Muscle twitches :(

[Anonybrit]

I was wondering if people who have been through the seemingly common anxiety around muscle twitches could share some insight with me.

I am 25 years old, fit and well. In the last few days I have been very stressed and anxious and yesterday I noticed a periodic twitch in my bicep. It was a single twitches every 30-40 seconds, quite visible at first then gradually getting weaker and disappearing. I became quite anxious about it but it eventually went so I was happy.

Today I have been feeling stressed about the previous issues again and also have developed little twitches all over, particularly on my left leg. The same type, single little twitches that come every 30-40 seconds.

I can't tell if these are normal or not because I don't normally fixate on sch things. Can they be related to stress, does anyone else ever get this?

[Carnation]

Yes, I got my first body twitches 4 months ago, never had them before except for the eye-lid. I freaked out the first time, I had them in both thighs for about 30 seconds. They just stopped suddenly. Then the twitches moved around the body, I would say on a daily basis and got less and less each week. Just have a very slight one occasionally now. I think they are muscle spasms which could be set off by the nerves. I was overworked, overtired, overstressed and very depressed. My Body wanted a Lifestyle Change and a good rest. Try not to stress too much, they do go away and nothing Bad will happen to you. We are all living proof on this Site.

[RoseEve]

I twitch a lot it's anxiety related. I think everyone even people without anxiety experience muscle twitching.

[Anonybrit]

Thanks for the replies guys

I twitch a lot it's anxiety related. I think everyone even people without anxiety experience muscle twitching.

Do you go through periods where it gets worse?

[Serenity1990]

Welcome to the club! Twitching is the first and classic sign that your anxiety has transformed into something physical. Before you go down the googling route, random twitches all over your body are only ever associated with anxiety or the many benign neurological syndromes that are strongly related to anxiety.

Alas the common next stage for many is to start googling and misinterpret this as a sign of something more sinister (it isn't, by the way), and then their anxiety heightens and thus their physical symptoms of said anxiety get worse, and the cycle continues.

I say "they", I should perhaps have said "we".

[Anonybrit]

Welcome to the club! Twitching is the first and classic sign that your anxiety has transformed into something physical. Before you go down the googling route, random twitches all over your body are only ever associated with anxiety or the many benign neurological syndromes that are strongly related to anxiety.

Alas the common next stage for many is to start googling and misinterpret this as a sign of something more sinister (it isn't, by the way), and then their anxiety heightens and thus their physical symptoms of said anxiety get worse, and the cycle continues.

I say "they", I should perhaps have said "we".

I know this well, in fact I am a recently qualified doctor myself, I feel like in many ways we are especially bad for this.

I know from personal experience how much worse googling makes things, so I jus wanted direct reassurance from you guys that you have experienced the exact same thing and that it's usually/never one of those nasty things we imagine.

The stupid thing is I know eg. ALS that the fasciculations are usually a late sign and occur rapidly like a "bag of worms". I don't have that, but you can't tell me anything when I'm like this :(

[Serenity1990]

You're a medical doctor? Then you should know this stuff! Fasciculations in your bicep and thigh together are a great sign, your anxiety is ****ing up as it's imitating the disease you fear all wrong! The thing is with anxiety is it can get the symptoms spot on but it lives in a primitive part of the brain and can't fathom the presentation. Silly beasty.

[Anonybrit]

You're a medical doctor? Then you should know this stuff! Fasciculations in your bicep and thigh together are a great sign, your anxiety is ****ing up as it's imitating the disease you fear all wrong! The thing is with anxiety is it can get the symptoms spot on but it lives in a primitive part of the brain and can't fathom the presentation. Silly beasty.

As far as I know the fasiculations of ALS are also rapid, more constant and occur once significant wasting has already set in.. But I may be wrong.

The thing is I have never studied it in detail and don't want to go googling it all now. Plus my judgement is impaired when I get like this :(

[Serenity1990]

ALS occurs in one limb initially, almost always a hand or a foot. First signs are clumsiness, then clinical weakness, then fasciculations specifically caused by neurones dying. By the time the fascics kick in you'll have obvious clinical weakness. Once those neurones are dead they're not resurrecting, that control of that part of the muscle is gone. You'd very much know.

Aside from that, it would be very atypical to occur in a bicep and thigh simultaneously. It would be very atypical to occur below the age of 45.

If you want to look up something, look up BFS. Though in my opinion this is a fancy way of saying "neurological somatic manifestations of anxiety" anyway.

[Anonybrit]

ALS occurs in one limb initially, almost always a hand or a foot. First signs are clumsiness, then clinical weakness, then fasciculations specifically caused by neurones dying. By the time the fascics kick in you'll have obvious clinical weakness. Once those neurones are dead they're not resurrecting, that control of that part of the muscle is gone. You'd very much know.

Aside from that, it would be very atypical to occur in a bicep and thigh simultaneously. It would be very atypical to occur below the age of 45.

If you want to look up something, look up BFS. Though in my opinion this is a fancy way of saying "neurological somatic manifestations of anxiety" anyway.

Yeah that's pretty much what I thought.

It just goes to show, it doesn't matter how objective or rational you supposedly should be, anxiety bypasses all our reasoning!