us even more. It’s an endless cycle.
I’m not exactly sure how we put this thing to bed other than to accept what we are told and to stop looking for something that’s actually not there – but as all health anxiety sufferers know, this is the hardest thing to do.
I’m not actually sure why I keep searching for answers on a website when I have actually been told by GPs, neurologists etc that I don’t have a progressive illness. Its actually quite bizarre to trust the writings of people we have never met and know nothing of over our doctors – people who have actually seen us several times, listened to our symptoms and, based on years and years of experience and extensive training, have made a diagnosis. It’s completely illogical!
Pschyologically I believe I am in a very destructive place at the moment and I want proper help with getting well again (and not just to be sent away having been told I’m just anxious) – has your doctor offered any practical solution to you dealing with your anxiety? Meds or counselling or both?
My symptoms have been ongoing since mid-late March. I’ve never had any of these things prior to this. Some days I am ok and some are not so ok. I’ve had the twitching and the vibration thing. Anxiety – I’m certain of it.
We all have to try to beat this. We only have one life and I know for a fact that this is ruining mine…I’m sure you would agree with that sentiment?
itoldyouiwasill
19-06-08, 13:59
Yes veebee, the problem is that we feel that we are blown off by our GP's when we get the 'just' anxiety explanation. The problem is that we do not get any explanation as to how anxiety effects us physically and also why it produces the sensations it does!.....there is no such thing as 'just' anxiety, anxiety is a chronic and debilitating condition that can last years if not dealt with correctly.
What I discovered is that you have to be very proactive with this condition. In the UK you either get chucked a med script and a 14 day sick paper and/or if you are lucky some Cognitive Behaviour Therapy that you have to wait 18 months for...how useful!!
Instead of researching and looking into the disease you do not have, get the smarts about what you do have anxiety!...once you understand all about anxiety and how you fall victim to it you can then start to investigate why you have developed health anxiety and then get an understanding as to the bigger picture.
All these weird and wonderful sensations are like a single piece of a jigsaw puzzle, when you only have the one piece your focus is totally on it and you will make wild guesses as to what it actually is. Once you get proactive you will get more and more pieces and this in turn will enable you to see the bigger picture....it will then dawn on you that the truth and what that first piece actually was is a million miles removed from all the fears you originally harboured.
You will find that as soon as you accept and lose the fear over a sensation a new one will pop along to replace it. This symptom shifting is the ultimate betrayer of anxiety as it is your anxiety trying to survive, anxiety can only thrive on anxiety so as soon as you start to remove it it needs to up it's game and this new sensation is the best way it knows to do this....you will then have another week, month or whatever stuck back in the loop until you accept that sensations and then BAM, another pops up and we start all over again.
There are no easy answers, what I would say is that ultimatly, in order to escape the loop you do have to take a leap of faith and trust that you do not have an organic illness, easier said than done but this is a prerequisite for recovery and some people will do this a lot earlier in the process than others.
This is about your deepest darkest fears, worries, angst and thoughts....you may think this this all started out of the blue but as you build up the picture I'm sure that things will fall into place and you will realise what really needs to be focussed on.
I am totally 100% convinced that anxiety is all about us not understanding the mind/body connection and refusing to believe the power that our minds have on our bodies when rage, emotion, sorrow etc etc are somatised into physical sensations....I strongly recommend some delving into this school of thought as the rewards are huge.
If your Dr says Anxiety then say to him: '' Ok, then treat me for it''!!
It's not nice to have someone tell you yeah it's anxiety go home.
He is a Dr, so try and treat the anxiety and if it does not improve then your Dr will know what to do next.
Just make sure you get treated for anxiety.
Also the twitches you are talking about are sooo normal for anxiety.
I thought I had ms at one stage but really what are the chances of actually having a moto neuron disease??? really slim!!
Ignore the twitching but scream at your Dr to treat you for anxiety.
:)
Well he did give me a script for "Mianserin Hydrochloride Tablet"
But i looked up the side effects and it said twitching, so i thought how would i know if the medication was working if i kept getting twitching.
