And anxiety rears it's ugly head again in the form of twitching. Anyone else?

[Guen]

Hey fellow forum peeps!

I went though a wonderful dry spell of anxiety and whenever it cropped up, I managed to rationalize it back into nonexistence.... until now.

Basically, I got an eyelid twitch fairly soon after my cancer scare. It wasn't too severe & actually disappeared for a while. Then it recently came back with a vengeance and I've started to notice other minor muscle twitches (a lip here, a calf there). I am a teacher and I've been going through the last few weeks of school which are always high stress so I've been trying to convince myself it's stress related (and I've also been slacking on my meditation & getting massages). I also know that the eyelid it's occuring on is my eye that has an astigmatism. I don't wear glasses, but I know I will likely need them in the near future. Every rational part of me is shouting, "It's stress, eye strain, and you being your spazzy self!" while my anxiety is shouting back, "It's MS, ALS, or some other horrific neurological disease!"


Part of me thinks I should go to an optomistrist and see what they say, but since I have occasional twitching in other muscles, I don't think it's truly eye strain. And if I get glasses & nothing improves, I think it might make things worse. I could also go to my GP, but part of me feels like I'm badgering her over a shiny new anxiety symptom. Any advice or people with similar experiences?

~Guen

 

[Cuchculan]

I would go see somebody. That much is certain. Just to try and find out the reasons why it is happening. Everything has a reason. Could be stress. Not sure if you are on any medication or not? At times it can be an odd side effect. Or if you have stopped taken anything over the past few weeks. It is not something I have got without reason. First time I had it was a medication interaction. I was warned it might happen. If it does to stop taken the newer medication they had given me. It kind of made me laugh. Had a spoon of coffee to put in a cup and next second I had this involuntary movement. I missed the cup and the spoon of coffee went everywhere. At the time I said ' Is this what life is going to be like if I reach an old age ;,.It didn't worry me as much because I was warned it might happen. You are warned about something, but you still don't expect it to happen to you. That was the only reason I was laughing at it. It was a first for me. Second time it happened was when I was coming on more medication. Could be sitting there and suddenly my whole body jerks. But both times for me had to do with medication. But it is worth having checked out. Just to be on the safe side. You have nothing to lose at all.

 

[hatboxghost]

Hey there!
I’m no doctor but eye twitching is FAIRLY normal for the most part. Lack of sleep, staring at screens, stress can all attest to why you’re having it. I would go ask just to be sure. You might also have low potassium/magnesium if other muscles are twitching but a doctor would have to do a blood test to check that. In the mean time, stay hydrated and try to increase your potassium intake if you can.

 

[Guen]

Thanks guys! My doctor has an online messenger I can use so I'll send her a message asking about it. Also, I didn't even think of it, but I did have a blood test back in February and I actually did have low potassium. My doctor at the time thought I was an incidental finding, it could be the cause of the twitching. I'll have to buy some bananas this week. =)

 

[hatboxghost]

Thanks guys! My doctor has an online messenger I can use so I'll send her a message asking about it. Also, I didn't even think of it, but I did have a blood test back in February and I actually did have low potassium. My doctor at the time thought I was an incidental finding, it could be the cause of the twitching. I'll have to buy some bananas this week. =)

Also get some orange juice! Bananas actually don’t have THAT much potassium. I too have low potassium transiently. I don’t really know until I get a blood panel done. But I think anxiety is another reason for low potassium, but I don’t know which comes first. Low potassium leads to anxiety or anxiety leads to low potassium. Just keep up your electrolyte intake and it’ll help the twitches.

 

[Guen]

An update with some good news: my doctor replied to my message and said she was confident the twitches were likely anxiety based. I still have them, but my eyelid on has almost completely gone away. Now if I could just get rid of the leg ones *Sigh*

 

[JADIII]

Hi, trust me when I say that twitching is not a first sign of ALS. Here's a post I wrote on another thread. Twitching is something you don't even know if happening in ALS. It's all about failing in a muscle.

Here's what I know from EXTENSIVE research, etc. Feeling is not the thing you should be looking at, it's failing. Feeling has NOTHING to do with ALS. Also, from what I've researched and been told by a neuro, ALS starts in the toes/fingers (extremeties) and slowly works its way towards larger muscle groups. For example, you wouldnt be able to stand on your toes with shoes off, button a shirt, etc. I also thought, wouldnt there be some kind of feeling that it's failing and it won't work soon. No, that's not the way ALS works, it just stops all of a sudden. It's not like one day your running 5 miles and the next day 3 and then 1, it's all of a sudden. Hope that helps.

 

[Guen]

Actually, that does help a lot. I've noticed the twitching reducing a bit over time and my muscle strength is increasing if anything (I exercise daily so I haven't noticed any decreases in strength) =)

 

[Kkmom]

Actually, that does help a lot. I've noticed the twitching reducing a bit over time and my muscle strength is increasing if anything (I exercise daily so I haven't noticed any decreases in strength) =)

I have had twitching, shaking and feel weak or weaker than normal in arms. I’ve been told it’s stress and anxiety... is this kinda what you’ve experienced?

 

[Guen]

I have had twitching, shaking and feel weak or weaker than normal in arms. I’ve been told it’s stress and anxiety... is this kinda what you’ve experienced?

Definitely twitching, though mine is mostly in the legs, though it's has happened all over (including neck, arms, thumb and even my tongue once). I've had a toe or finger feel weirdly numb for a few hours, then go back to normal. My hands always have a slight tremor which worsens when I drink coffee.

