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Lots of Muscle Twitching-How is this Anxiety Related??

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hank1457
hank1457

Lengthy post ahead......

I feel like I am at my wits' end. I.m 35 years old and have dealt with health anxiety for awhile now.....basically, I always feel like I'm dying of something.  About a month ago, I noticed the area of my palm, right below the thumb (on my left side), twitching. I googled that and found out that it is one of the symptoms of ALS.  The thumb-area twitching kind of resolved, but then since then it seems as if everything else is twitching now.  My eyes were twitching for awhile, initially both were giving me issues (like one day it was both of them), but now for the most part, it is the left one. The term you find when you google all of these symptoms is "fasiculations," like where you can see your muscles twitching right underneath the skin.....and that's definitely what I have.  My arms, jaw, around my mouth, legs, and I know I've felt it what feels like inside my abdomen on the left side, and I can't believe I'm telling people this, but even feels like my vagina is twitching.  The twitches have been all over, but I would say the left side is mainly where I feel them.  However, this morning, it feels more like my right side. My left neck and jaw also feel as if they are ready to spasm and cramp up any second.  If I turn just the right way and my face is tightened at all, it feels like it is going to get stuck that way. Over the last week, when I first wake up, it feels like I;m shaking for a few minutes.  

I went to my PCP a few weeks ago and he said that he does not think it is ALS and rather caused by stress and anxiety. He did order routine labs and a neurology consult though.  His office called the other day to tell me that my labs indicated that I was anemic (which has been kind of a constant thing), and not to miss my appointment this coming week so that we could discus how we are going to treat that. 

Here's my real issue: I am totally willing (and really hoping) to accept that this is anxiety is related.  I just don't understand how it can improve......if I twitch, I get anxious, which then I twitch more.....and the cycle continues.  Other than the muscle twitching, I don't know if I have other symptoms.  I personally think that my left side isn't functioning as strong as it was, but I truly do not think that I am being objective about it all.  I am so in-tuned to my body currently that I can't assess it in an unbiased way.  Also, if this is stress and anxiety, I don't know what the direct cause is.......like there is nothing that is distinctly stressful in my life at the moment that I can point at as the cause.  

Thanks for listening and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Philly89
    Philly89 hank1457

    Posted

    This is what I found on the Anxiety Centre website...

    "A body that becomes overly stressed (stress-response hyperstimulated) can cause the nervous system to behave erratically, which can cause nerve impulses to fire erratically. Since nerve impulses control muscles, an erratically behaving nervous system can cause muscles to twitch. As long as the nervous system is even slightly overly stressed, it can cause erratic muscle twitching."

    So it sounds like your twitches can definitely be anxiety related. You say you don't feel nervous/anxious at the moment, but have you felt that way at all recently? For example: I had a bad phase of anxiety last year, it lasted for months where I was constantly anxious feeling. I've been getting better tho and for the past 3 months or so I haven't felt anxious really at all. However, I still have a bunch of different physical anxiety symptoms. My therapist calls this a "subconscious anxious". Basically when ur body is overly stressed for too long, it goes into super stress mode and even if finally you (mentally) feel okay, your body is going to take longer to calm itself down. This is why the physical symptoms linger for a while.

    I haven't had the twitches but I have muscle tension issues. My neck and under my jaw area get so tight and uncomfortable, and apparently it's just anxiety. But I kno how u feel bc I don't even feel anxious right now so it's very frustrating lol. But I guess like my therapist said, I had so much anxiety for a long period of time that my body hasn't recovered yet.

     

    • Philly89
      Philly89

      Posted

      Oh also, regarding how it can improve. You are exactly right, you get a muscle twitch and then get anxious and it gets worse. The key then is to NOT get nervous with the twitches. Once you fully accept they are simply anxiety related, you won't get nervous when u have a twitch and then eventually they will go away as your body relaxes.