Im not too keen in taking medication anyway
I do not think it is fair that you bring back ALS testimonies to this sort of forum. People choose not to Google as you can stumble across totally unverified and untributed information that you can take as fact and that will send you into a downward spiral....you have obviously done this and I supsect you then get the urge to have to share this information is order to purge and 'share out' the anxiety that this has caused you, this is not fair as people who visit here may not, by definition, be mentally strong enough themselves at this moment in their lives to handle this.
I understand what you are saying here, and agree with you in regards to pasting negative information however i did not have an urge to share out my anxiety and push it on to others if thats what your suggesting.
I get twitching if I get over stimulated by the TV or there is too much going on
itoldyouiwasill
19-06-08, 17:26
I understand what you are saying here, and agree with you in regards to pasting negative information however i did not have an urge to share out my anxiety and push it on to others if thats what your suggesting.
I apologise if it came across as me suggesting that this was done in like a vindictive or selfish nature. What I was getting at with the comment is that from my own experience, if you are anxious about something you want some reassurance that this anxiety is illogical or ill founded...if you are then able to put someone 'in your shoes' it will then either confirm or refute your doubts...I know for me this is often done on a subconcious level and it is only when I look back on it that I realise I have done it.
Whenever I post in threads about MS/ALS I now take great care in what I write and how I phrase things as scared people will often read things into posts that are just not there.
Just going back to what you were saying about meds...that's the thing that drives me nuts about GPs, they very often prescribe something that has the same side effects as the thing you were prescribed it for in the first place.
Madness!
itoldyouiwasill
19-06-08, 20:10
Just going back to what you were saying about meds...that's the thing that drives me nuts about GPs, they very often prescribe something that has the same side effects as the thing you were prescribed it for in the first place.
Madness!
Indeed.
This is the very reason I have refused meds all along. My mental anxiety is under control and I am just waiting for my CNS to reset itself....I don't feel meds will help with this side of things. I see little point in taking a med that can cause dizzyness, tingling, pins and needles and twitching when these are the very things that I'm hoping to eradicate.
Can I ask - you say you have anx under control and are waiting on your CNS to reset. How do you stay in control if there are still physical symptoms borne out of anxiety present? mind over matter?
itoldyouiwasill
19-06-08, 21:09
Can I ask - you say you have anx under control and are waiting on your CNS to reset. How do you stay in control if there are still physical symptoms borne out of anxiety present? mind over matter?
Before I answer that, can I ask what you understand mind over matter to mean?
Well he did give me a script for "Mianserin Hydrochloride Tablet"
But i looked up the side effects and it said twitching, so i thought how would i know if the medication was working if i kept getting twitching.
Im not too keen in taking medication anyway
it doesn't hurt to try, give it a month and even then you may need to try a few to find one that suits you, anti d's have such a bad rep, everyone thinks you take them and then you go numb and start drooling or something
my paroxetine has loads of side affect warnings in the leaflet but i have not had any except for an upset tummy and that went away after a week of use.
mind over matter...I guess i mean trying to understand what the physical stuff might actually really mean. so instead of thinking 'this feeling/symptom means that I have this (ie some neurological disease)' I would try to to instead think (using what I have already been told by doc/neuro) that symtom x is yet another symptom of anxiety disorder. so i suppose I mean trying to be rational about the situation instead of panicking and jumping to conclusions (does this make sense??!!)
I get the exact same twitches as you and I worry about als constantly. Neurologist said anxiety. Do you get them in your hands and feet as well? I started getting them when I started on Citalopram so I thought it was a side effect of meds but I went off them a while ago and the twitching got worse. I also get the vibrations and a buzzing feeling in a foot or hand. It's so hard to believe that anxiety can cause twitching like this. Right when i relax and sometimes not even when relaxing I will get twitches everywhere and they seem to be getting more violent where I can see it clearly when I look at it. My fingers and toes may move occasionally. Does anyone else get them as bad as me?
itoldyouiwasill
20-06-08, 00:21
mind over matter...I guess i mean trying to understand what the physical stuff might actually really mean. so instead of thinking 'this feeling/symptom means that I have this (ie some neurological disease)' I would try to to instead think (using what I have already been told by doc/neuro) that symtom x is yet another symptom of anxiety disorder. so i suppose I mean trying to be rational about the situation instead of panicking and jumping to conclusions (does this make sense??!!)
