Shaking

[EmmyJN]

Hello, everyone!

I'm worried about this shaking. My hands will shake, and sometimes it feels like my whole body is shaking. I get violent twitches sometimes that I can't control. When this happens, I have dizziness, and I feel out of it.

I have an electrolyte problem along with GI problems, and I see my neuro in April. My doctors have me keep a log of all my symptoms, and I have been tracking these. I wanted to know if I should bring these symptoms up to my PCP before hand? Or should I just wait until April?

Any options, opinions?

Thanks!

[EmmyJN]

Thank you very much for your advice!

I do not drink alcohol (since I'm 16) and I do drink quite a bit of water. But when I was in 5th grade, I had multiple spells of fainting, some so bad I would fall in to pools, or down the stairs. I was in physical therapy for 3 months once because of a fall I had where I popped my knee out of place.

My doctor increased my sodium intake a little, because he said I excreit too much of it when I go to the bathroom. Despite this, it seems to all be getting worse again. And this worried me simply because I don't want to start fainting again---it's embarrassing, not to mention dangerous. I'm going to be headed to college in a year and a half, and I wanna get everything under control so I don't have to worry about things like this happening when no one is around to help.

Also, I do see a neurologist, and I have my 6th-month appointment in April, but do you think I should see him earlier? I will also deffinately be bringing this up to my GI next month.

Thank you so much again for your help. I will certainly consult the specialists I see.

~ Em

[Dr Sharma]

Dear Emmy, welcome to the medhelp forum. Electrolyte disturbances are commonly responsible for muscle twitching and tremors. You mentioned in your post there are issues with electrolytes and GI system. Decreased magnesium levels mostly due to chronic alcohol intake and malnutrition, malabsorption and digestive system disorders can manifest as muscle spasms, twitching and tremors along with other symptoms. You could have hypernatremia if there has been any fluid loss due to vomiting or diarrhea and inadequate water intake. This also is known to cause muscle twitching and tremor along with abdominal cramps and other dehydration symptoms. I would suggest that you consult a PCP first to assess your nutritional status and systemic evaluation to check for any deficiencies. Appropriate therapy following diagnosis would correct these twitching. If diagnosis rules out gastrointestinal system, you must see the neurologist. Wish you all the best and take care.