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Widespread twitching

Hello I am  a 27 yr old male no major medical background , I have had trouble with OCD in the past . I am very very scared and I hope this will clear things up a little. Last winter I had incredible muscle pain along with a good deal of stress. As summer came I got into great shape prolly the best I have felt in yrs . I coach badeball and football and play basket all twice a week . This winter things hit the fan with the winter approaching I was waiting on the pain to come back trying hard not to think to much about it . I'm a pest control technician I walk alot 269 lbs if this helps . One day at work right before thanksgiving I got a big jumping twitch in my right thigh right by the knee . I'm a worrie what so what do I do get online see why it's twitching ! So of coarse I stumble on to many als sites saying that muscle twitching and stiffness are early warning signs of this desease. So I am very nervous then I worrie a lot anyway . Here's what I can remember within a couple weeks anxiety grew and twitching spread all over its not continuous it jumps around one jump here one jump there it has its hot spots where it will jump in one spot for a min but it hardly stays in one spot . At one point it almost went away completely one weekend I forgot about it and didn't notice much but I did a little .then ofcourse I start thinking about it again and it came back this weekend was bad I found a site where some people said there first sign of als was body wide twitching described jus as mine I will add that I have had muscle pain and no big weakness the weakness I have seams to get better when I play basketball or run but I have a tightness in my thighs that come and go currently the twitches are way worse in he morning when I wake up and are laying in bed they tend to go away when I move around but they are here and they are real and so is my anxiety .

1. What are the differences in benign twitching and mnd  twitching ? How do you tell

2. If you have to have weakness before twitching in als then why have I read numerous reports that say twitching was there first sign ?

3. If you go months with twitching that comes and goes without real weakness what are the chances it could be als ?

Forgot to add I did make it to an er and they took a blood panel and said they checked all the electrolytes
Came back fine

4. Do they check vit d with that or magnesium ?

5.what do I need to do from here ? Thank you so much for your time
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Avatar universal
I'm 23 And have had body wide twitching almost 3 years, I remember getting a sharp pain in the side of my head the all of a sudden my knew started twitching and from there it became body wide. Saw a neurologist did strength and reflex text said it wasn't Ald. Didn't do an emg. A couple years later still have twitching everywhere. Is what to think I'm type 1 diabetic and 110 pound female age 23
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161596 tn?1698503553
Btw, a few yrs ago, I was dx with OCD and GAD, too. I have since worked through them and they were taken off my chart.
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161596 tn?1698503553
Years ago,months after giving birth to my 2nd child, at the ripe age of 40, I began having widespread twitching all over my body. It began while I was at work, at my microscope, and took me by surprise. It would worsen at night. Twitching on my stomach, legs, arms, hands etc. Immediately, I googled and became convinced it was als or ms. Of course, my mind focused on als. It got worse and worse and was compounded by perceived weakness in my limbs, and pains that I'd never had before. On New Year's Eve, I came home from work depressed, thinking the worst, and spent the whole night laying in bed sobbing, wondering what lay ahead, as my children and husband were downstairs trying to enjoy their night.

Bottom line: I had EMG testing. I had ct scans. I had tons of bloodwork. Every test a person could have, I had. Nothing was wrong. Nothing at all. Eventually, everything went away. It was benign fasciculations. This was over 6 years ago and all is great now

Try to relax and know that most likely, all you are experiencing is benign! Stress, hormones, caffeine all can do a number of things to our bodies. It can be frightening, but most often, even our scariest symptoms will go away on their own :)
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Avatar universal
I have the same problem but with muscle weakness in legs. With tingling sensation on arms and hands did blood work ct scan and mri and nothing. Tomorrow they doing a spinal tap to see any infections but with luck I have most likely it will come out negative but if it is that would be great. I'm also and anxious person and the more I dweal on it the worser it gets l also work at nights and sleep durning days I was wondering what if we deficient in vitamin D. Mostly likely I'm going to ask to check if I am because this is driving me nuts!!!
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Avatar universal
I am also a medical student. I suffered extensive muscle twitches from head to toe which I instantly focused on and thought that I had the worst possible diagnosis ever, ALS. I was so convinced, I had numerous appointments with my GP, MRI and CT scans were negative. The diagnosis was Benign Fasiculation Syndrome (apparently more common in medical students), which I experience daily but I know it's totally benign. There is a huge element of anxiety and stress that partakes in these symptoms because once you've got ALS in your mind, it instantly causes anxiety and of course anxiety symptoms. There are a multitude of other diagnoses this could be. But please take my advice, do not focus and worry until you've heard from the horses mouth. I would feel more reassured if the twitching does not progress along with any other symptoms, such as weakness, atrophy. Additionally, twitching/ fasciculation especially widespread twitching is usually not normally the first symptom of ALS; focal muscle atrophy and weakness is normally the presenting feature. I was told by a MND specialist that the twitches is something ALS patients do not firstly recognise until later on in the course of the disease. I hope you feel reassured by this?
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