Yes, it does indeed make sense.
My anxiety never manifested itself in the 'traditional' sense of panic attacks and palps etc. I had quite a severe stressor (health related) a year ago and was convinced I was going to die, this scare was quickly resolved and in the space of a week to 10 days I went from sheer terror that I was going to die to unmitigated relief that I was fine.
Exactly one week after I had the all clear I woke in the morning to feeling completly spaced out and dizzy, this lasted for about 6 weeks and disapeared to be replaced by the muscle aches and cramps, twitching, internal vibrating & buzzing sensation, aching joints, percieved weakness etc etc.
As I have looked into what anxiety actually is and how it effects us, I quickly came to see that we often think that is strikes out of the blue, one day we are fine and the next BAM it all starts...I looked back over my life and came to realise that I had actually suffered from depression, GAD and OCD pretty much all my life but had self medicated on things such as junk food, compulsive shopping amongst other things, it dawned on me my 'breakdown' was inevitable and had actually crept up on me over 20 years...that final stressor was the straw that broke the camels back and was the final anxiety overload that withdrew the last of my overdraft from my anxiety bank....I have an awful lot to pay back!!
What I had to counter first of all was two contradictions that bugged the hell out of me. The first of these was, how was this anxiety?...no panic attacks or palps just these strange and weird sensations, nope, my mind was screaming at me, this is MS or ALS or Lupus or Parkinsons etc etc and YOU need to do something about it now. As I started to research the subject it became obvious that many people actually experience anxiety purely on the physical and often nervous system level, these are the people who have pushed the nervous system to breaking point with anxiety and have screwed up the anxiety regulator, this can take years to do and you do not even notice it until you go into the red and then the fun and games begin. My anxiety was health anxiety in that I was totally fixated on these sensations and interpreted them as MS or ALS. What I then realised was that once anxiety had effected the nervous system the sensations produced would actually mirror the symptoms of a neurological condition as it was effecting the same neural pathways....the huge difference being is that the symptoms of ALS/MS etc where generated by an organic illness whilst the sensations of anxiety originated from the mind and where then converted into the body.
What I believe is a huge stumbling block and what was my second concern was, why the hell is my GP telling me that this is anxiety when I'm not anxious?? Once again, when I realised as to how anxiety effects the body this made perfect sense to me. I use this example....if I ate junk food for 20 years I would be overweight, unfit and feeling pretty rubbish..if I then went on a diet, I would no longer be eating junk food, I would be eating fruit and vegetables, one part of the equation has changed BUT, I would still be overweight....just because I had changed what I was eating this doesn't mean I would be slim, healthy and feeling fantastic, I would have 20 years of bad eating habits to make up for and the weight would take a while to shift....ever been on a diet?? ever noticed how frustrating and annoying it is that even though you are eating well the weight falls off slowly?? Well, you can apply that to anxiety and those physical sensations, those sensations are the accumulation of bad anxiety management and once you switch to good anxiety management you cannot expect them to just disappear....anxiety has actually had a physical effect on your CNS and it can take an awfully long time for this to be reset. It doesn't take a professor to work out that the more accepting and relaxed we are during this period then the quicker our recovery will be. Every time we interpret a twitch as ALS or an internal buzz as MS we kick off our fight or flight responce again and even though we don't actually feel this mentally our bodie will produce more and more sensations....welcome to the wonderful loop of the health anxiety sufferer.
What is working for me is recognising the link between our minds and our bodies. I strongly believe that many anxiety sufferers start to develop anxiety disorders due to emotional issues that become buried deep in our minds. Our minds do not want us to face these issues and will do all it can to move our focus away form the mind and our regressed emotions and onto the physical and our bodies....once we start focusing on our bodies to the extent that health anxiety allows our minds realise that they are onto a winner and will produce more and more of these sensations as they are having the desired effect...in essense, this is the golden rule of how to overcome health anxiety:
DO NOT BE FOOLED INTO THINKING THAT THE PROBLEM RESIDES IN THE PHYSICAL. THE PHYSICAL IS A SMOKESCREEN AND ALL THE WHILE WE THINK THAT WE ARE ORGANICALLY ILL WE ARE CHASING OUR TAILS AND MOVING FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM RECOVERY.