Also, I've noticed a definite spike in twitching if I'm dehydrated. Like today, my good ol' eye twitch returned (after being absent for a few days) and I realized I had had ZERO glasses of water today, though I did have 2 cups of coffee and some caffeinated ice tea.

I'm also trying to refocus back into reality and realizing the chance of a 29 year old woman getting a serious nerve disease is insanely low, while the chance of getting twitches due to stress/anxiety & low nutrients is probably a more likely bet.

 

[JADIII]

Hi Guen, I went through a year or so of hell thinking about this and it ate up my life all for nothing as I look back and I'm 51. Just to put it into perspective for you and maybe help you. These are the things that I KNOW about ALS or a NMD (Neuro Muscular Disease).

1) ALS is very rare even for people in their 60's and 70's which is the time is starts for 99% of people. At 29, 39,49, it's really a unicorn and these are just objective stats without knowing you, etc. Think about it this way. Google Ohio State football stadium. You would have to be that 1 person in that stadium that gets it and I think the odds are even better than that. Something like .00002% especially if you have no family members who have it.

2) This is your quote from above. "reducing a bit over time and my muscle strength is increasing if anything (I exercise daily so I haven't noticed any decreases in strength) =)".
In ALS once you lose function, it doesn't return, it just stays lost. So you wouldnt gain anything, it would just stop working and their no "feeling" to it. So it's not like a pain or an irritation, you just can't do it. What they say is that it doesnt come and go, it just goes.

3) I twitch all the time, in many places and I don't have ALS. I can sometimes even make myself twitch if I think hard enough and focus and trust me, for a year I focused on every f***ing body movement I had and thinking this is it.

Hope this helps

 

[Guen]

Hey guys!

I've got an appt with my doctor tomorrow to get the twitches checked out. You guys have really helped me see that it's most likely a benign cause, but if I do have low vitamins or hormones I figure it better to get that fixed & move on. If it's all stress related, it'll help to know that too (so I can stop stressing about it).

I won't lie, this is probably the first time I've been nervous before going to a doctors appt so wish me luck! (I'll update everyone tomorrow)

 

[adamden]

Hey guys!

I've got an appt with my doctor tomorrow to get the twitches checked out. You guys have really helped me see that it's most likely a benign cause, but if I do have low vitamins or hormones I figure it better to get that fixed & move on. If it's all stress related, it'll help to know that too (so I can stop stressing about it).

I won't lie, this is probably the first time I've been nervous before going to a doctors appt so wish me luck! (I'll update everyone tomorrow)

Best of luck to you my friend! Glad you're ready to get answers!

 

[Kkmom]

Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

[epicurean]

Went through this when I thought I had ALS. So yes, lots of twitching from anxiety, as that was all it ended up being for me.

 

[Guen]

Hey everyone!

Results are in (including a new blood test) and apparently my diet is crap, resulting in low electrolytes especially potassium. Apparently eating pasta 3-4 days a week as a main meal isn't a good idea, which is sad because I really like pasta. Also, in my attempt to combat anxiety through exercise, I may have accidentally been making things worse. I only drink water after which doesn't replenish the electrolytes I would lose in the process. Doctor's orders are a diet overhaul and check back in a month if the twitching doesn't improve.

One thing I do want to mention though is my conversation with my doctor. I really have a good relationship with her and trust her implicitly. She actually told me she had the same symptoms as me before (including onset & pattern). At one point she asked, "Are there any questions you have or anything I could do to make you feel better about all of this?" I started to say something about a strength test (she just tested my reflexes) or what symptoms she would expect to see if I had something beyond the vitamin issue and she stopped me dead and said, I'm paraphrasing here, "I am not going to tell you that. All I will say is I saw nothing that concerns me. You are fine." It was a scolding I think I needed.

 

[Gemma214]

Your doctor sounds great! Twitching is the worst- at one point my eyelid twitched for a month from stress and when I finally thought it was over, my thumb started twitching randomly Glad you got good results!!

 

[southflguy]

I was so bad at one point in my life, my twitch lasted non stop for months. In my case it was between my thumb and forefinger and it would make my finger move. I had to sleep with the finger wrapped so I wouldn't sense it.

 

[Claudiaena]

Hey fellow forum peeps!

I went though a wonderful dry spell of anxiety and whenever it cropped up, I managed to rationalize it back into nonexistence.... until now.

Basically, I got an eyelid twitch fairly soon after my cancer scare. It wasn't too severe & actually disappeared for a while. Then it recently came back with a vengeance and I've started to notice other minor muscle twitches (a lip here, a calf there). I am a teacher and I've been going through the last few weeks of school which are always high stress so I've been trying to convince myself it's stress related (and I've also been slacking on my meditation & getting massages). I also know that the eyelid it's occuring on is my eye that has an astigmatism. I don't wear glasses, but I know I will likely need them in the near future. Every rational part of me is shouting, "It's stress, eye strain, and you being your spazzy self!" while my anxiety is shouting back, "It's MS, ALS, or some other horrific neurological disease!"


Part of me thinks I should go to an optomistrist and see what they say, but since I have occasional twitching in other muscles, I don't think it's truly eye strain. And if I get glasses & nothing improves, I think it might make things worse. I could also go to my GP, but part of me feels like I'm badgering her over a shiny new anxiety symptom. Any advice or people with similar experiences?

~Guen

Hi im new here but i had something like this happen. To me and i went to eye dr and said that eye twitches can mean you are dehydrated hope it helps.

 

[Zeynep]

Ben !