    • hank1457
      hank1457 Philly89

      Posted

      I’ve actually had a pretty “exciting” year.....we moved in June 2017, had our 2nd child in November 2017, renovated our kitchen literally two days after coming home from hospital.....put our dog to sleep in February....I went back to work after maternity leave in February. Those were all the relatively normal things. For a few months I had some other symptoms that had me convinced I had some other terrible disease.....pretty consuming. Wondering if all of it combined has just been too much?
    • Philly89
      Philly89 hank1457

      Posted

      So I've been reading this book "The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook (6th edition)" - which I highly recommend - and in this book they have a type of survey where it lists all different major life events for 1 year only, and each one is given a value. So for ex: having a baby = 300, moving into a new home = 100, and so on. At the end u add up your score and it tells you a range of how stressful your last year of life has been. Just by what u told me above, you would DEF be categorized as a stressful year lol. So I think it could def be playing a big part in your anxiety, even if you don't actively notice it!

  • Guest
    Guest hank1457

    Posted

    ALS is very, very rare. I doubt you have that and your PCP agrees. Muscle Twitching is very common with anxiety symptoms-it's an indication of nervous energy. The best way to address it is to take vigorous exercise-that helps my muscle twitching quite a bit. Yeah, I go through periods of it as well. Also I get muscle cramps late at night, especially in my calves. Sometimes I walk up with screaming charlie-horses in my calves and I have to force myself to just lay there and try and relax the muscle, eventually it subsides.

    The twitching is not going to hurt you, so just relax and go with it. If you want to do something proactive, try and exercise the muscles that are twitching-even if it's the eyes! It does tend to reduce that tendency. Best of luck and relax-nobody ever died from twitching muscles!

    • hank1457
      hank1457 Guest

      Posted

      Hi Phil,

      Thank you for your comment. I have decided that this energy needs to be re-directed. Thankfully I have a house full of chores that needs to be addressed smile Friday night I scrubbed our bathroom and yesterday cleaned the kitchen. However, I need to determine where regular exercise can be scheduled.  

      Is it really that rare??? I realize that I’m pretty young to have it (35), so I would be a rare case of a rare disease.....and I don’t think that I’m that “special.”

  • jan34534
    jan34534 hank1457

    Posted

    Ashley the twitching is caused by anxiety and stress.  I have had it since my twenties from chronic stress and anxiety.  I am in my fifties now and nothing bad ever happened.   I have had it all over my body and get it occasionally now when I’m anxious. I basically ignore them and they go away. The more anxious you are the worse they get.   They are harmless.

    People with Als get them in the later stages.  

    Athletes get them due to how they use their muscles.

    Relax and enjoy your life!  🌸🌸🌸🙂

    • hank1457
      hank1457 jan34534

      Posted

      Hi Jan,

      Thank you for your comments. I did notice last week that when I told myself it was just anxiety and wouldn’t get better until I stopped worrying about it, it lightened up. However, on Friday I read something that said hand and forearm weakness are early signs. That freaked me out because I swear my left hand hasn’t been working right for a little bit....like I can’t manipulate like I need it to. Reading that on Friday has only amplified that stuff. Like tonight, it felt like I wasn’t holding my baby normally....that my right side wasn’t working right. Also, I’ve noticed that my eye twitches have pretty much gone away, but when I do get them they are nowhere near as strong.....so while a normal person would see that as a good thing, I see it as it must mean my muscles are getting weaker. I know it’s a headgame, but I’m still so worried it’s something like ALS.

  • lisa17089
    lisa17089 hank1457

    Posted

    Hi ashley

    I too suffer with terrible twitching. I also googled and read about als and now Im convinced I have it. My limbs sometimes jerk aswell and it frightens me so much. The more anxious I get the worse the twitching gets, sometimes I can't sleep because I'm so Aware of them. I went to my docs who thinks it is anxiety but shes sending me to see a neurologist to give me peace of mind, but I'm so scared of going just in case they find something seriously wrong. Im constantly googling my symptoms and always focus on the worse scenario it takes over and ruins my life. I dont know how to get out of this cycle xx

    • hank1457
      hank1457 lisa17089

      Posted

      I have a neurology referral as well that I have not scheduled. Partly because I’m afraid of what they may say and partly because things have gotten better. I commented on someone else’s reply but to share with you, I did notice much improvement last week when I accepted that it’s anxiety and told myself that it cannot begin to get better until I calm down. I know that it’s hard to do but it has helped.
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