Sorry, for the capitals but I believe that to accept this point is crucial.
Once we are stricken with anxiety and in particular health anxiety we actually become the biggest self fulfilling prophecies going...we become victims firstly and then we research the diseases we fear and start to somatise the symptoms of these diseases. We become quite vile and selfish individuals so focused and self absorbed on our selves that for all intents and purposes and the world ends with our skin and bones...we scan ourselves and repeat negative mantras to ourselves, the life of a health anxiety sufferer is best described as getting up in the morning and then hoping and praying that we can clamber into the safety of the same bed at the end of the day whilst ensuring that we are challenged, stretched and hurt etc as little as possible throughout that day....we are in limbo, we are victims, waiting for that glorious day when all the sensations stop and when we can start living and start being happy once again.
Of course, that day is never going to come whilst we keep repeating the same patterns over and over day in day out, week in week out, month in month out....you get the picture! It is exactly this automatic, learned response that got us into the loop in the first place and it is the perpetuation of this that will keep us enslaved.
At some point, we all need to make a leap of faith and this is really the only way to escape....I am not going to add anything more from this point as you are either going to do it or are going to convince yourself that glorious day will come whilst the days and weeks turn into months and years.
Good luck.
I get the exact same twitches as you and I worry about als constantly. Neurologist said anxiety. Do you get them in your hands and feet as well? I started getting them when I started on Citalopram so I thought it was a side effect of meds but I went off them a while ago and the twitching got worse. I also get the vibrations and a buzzing feeling in a foot or hand. It's so hard to believe that anxiety can cause twitching like this. Right when i relax and sometimes not even when relaxing I will get twitches everywhere and they seem to be getting more violent where I can see it clearly when I look at it. My fingers and toes may move occasionally. Does anyone else get them as bad as me?
Actually i felt the twitching/vibration feeling in my left hand today. Its happened twice so far today, and it happened shortly after i read your post. I could actually see it pulsating. I moved my fingers and it didnt stop. Both lasted for 15 seconds.
Exactly one week after I had the all clear I woke in the morning to feeling completly spaced out and dizzy, this lasted for about 6 weeks and disapeared to be replaced by the muscle aches and cramps, twitching, internal vibrating & buzzing sensation, aching joints, percieved weakness etc etc.
So i assume you have been to doctors and/or a neuro who have actually told you its Anxiety. And in the past year, nothing has actually got worse?
I was just googling to find the medical term name for Muscle Twitching, as my Dr used some word called Magila or something like that, anyway i found the following article that has made me feel more relaxed, and it might do the same for others too.
Do you have twitching muscles? Does muscle twitching scare you into thinking you might have ALS or multiple sclerosis? After all, muscle twitching can be a symptom of ALS, but save the panic attack because in ALS, muscle twitching is also accompanied by muscle weakness, and unexplained lack of muscle tone (muscle atrophy). And by muscle weakness, I do not mean struggling to hoist a heavy garbage bag; or muscle weakness in that the left arm is sagging a bit while you are struggling with that grueling chest exercise or arm exercises.
ALS muscle weakness is one day, you can't lift the hairdryer up. Or your foot gives out on you when going down the stairs and you fall. And there's usually muscle pain in the form of muscle cramps.
Im just wondering, what does muscle pain in the form of muscle cramps mean?
itoldyouiwasill
20-06-08, 11:48
I was just googling to find the medical term name for Muscle Twitching, as my Dr used some word called Magila or something like that, anyway i found the following article that has made me feel more relaxed, and it might do the same for others too.
Do you have twitching muscles? Does muscle twitching scare you into thinking you might have ALS or multiple sclerosis? After all, muscle twitching can be a symptom of ALS, but save the panic attack because in ALS, muscle twitching is also accompanied by muscle weakness, and unexplained lack of muscle tone (muscle atrophy). And by muscle weakness, I do not mean struggling to hoist a heavy garbage bag; or muscle weakness in that the left arm is sagging a bit while you are struggling with that grueling chest exercise or arm exercises.
