Twitching

[finnsmommy]

I hate to burden anyone with my miniscule issues, but I've posted on here before about twitching. It's been almost 1.5 years since I began this body wide twitching of unknown cause. So far: I have done full blood panel, lyme panel, mri of brain and c spine with and without contrast. Neuro seemed to think anxiety, which I knew better. After 3 mo of no improvement that is when he agreed to do mri. Mri clean except for c spine had mild arthritis. I am a 27 yo female, and this started about 6 weeks after having my first child. I of course, have worried sick about having ms
Not having true answers has been tough. My doc never ordered emg feeling as though it wasn't necessary. My right eye only twitches when blinking hard, sneezing, getting startled, etc. But it's been everyday for well over a year. Right arch of foot continuously twitches...along with random body wide. Any input would be welcomed.

[zaratustra]

Hello @finnsmommy. I am a 25yo female and have twitching or fasciculations all over my body (especially legs) for over a year! Doctors say it is caused from anxiety, which i experience a lot! I did a brain MRI though and showed something like "lesions" but i cannot find the term in english since i am greek. They were not pathological though, even after using intravenous fluid during mri, still showed non pathological. I am getting crasy over it, since the twitching won't go away and i am really scared about ms. How are you now? Do you still have these?

[finnsmommy]

Thanks four all your thoughts. I agree to some extent. Although, I don't quite have the mental state you're making me out to have. I'm not being condescending at all. I just think you have the wrong impression. I do worry and sometimes a lot. Although I do not tend to focus my only thoughts on my twitching. I do however tend to worry in general a lot. (Not just my health). Which I'm sure can triggee twitching as well. I just though 1.5 years was a but long...

[supermum_ms]

I always use a posters own statements to guide my responses, because it's never a good idea when discussing mental health to assume more than what is actually written, it can be a very sensitive subject for anyone to talk about.

"I do tend to have health anxiety...not hypochondriac just fear of the worst."

Anxiety and depression are common issues that MSers also have to deal with, we also get a lot of people visiting who have a mental health issue that fear they have MS, so we very openly discuss and are supportive of people dealing with mental health issues.

Unfortunately there is no time limit with these types of issues...

Cheers........JJ  

[supermum_ms]

finnsmommy, i genuinely believe you would be much better off focusing your attention towards learning every thing about Health Anxiety, so you have a better understanding of the medical condition you know you are dealing with.

Various behaviours eg googling-reading about, giving the anxiety a voice and posting in condition specific support groups, preoccupied by the presence of fasciculations and seek multiple medical evaluations or questioning validity of medical evidence, compelled to seek out validation of your anxious thoughts but really wanting reassurance that your fine etc etc etc of the medical condition your H/A is focused on, will only feed your health anxiety, escalating your spinning thoughts, hyper focusing your attention more towards your body, worsening and or adding symptoms and cause your fears to escalate.....don't feed your Health Anxiety!  

Lets say these twitches are Benign Fasciculation Syndrome (BSF) which is also known as 'muscle twitching syndrome', people with psychological conditions commonly experience and are diagnosed with BSF, as it's often a manifestation of psychological distress (somatization) and or mental health medication side affects. Treating or more appropriately treating anxiety is a major factor in suppressing BSF, since anxiety is one of the major cause of twitching muscles.

"My right eye is constant but mainly when being scared or blinking hard. I can do it on demand. Strange. But if I get splashed with watee, or if my son throws a toy my direction, it goes haywire. Very irritating."

To me you are describing what wouldn't be an abnormal startle and muscular reflex reaction, the physical trigger is the automatic scrunching of your eye lids closed when startled, typically lasting seconds or for as long as it takes you to calm down after the scare if you experience anxiety. btw eyelid twitching is very much associated with mental health, sleep quality/amount etc and if your right eye lid is already prone to twitching, blinking hard, scrunching up your eyes when startled would irritate or exacerbate it and probably explain why you can also do it on demand.

Food for thought..........JJ      

[Jim_1971]

It's some sort of neurological receptor...obviously I'd never heard of it until I got the letter from the Neuro but I think it's being pursued by him as a cause of the fasciculations/twitches.

[HVAC]

Have they talked about Benign fasciculation syndrome? If it was MS you would have abnormal neurological exams. Are they abnormal? MRIs are really the only real tests for MS. Occasionally they will do a LP if they really can't prove it is MS. I listened to a MS Specialist talk today. He said Evoked potential, emgs, and LPs are less used. Sorry I have no answer.

Alex

[finnsmommy]

Goodness what is that? So sorry to hear you're going through this also my potassium was almost low. One point from range.

[Jim_1971]

Hi Finnsmommy
I have a lot of twitching - calves, eyelids (especially left) and it feels like other areas too - back and butt.  After a recent round of tests (Evoked Potentials, EMG and NCS) didn't show anything the Neuro ran some bloods which show I have a "voltage gated potassium channel antibody".  It's thought this may be related to twitching though this hasn't been confirmed, and am awaiting the outcome of a retest.

