Came across this earlier on the net...
Benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS) is a neurological disorder characterized by fasciculation of various voluntary muscles in the body. The twitching can occur in any voluntary muscle group but is most common in the eyelids, arms, legs, and feet. Even the tongue is often affected. The twitching may be occasional or may go on nearly continuously. Any intentional movement of the involved muscle causes the fasciculations to cease immediately, but may restart once the muscle is at rest again.
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BFS Q's & A's by long time BFS'er and independent researcher, Arron Johnson:
How does BFS usually start?
It can happen at any age, with any gender and at any time. It usually starts with a small twitch in a finger or an eye lid or in the calf of the leg and just won't go away. This usually sparks-up some curiosity in the person to look-up what a "twitch" actually is, only to find outdated information that says something to the tune of “continual twitches are an indicator of a motor neuron disease such as ALS“, which is SO un-true and taken out of context.
How long does BFS last?
In most cases, it is quite a while. such as years. A few people seem to recover fully but most have varying symptoms that come and go for years depending on stress levels, illnesses, not enough sleep and so on.
Are there any treatments for BFS?
No, not really any good one's and so far. It doesn't look like much is in sight either. After all, it is a benign condition so researchers trying to develop treatments and cures for much worse things in life aren't putting much time, money and energy into a benign condition, and rightly so. The thing with BFS is that "usually" it starts-out slow, with one little twitch and then progresses into a frenzy of twitches all over your whole body and it will usually stay that way for a while, then all on it's own (especially if stress and anxiety is reduced) they will subside to only a few a day. This is the "norm" but not the absolute rule. With that, people have tried remedies such as copper, magnesium, multivitamins, more sleep, herbal supplements, stress and anxiety reducers (be them meditating or medications) exercise and a whole slew of other home treatments. There is a very big "placebo effect" with BFS being that it is directly collated with stress and anxiety, so when a person starts taking what they believe will be a "cure", their twitches will usually subside. This also happens if nothing is taken at all and BFS sort of runs it's course. Many people that have taken remedies, have later posted on web sites stating that indeed at first, the twitches had subsided, but came back again after all. This again is consistent with taking nothing, hence the placebo effect. With BFS though, it is a matter of what works for you and staying calm and keeping stress and anxiety at a minimum, because although BFS may not be "caused" by stress or anxiety, it most certainly does feed off of it, and symptoms will go up and down according to mood, stress, anxiety level, tiredness, illness and so on. The only thing that does seem to help are medications to alleviate stress and anxiety, which in turn help some of the symptoms subside. These can be temporary meds that are used "as needed" which are called "Benzo's". Valium, Ativan, Buspar, Xanax and Klonopin are a few brand names of benzo's and they work very well at reducing severe stress and anxiety and helping you to relax and sleep at night as well. There are also long term meds for this that are called SSRI's, such as Paxil, Prozac, Celexia and so on. These commonly take 2 to 4 weeks before they get into your system and start doing what they are supposed to do. The big problem with SSRI's, (even though they work quite well once they get into your system and start working), is that the first symptoms and side effects during the first couple of weeks can be really harsh. These side effects include severe anxiety, twitching, body jolts, sleeplessness, hot flashes, tingling from hell, slurred speech,
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