ALS muscle weakness is one day, you can't lift the hairdryer up. Or your foot gives out on you when going down the stairs and you fall. And there's usually muscle pain in the form of muscle cramps.
Im just wondering, what does muscle pain in the form of muscle cramps mean?
So, you read something on the net that has scared you and then you read something that has reassured you....why not just resolve to avoid looking at the medical stuff altogether.
In reply to your questions. Yes, I have seen various GP's over the last year and everyone has diagnosed me with anxiety....the thing is though I didn't really a GP to tell me that, as I mentioned once I looked into anxiety it became startling obvious to me that I had had various anxiety issues for years. I saw a neurologist in January who also advised me that my sensations where likely to be somatic and based in anxiety, he ruled out ALS and MS based on the clinical tests and advised me that he would not need to refer me for an EMG/MRI as there was zero reason to do so.
One of the last GP's I saw mentioned conditions that exist alongside anxiety disorders, stuff like Fibro, CFS, BFS etc etc...the thing is though all these things are somatic in nature and are treated by the same meds that are chucked at you for anxiety/depression.
I am aware that twitching (fasculations) are a late symptom of ALS/MND because for 2 months at the end of last year I was totally obsessed by the disease and totally convinced I had it....I had the buzzing, twitching and cramping etc and thought that this is what ALS was. I soon discovered that loads of anxiety sufferers had the same concerns with MS and ALS and there had to be a reason for this...as I mentioned this is because ALS, MS and the physical effects of stress/anxiety effect the same parts of the body. If you equate twitching with ALS you may as well equate every single headache as an inoperable brain tumour!
As I became more knowledgable of anxiety and its effects I researched MS and ALS in order to understand why people with health anxiety get so caught up in worrying about these diseases. With ALS/MND you are dealing with a disease that is defined by clinical and objective weakness, it is not defined by fasculations, subjective weakness or aching muscles...most neuro's will tell you that they can pick up ALS in a sufferer literally as soon as they walk into a consulting room as it is so obvious. The twitching we tend to get as anxiety sufferers is normally in specific hotspots or all over, with ALS a muscle will twitch as it dies and by this time the muscle would have significant wastage and objective weakness. ALS twitching is something that occurs in the late stages of the disease and only (if at all) in the dieing muscles...this progesses through the body so all over twitching/jerking is obviously not indicative of ALS as the disease just does not progress that way.
When I look back to my ALS terror I still struggle to see how I got so caught up in it and also I'm surprised how common it is for health anxiety sufferers to fixate on it....with ALS it is hugley obvious that something serious is amiss and as a few months go by and you still twitch but have no weakness etc there is really zero logical reason to even consider ALS. I totally understand the MS worry as this is a totally different thing which is much harder to pindown, define and even diagnose but that is a different story.
Bottom line, do not equate twitching, muscle cramps, aches or buzzing with ALS, this information is out of date and just plain wrong....ALS is not sensory so any sensory stuff going on rules out ALS immediaty and all this points to the physical effects of anxiety on the nervous system. Hope this info helps.
Thanks for that Itoldyouiwasill....
However as im typing this im having my first panic attack.
Only just 4 hours ago i accepted i didnt have anxiety..... But in the last hour, my hand has twitched twice..... and in the last 20 minutes my left hand has been twitching non stop. I move my hand and the twitching doesnt go away, it just continues to pulsate.
My left arm feels so so weak too and feels heavy, while my wrist has been hurting for almost 3 weeks now.
This pulsating muscle is part of the hand 3cm below the pinky finger. Sometimes it can even make my pinky finger move.
Its even happening right now as a type this.
you say in last hour your hand has twitched twice...and then in last 20 mins you have been twitching non stop. See any pattern here? The more panicked you are getting the worse your twitching is getting. This should prove for you that it is anxiety!
Don't let your mind trick you into thinking this is something it isn't. You can stop this right now by believing that you have anxiety, not ALS.
