Weird symptom, not sure how to describe

[hardwoodfloors]

Hey all. I’ve been really grateful for the information on these forums. But now I’m back down the rabbit hole. For the last week I’ve been having this weird sensation over my left eyebrow. It feels like it’s “stuck” maybe contracted or there’s something on it and I keep getting the urge to wipe at it. It’s not always there but it comes and goes and it’s really distressful because I don’t even know how to really describe it much less what it is. It’s difficult to explain and I’m not sure how I would even tell a doctor without them looking at me like I was crazy. Has anyone had anything like this? I have been stressed lately and I also had pink eye in the same eye but it’s gone now. I’m of course worried that it could be something neurological or debilitating. Thank you all

[AbyssalStars]

Sorry, I've never had a symptom like that before. The closest I have had would be a pinching/burning sensation behind my right eye that makes me want to scratch my eye out. I think that that is more of a psychosomatic response that I picked up after a car accident I was in though. Haven't experienced it for a while.

[hardwoodfloors]

Thank you for your reply! I’m not sure what to think...It feels almost like my eyebrow is twitching but when I look at it in the mirror it’s not!

[NoraB]

You can have muscle twitches which can be felt but you can't see them, nor can anybody else - and they're very common with anxiety.

Causes

Stress
Hyperstimulation
Lack of Sleep
Stimulants
Medication side-effects
Vitamin/mineral deficiencies
Dehydration
Hormonal changes
Low blood sugar

This is how this symptom is described on an American anxiety website which goes into anxiety symptoms in depth..

• A certain muscle, group, or groups of muscles twitch (jerk) involuntarily. Even if you try and relax the muscle, group, or groups of muscles, the twitching continues.
• This symptom is often described as: muscles that pulse, throb, twitch, spasm, tremor, vibrate, or contract uncontrollably.
• The twitching can be slow and sporadic, intermittent, and come in waves, or it can be persistent and tremor-like.
• Muscle twitching can affect any one muscle, one group of muscles, or many groups of muscles.
• The twitching may appear for a few brief moments, last for minutes or hours, or persist for days, weeks, or indefinitely.
• Twitching can affect ANY muscle or group of muscles in the body, including those in the head, face, eyes, mouth, neck, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, stomach, esophagus, groin, genitalia, arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, etc.

What you're describing sounds like a spasm to me. I've had this sensation in my chest muscles and elsewhere - it does feel like the muscle is 'stuck'. You can address this symptom by looking at the list of causes and seeing if things like lack of sleep, stimulants apply etc as sometimes it's as simple as hydrating, especially if you drink alcohol or coffee etc.

Then you look to your stress levels..

If this symptom is down to anxiety - it could take some time to go. It depends on how sensitised your system is and how much fear you're adding to the mix.

I've had all the tests - brain scans and MRIs all over my body and no neurological 'nasties' were ever found but I've had issues with almost every muscle I have and twitches, spasms and whatchamacalls is something that no longer surprises me with anxiety..

You say 'weird', I say MEH!

Hope this helps?

[hardwoodfloors]

Wow thank you so much. That makes sense and I’ve had muscle stuff before, I was just confused because I couldn’t “see” it moving. My mind was like what if it’s palsy from the pink eye infection or this or that etc etc. Anxiety is the worst!!!

[hardwoodfloors]

Okay well now I’m freaking out because apparently I’m reading since it’s not visible it’s a “fibrillation” not a “fasciculation” and therefore it can be a neurological disease oh god why won’t this stop

[NoraB]

oh god why won’t this stop

Because you Googled. That's why it won't stop.

Yes, these things can be due to neurological issues but there's a very long list of probable's before you come to neurological disease. Thing is, when you have HA, the worst case (and less likely) scenario is the one your mind homes in on. Anxiety? Nah. Can't be. All you need to do is to look at all the threads like yours on here and see how many people turned out to have diagnosed themselves 'correctly'. That should tell you something?

I've had what you describe and much more - numbness, falling over, missing my steps etc - and there's no neurological disease.

You need to stop Googling.