Twitching

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Hello

This is my first time posting on here and I am at my wits end. I have always suffered with health anxiety but right now I don’t know what to do with myself.

I have always twitched in my muscles over the years and occasionally worried, but then got on with it. Then back in April this year I lost the plot one day when my tongue started twitching on the tip. I was sure I had mnd after googling. I rushed to the doctor who wasn’t concerned and eventually I calmed down a little. More recently though I have been twitching all over. It’s the same as an eye twitch but it moves from my thighs, arm, shoulder, knees etc and I am back in the hole, terrified that I have a terrible illness. I saw my doctor again who reassured me that she felt there was nothing wrong apart from anxiety. She did a quick test of my reflexes, and got me doing some basic strength tests all of which were normal. She didn’t feel the need to refer me.
The other thing I have is that sometimes I go to swallow and for a split second can’t plus I have a weird tight feeling in my throat so I am linking this also to mnd.
When I had twitching a few years ago I got over it because I was much younger and know that mnd in younger people is very rare. But now I am 51 so haven’t got that excuse now.

I am sat here at work crying with fear. I just want to believe that my doc is correct and that it’s all anxiety and nothing more. I even went on a mnd board where they reassured me that the twitching was highly unlikely to be mnd.
Has anyone else experienced twitching like this?
Thanks for listening.
X

I could have written this post ! I first noticed that my muscles had started twitching about two months ago. It started in my calves and thighs but then spread to my left buttock, back, shoulders, arms,fingers, tongue,eyelids etc etc. I also went to my GP who carried out the physical tests which were all normal and he wasn't worried. However I was extremely worried about it and ended up signed off work. GP said it was caused by anxiety and stress. My friend died of MND so you can imagine why I was so anxious!! Anyway , the twitching has subsided a lot now and I now think it could be connected to the menopause. Last period was six months ago so it would make sense.

I think worrying about it makes it worse so its a bit of a vicious circle .

I know exactly how you feel op.

btw I am 53

Hello datagirl

Sorry to hear about your friend. You sound just like me. I have been wondering about hormones. My periods have got much further apart and when I seem to ovulate out before a period I seem to lose the plot.
I’m glad you are feeling better now. When you’re in that pot of fear it’s so hard to think rationally isn’t it.
X

I get twitching / tremors when stressed and anxious and will sometimes get a lump feeling In my throat for the same reason. Have you been treated for your anxiety?

Hi Pootle

Yes I’ve had loads of cbt. Currently taking sertraline (years) and more recently Pregabalin. Hate taking meds. I have an appointment soon for more cbt with a more specialist therapist.
Mind you, the way I’m feeling right now I just think what’s the point in therapy if I’ve got some terrible disease😏

I have this and have had every test imaginable as I was certain I had a serious illness like MND or MS.
Nothing has ever been found but my neurologist said being hyper anxious will mean you are unconsciously tensing a lot which can cause twitching. It can also be caused by over tiredness and not drinking enough water or being deficient in things like magnesium or iron.
He also said it’s almost unheard of for a serious illness to cause twitching in lots of random parts of the body that come and go. He would only be concerned if there was painful twitching in the same area (or couple of areas maximum) that didn’t go away

Oh my goodness! You are my people. I have been in exactly the same position over the last few weeks. In fact, someone posted about it on an anxiety group I'm in. I need some blood tests repeated at the GP because we are trying to rule out scary stuff but you need to Google benign fasciculation syndrome. I'm hoping this is what I have and its reassured me for now at least.
I'm also hurtling towards menopause so hope that may go someway to explaining it.

@Morgana7 my first set of bloods showed I was very iron deficient so I am now on supplements.

Thanks for your messages.

Morgana - did you get referred by your GP? My Gp says no need.

NorthernSoulover - yeah I’ve seen all the stuff on bfs. It does help, but I also manage to compare myself and think my twitching might be different or worse.

I’ve really managed to get myself in a state about it all.

Me too. Also second Googling benign fasciculation syndrome, there are Facebook groups. Difficult to know what causes it, possibly anxiety, possibly medication, trauma, virus, no one really knows, but studies show it doesn't progress to anything else. Lots of doctors have it apparently!

@Northernsoullover when I was really anemic my twitching was bad in my legs. It took about a year of taking strong iron supplements (the ones from the shops aren’t strong enough) and I pretty much never get it anymore.

@Flatcatt My GP referred me to a neurologist but I had to wait months for an appointment. She really didn’t think it was necessary at all and it took a lot of appointments with her until she finally agreed.
The MRI and other tests I had showed absolutely nothing. It was just the anemia that came back in blood tests. My neurologist did other tests on me too and he said he was 100% certain there was nothing neurological wrong with me and he can usually tell very quickly if he thinks someone has MND or MS. Oh and he said MND is unbelievably rare in females under the age of 65.