Please do not worry - all will be well, I'm certain of it.
Marginalia
20-06-08, 14:06
AcroSplat - read what everyone's saying again ;)
If that doesn't work, just regard the twitch as a kind of 'disability' which you will just get fondly irritated at as you go about your everyday tasks. Maybe go to the gym or something, where the much larger movements of your other muscles will make you pay less attention to it.
For the record, as I coincidentally was posting in another thread just now, I had twitches for a while. I had a twitch similar to yours in my left hand but it was under the thumb not the pinkie and it made my thumb visibly move back and forth as I watched. I also had an eyelid twitch (or several), which were pretty constant for about two months. All these twitches occasionally return when I'm stressed.
What itoldyouiwasill is saying... I believe is the fundamental truth of it. I went for counselling to try and reduce my health anxiety and have now realised I want to change my (mental) life completely and I'm in for the long haul, because I have a lot of work to do to uncover the real sources of my anxiety and for years I didn't do this because I thought I just needed a doctor to test out my latest symptoms and then I'd be fine (which I was for a while, until the next anxiety popped up).
So I believe you're stressed about something and your mind doesn't want to deal with it at the moment, or doesn't know how to tell you about it, so you're getting these displacement worries instead.
In my experience it'll wear off eventually (the twitches I mean), maybe when the situation changes (e.g. when holidays are over, or whatever), but you might want to think about what itoldyouiwasill said.
Muscle twitching otherwise known 'Fasciculation' has many and varied origins. It is NOT a definite sign of anything ominous. There is a well known condition called Benign Fasciculation Syndrome. If you want to see you are not on your own please check out the link below, this will show you that twitching can exist in otherwise healthy people.
http://www.nextination.com/aboutbfs/
Thanks for all those replies .... im trying to take them on board.
I still stick by my response,
Meds and CBT.
You should at least try them so you can make an informed choice but you know the saying '' you can lead a horse to water''.....
I hope your anxiety calms for you:)
My left hand is till twitching pulsating which lasts for about 10 seconds.
Its about 3 cm below the pinky finger on the side of the hand.
I only noticed this yesterday (Friday) and in the past 24 hours its occured about 13 times. Infact in the past 2 hours it's occured the most and somtimes with only a 1 minute break between stoping and starting again.
Ive noticed sometimes i can occur directly after ive lifted something with my left hand (eg laptop) or if mt move my wrist joint back and forth.
Does anyone else get this ? And is it normal for Anxiety?
Ive been getting random muscle twitches for the past 7 weeks all over my body, but never in the same place over and over again.
Marginalia
22-06-08, 13:12
Acrosplat - the exact location, frequency and quality of the twitches isn't going to cause someone here to say "oh, now you're talking - all those other twitches were nothing but if you get one 2cm south east of your left collarbone you obviously have Reizenbourg's syndrome" (I made that up by the way). I am not mocking you here (I've been where you are a few years ago and I was googling in dread of finding out something like that, and ended up learning about how the brain represents the body and trying to work out whether if I had a twitch in place X and place Y they were represented close together in the brain which could indicate neurone problems... blah blah... ).
What I really mean to say is I think you've driven yourself into such a state of panic that you're not able to take in anything which could be reassuring, and you're primed waiting for the slightest thing which could confirm your worst fears. And every new twitch is making you panic more, which causes more twitches, and so on. You have posted to an anxiety/panic website, so there is a part of you which realises what could be going on ;)
But really, I think your responses show that your panic is at such a level that you need more to help you break out of it. I support what Joyce says - go and see your GP again and say just being told it's anxiety hasn't helped as you're finding it difficult to believe.
As Joyce said, 'meds and CBT' sounds like what you need.*
Marginalia
* And if you think that won't help if you 'really' have something wrong with you, then think again. If you had the scary disease you fear, it would still help to come to terms with it and learn to deal with the anxiety, right?
leedsmeister
22-06-08, 18:39
I get these weird twitches in my left hand too. sometimes in my thumb, sometimes in my index finger just where it lifts the finger up without my consent. :shrug:
Its only happened to me twice so far, and both times were the day after a night of heavy drinking.