[finnsmommy]

I can't see all my twitches...ie: internal like butt cheeks, stomach, etc...
I do tend to have health anxiety...not hypochondriac just fear of the worst. My right eye is constant but mainly when being scared or blinking hard. I can do it on demand. Strange. But if I get splashed with watee, or if my son throws a toy my direction, it goes haywire. Very irritating. Even when my anxiety is low, twitching never ceases. I just don't want something sinister to be brewing and not aware of it.

[finnsmommy]

Yes, I've read any ssri can cause twitching. I just have a hard time believing it considering the amount of time I've had it. Side effects are usually not identified as a cause if not better within a few months... I have been on either zoloft or Celexa for 5 years, never an issue. Also the twitching began when on celexa, I then switched to zoloft thinking it was the celexa. No change.
What's the difference in a fasc and twitch? And can bfs still be a possibility? A lot of credible sites I read explain bfs as twitching.

[supermum_ms]

Twitching is the more common term everyday people use when a muscle anywhere on their body is involuntarily moving, fasciculations isn't really a word people use without some knowledge but now a days lay people are using it more and more.

A fasciculation, is basically the involuntary firing of a single nerve to small muscle fibres, a minor muscle contraction-release generally not strong enough to move limbs, joints, cause pain etc. Fasciculation can be both visible or the feeling of muscle activity and from my understanding, a muscle twitch is basically when you can actually visibly see the small nerve fibre firing.

Keep in mind the nervous system is always active, with numerous non serious influencing factors that fluctuate from one moment tot he next eg, sleep, hydration, stress, hormones, dietary input etc etc etc

You've indicated the 'possibility' of the type of anxiety you experience being more in line with Health anxiety or the like. If your issues are influenced by your state of mind eg what you read online, worsen with the amount of attention you give it, improve with distraction vs worsen with focus, cyclic, professional opinions and test that state it's not the condition your focused on doesn't help for long, escalation in the need to seek reassurances in relation to your anxiety levels etc etc there is the potential for the twitching-fasciculations to be directly relating to your mental health,  without any medication involvement.  

Both those medications are know to 'commonly' cause muscle these issues though, so that too is a potential explanation because of the type of medication it is......you should keep in mind that the common explanation would typically be the most likely answer.

Hope that helps.........JJ


    

[finnsmommy]

Thanks for the reply. Yes I take zoloft 100 mg. Never had these crazy fascilutaions with it pre pregnancy. .but I know childbirth can change a multitude of things. I just feel if it was a side effect  (which I have considered) it wouldn't last over a year I'd assume. My anxiety subsided substantially and still no relief.
And to answer yes it does seem to worse with excersice, mainly my feet.
Also--I mentions BFS to my neuro he said no because I'm not having "true fasculations"...which I strongly disagree. He is head of neuro so I know he's very knowledgeable, but that did make me question his ability to diagnose. He seemed kind of dismissive honestly, and I know its because I was a meir spec on his appointment boom that day. My pcp, on the other hand,  thinks it's BFS!

[aspen2]

I videotaped the fascs to show my neuro -- could never make them perform on command.  YOu are right, that they don't consider "twitching" the same league as fasciculations.  Somethingn to consider.  However, I also checked a mayo site, and muscle twitching and spasm are both side effects of Zoloft.

[supermum_ms]

Hi there,

We chatted about a year ago (see http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/ms-or-bfs/show/2484883#post_12092794 ) and what i mentioned to you about your anxiety would still be my input today, but i did have an additional related thought i hadn't mentioned before.

Do you take any type of mental health medication? IF you do, it's possible these random muscle fascilations are a side affect, random fascilations-twitching-spasms are very common side effects, so it might be worth considering...

Cheers.......JJ  

[aspen2]

Ooh, good possitility JJ .. hadn't considered that.  Even some painkillers!

[suspiciouscombo]

Side effects sure can present weird sensations like that. Do the twitches elevate while taking meds? Lesson while / not taking them I wonder?

[finnsmommy]

Thanks for the reply. Yes had complete work up including vit d (which was almost too high actually). And magnesium was completely normal. I still took mag supplements, but no positive results from it. Calcium normal also. Only thing that's flagged was my folic acid was high.

[aspen2]

In that case, it's likely something like benign fasciculation syndrome ... something to mention to your doctor.  Does it worsen with exercise?

[aspen2]

This could be as simple as a magnesium deficiency.  Have you had your magnesium and calcium levels checked? Overall twitching is not related to ms -- I have both, however the twitching issue cleared up almost entirely with magnesium supplements.  Given that you have just given birth, it is a distinct possibility that you are depleted nutritionally.
Magnesium is not tested normally, so it's something to ask you gp/pcp about.  Was your vitamin D level checked?