Hello, I have had this for years following a virus. It comes and goes but is more noticeable before my period. I think it's bfs as described above. The first time I experienced it was the worst, around eight years ago. It hasn't been as bad since. Mind yourself.

Thanks all

I woke up this morning feeling anxious about the twitching. Already I have had a twitch in my arm, shoulder blade, calf and knee. I have had this before but even when I’m relaxed I feel the odd twitch.

It's not nice, I'd had twitching for a while and it hadn't really bothered me, but then I took amitriptyline for a while and it seemed to start my fingers twitching, which really freaked me out. I get weird buzzing sometimes and also bigger jerks like the kind you get when you're falling asleep, and people also report things like perceived weakness, tingling or numbness. From what I understand though anything serious, particularly MND comes with actual weakness. From the forums I've read, BFS doesn't seem to go away completely but it can calm down a bit. We all twitch sometimes, so it may be partly a matter of perception or extent.

@tabbystar yes the neurologist I saw also said MND would ALWAYS have bad weakness in one particular area that doesn’t come and go and there would be some muscle wasting (so not being able to grip or hold anything with one of your hands for example, or not being able to lift your leg or something like that)

I was never worried about MND, but when my fingers started twitching I thought I had Parkinson's! It's mostly gone now, there's the occasional small twitch in my fingers. The only ones that really bother me now are the eyelid ones, I had one over my eye for two days last week, which was really annoying! I don't worry they're anything serious though.

Poor you OP
Health anxiety is awful
Google “ Benign Fasciculation Disorder” - it Is very common and anxiety can make it worse.

Thanks girls

It’s funny because I remember worrying about this twitching years ago. Then I accepted that they weren’t anything to worry about.
Then in at the start of lockdown this year my mum was diagnosed with lung cancer. Initially I was devastated then got it together and was doing great. Then a few weeks later I felt a tingling on the end of my tongue and a sensation that it was pulling. So I looked in mirror, and watched in angst as it twitched.
Rushed to doctors who weren’t concerned and then I slowly calmed down again. At the time I remember feeling all the twitching I was having in various parts of my body but as I was so focused on the tongue it didn’t really bother me because I’d read about it on BFS site.

As I write this I’ve had a twitch in my thigh, my shoulder and my knee. If I catch them I can see the twitching and then I really panic. I don’t mind the eye twitch because I know it’s so very common.

Another one who went through this during the perimenopause. That with dizziness and unbalanced, got referred to ent, then for a brain MRI and even asked to be tested for Lyme disease!

I feel bad looking back but I was in a complete mess at the time and this was completely unlike me.

I am not sure whether the twitching was a direct symptom of hormonal imbalances or the outcome of anxiety linked to them.

I learnt that menopausal driven anxiety was nothing like mental health anxiety. It doesn't have to be triggered by a particular stimuli but instead grabs you at random time just like got flushes.

It all for much much better once I got the full menopause. I did have 2 weeks of twitching last February, 2 years after the menopause but at that point I knew it was linked to my hormones so even though still a bit unsettling, it didn't trigger health anxieties like it used to. Then it went just as it came again and had not one twitch for 8 months now!

Sympathy to you, Flatcatt. I hope your Mum is doing okay. Anxiety can set it off or make it worse. I've had twitching in all the places you mention and it is very alarming. It takes me by surprise sometimes even though I've had it for quite a while. I try not to dwell on it too much, I acknowledge it and move on. I went to my GP in a panic when I got it first, I got such a fright.

Don’tfisturmmenow - I am definitely leading up to menopause but as I’ve had twitching in the past I’m not sure it’s linked.

Isfuzzy - did you find it went on and on? I mean even when I’ve not been anxious in the past I’ve had twitches. This seems to be weeks and weeks of it now. It’s like popcorn going off in random parts.

Yes, Flatcatt, it's ongoing. It seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes I haven't had it for a while and I think it might have gone but it comes back. I definitely notice it before my period. I'm nearly 47 by the way, but this started in my late thirties/early forties so I can't say it's related to the menopause. I think a virus set it off. My children had chickenpox, I was unwell too and stressed and it kicked off then.

However, it hasn't been as bad as the first time I had it and it has quietened down a lot. I hope you feel better soon.

Hi Flatcatt

A pot of fear is a very good way of describing what I was feeling. I was totally convinced I had MS or MND or some other nasty illness. I have now stopped googling and its helped me calm down about it.

If you get it in your legs and arms then rubbing a magnesium cream on before you go to sleep seems to really help. It calms the nervous system down