I put two and two together and say its because of the added anxiety with the hangover but it still scares me i must admit. ive got a neurologist appointment next month which im getting really impatient about, i just wish they could see me quicker, im actually considering bupa!!!
Acrosplat - how are you doing now? My twitching has been all over the place the last few days and I'm on the verge of getting into quite a state about it. Am seeing a Neuro on Monday - have no idea what to expect.
Hi Eleven
Well my twitches have 95% gone. Infact they stoped within 3 days of me accepting its all Anxiety.
However i still get the odd twtich in my arm, leg, and thigh but i just ignore it.
The only thing wrong with me now is that my dizzyness has returned ...... which i think its the labyrinthitis i had about 10 weeks ago. It actually started to get better and then 4 days ago its been with me all day and only goes away when i lay down.
In regards to anxiety and twitching. It only went away for me when i 100% accepted it was anxiety. 99% is not good enough.
Good luck with your Neuro. Let us all know how you go.
Yes, I get twitching/vibrating too. Often worse when I am tired/anxious.
When I'm going through a non-anx phase, I get these twitches/vibrations and I don't think twice about it. When I am feeling anx I think OMG, I've got Parkinsons/MS etc.. then I dwell on it and look out for the symptoms so therefore I feel them more.
Your mind is making you feel these things and is catastrophising them, your doc will know the full list of symptoms of the disease you fear and if he suspected it at all he would have sent you for further tests.
Maybe you could see your doc again for extra reassurance and to find out about getting CBT (if you don't like the idea of the meds - but these helped me). CBT helps to retrain your neg thought processes.
Good luck
Jo x
ive had twitches like that on and off for years and i notice it more if im tired or anxious. have got them in every part of body imaginable, even eyelids and tongue!! also thought it was something really bad, like parkinsons or something, but now i am able to ignore them as i have been getting them so long and they never were part of anything more serious. if you can call anxiety not serious, coz to me it is just as serious and horrible an illness as anything else.
Thanks all. Saw Neuro today, he's 100% sure it's not MND and seemed pretty sure it wasn't MS too. Is gonna arrange for MRI and some electro conductivity tests to be 100% sure I guess. Sounds a bit scary but hope it will help.
Still been twitching away for most of the day (like Nikita, pretty much everywhere!) but am doing my best to be positive!
appantly i twitch alot when im sleeping! :unsure:
Hi there everyone..
I was just reading some of "Itoldyou's" posts ( they really reassureme when I'm slipping a bit ) and came across this one.
As this thread was started 12 months ago by Acrosplat ( how did you come up withthat name ? ) What I think would be really helpfulwould be for the people who have posted to this thread to give us an update of how they are getting on 12months down the track. I'm positive that none of us/you would have progressed to some terminal disease so it would be interesting to see what your thoughts are now on what was going through your head back then...
I think it would work well to show people that you can move on and it's not all doom and gloom. I know I am workign towards that light now :)
Cheers
Brad
FreeSpriritedLiss
07-06-09, 10:07
Hiya,
I get involuntary leg twitches. I'm worried about it, but I don't think I'm suffering from a terminal progressive disease. I thought I was experiencing the early signs of Tourette syndrome, as I watched a TV prog about it recently and one guy said his started in adulthood, with him twitching. I don't think it is, but it's comforting to see I'm not the only one experiencing this!!
Anyone know why this happens??
X x:bighug1:
Also like to say i have lots of twitching and sometimes my limbs move slightly on there own. How are yours these days acro?
justbananas
20-08-09, 04:29
marc - i had that for a couple months but the more i ignored it, it went away on its own. please try to do the same. this is anxiety anxiety anxiety.
Thumbelina
20-08-09, 06:03
i have this twitching thing as well,
normally it is in the middle of my anxiety cycle.
I also relate it to extreme anxiety...
Yeah, it does seem to happen when anxiety is at it's worst, first i had breathing issues and some other symptoms then that sort of went and along came twitching :( not as abd now as it was when it first started since I've been taking Multi Vitamins so hopefully my anxiety is calming down :D
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