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Muscle twitches and spasms all over body

Posted , 61 users are following.

rsarah21
rsarah21

This particular problem started about 5 years ago, however it was much more mild and not as worrying. The muscle twitches originally started in my feet and legs, and was more of an annoyance than anything. At the time I also had trouble sleeping, so my doctor suggested a sleep study, perhaps the twitching was causing my body to not fully fall asleep. However, the sleep study did not show any abnormalities in my sleep pattern. The twitching eventually subsided/became less noticeable, and I forgot about it. 

In the last 30-45 days or so, however, I have noticed the twitching both returning and being much more frequent, and also accompanied by muscle spasms as well. The twitching occurs all over my body, including; feet, ankles, calves, thighs, knees, glutes, wrists, fingers, elbow muscles, and biceps. The muscle spasms have only occured in my thighs, calves, and glutes and are not as common. The spasms are very rapid and only last for a few seconds.

I decided to keep track of the frequency of the twitching for a 5 minute span (both laying down and in a sitting position) and it occured around 8-10 times within 5 minutes (varying from fingers, glutes, thighs, calves, etc). I am worried that these symptoms may lead to something greater, as I am only 20 years old and am not sure if it will become worse as time progresses.

I should also mention that I am prescribed 150 mg Wellbutrin and birth control daily, and have also been taking painkillers as needed for the past few weeks due to surgery. I also suffer from mild-moderate anxiety. I do not believe that this is a side-effect from my medication, as I have been on these medications the past few years. I am not opposed to visiting the doctor, I just don't know if a specific doctor would be necessary or any other advice would be helpful. 

0 likes, 256 replies

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  • Jessk022
    Jessk022 rsarah21

    Posted

    Hey guys I'm 29 I have been getting random muscle twitching for about 2-3 years now it's exactly like the twitching you get in your eye but EVERYWHERE inside my stomach my face you name it... anyway I learned to put up with it as it wasn't painful just more scary. I was normally I really active person until about a year ago. 6 months ago I had a massive panic attack (I've suffered with major anxiety my whole life) this lasted over a week and while this happened my twitching was out of control and making it worse ( I can never tell if I'm getting the twitching from anxiety or if the twitching is causing my anxiety???) I went to the doctor had bloods done nothing just told me it was stress and anxiety and that it is a very normal symptom (first I've heard) during this time though my leg or hand would even jolt and physically move like when you wake up from a jolt in your sleep. Also I would feel the twitching in my wrist like a pulsating in my pulse area but it would be physically making my finger twitch I am so scared this is literally a living hell has anyone had the jolts or finger twitching also?

    • angela59190
      angela59190 Jessk022

      Posted

      I have read muscle twitching in young adults and teens is normal. Those of us that are in our 40's are really worried. I hope you will always be healthy and live a very long life. Which I am sure you will!

    • nathan1992
      nathan1992 Jessk022

      Posted

      Hi JessK,

      I am a 25 year old male living in Canada and we have a very similar story and set of symptoms. My twitching started in February of 2017 when I was 24. I am a very active healthy person, exercise 4 - 5 times and very conscious about what I eat, I only drink water. I remember I was sitting on the couch and my arm sort of just twitched and moved. I now get little muscle twitches all over my body, thighs, fingers, biceps and like you no pain but it's terrifying. I have gone to my doctor for blood tests but it showed nothing I've had genetic testing and all of my muscles a normal. I am now seeing a neurologist and had an EMG. I have a follow up this week and will update if its anything. I worry about this constantly and it wreaks havoc on my mental state. I have never had problems with anxiety and I would say I still don't and while this could be a factor I say you know your body best and if it feels off it probably is. The list of horrible disease it could be freaks me out but so far I haven't had any other symptoms than the twitching and small "jolts". Let me know if you hear anything about your diagnosis.

    • nathan1992
      nathan1992 Jessk022

      Posted

      Hi Jess,

      I'm doing okay, I had a follow-up appointment with my neurologist. The results of my EMG came back normal. The doctor asked me if I felt like I experienced any twitches during the test which I felt I definitely did. He said that really just makes it more conclusive. I don't have any other symptoms that would make me want to order any more tests. It's been about 3 weeks and I am just doing my best to try and ignore it. I would say I can't pinpoint anything that makes it better or worse, like diet, exercise, sleep etc. I was basically given a BFS diagnosis and told to come back if I notice any new symptoms. I still worry about it and I would still say I have twitches every day, although some days I hardly notice and some days it seems really bad. So the short answer is no I don't have any news. I'll be moving soon and I'm going to get a new doctor and start over. I hope things get better for you, let me know if you get any news.

       

  • Jessk022
    Jessk022 rsarah21

    Posted

    Should also mention that it comes and goes some days I focus on it more then others also get the twitching really bad in my eyebrows driving me insane. I Also her very light headed when Standing from sitting and often get pins and needles literally

    Cannot tell if I'm just driving myself insane! I saw two different doctors and they told me it's just anxiety basically laughed at me for being so worried 😩 

    • nathan1992
      nathan1992 Jessk022

      Posted

      Yeah, I'm so far into my own head now. It's tough to tell what's truly a symptom and what is over analyzing. If you have anxiety and the doctors brush you off maybe you could try, meditating (I've used the headspace app) and exercise so next time if they try to brush it off you could try to counter back and say you're working on the anxiety but don't see any improvement if that is the case.

      I sometimes get the twitching in my knees and I find that to the most noticeable and annoying but I basically only notice when I'm sitting at work. I definitely know the insane feeling, but you know you better than anyone. Not knowing is the hardest part. But I read a quote in some medical article that I can't find but paraphrasing it went "Rare diseases are rare, twitching is not. The chance twitching is a sign of a life-threatening illness are as low as those diseases are rare" The odds are in our favour that it's nothing. I just want PROOF lol!

    • kenny26128
      kenny26128 nathan1992

      Posted

      Lol. Thanks for that. I certainly hope so. But still the unknown is the ultimate fear. 
    • kenny26128
      kenny26128 nathan1992

      Posted

      Lol. Thanks for that. I certainly hope so. But still the unknown is the ultimate fear. 
  • quebolaqba
    quebolaqba rsarah21

    Posted

    Yeah this is a response to everybody i typed this in to Google and still can't really get a direct straight answer so I have to come to a conclusion and a Common Sense answer, I think this is all happening more and more to people no matter what the age. I've had this problem for years and lately it's been happening a lot more I think it is a neuro problem something to do with our nervous system most likely and it's probably coming from something that everybody does which is used cell phones and put them up to their heads cell phones are honest all the time almost 24 hours a day I'm pretty sure it's doing some damage. Of course this is just a theory. They should probably do a study because I know not everybody uses their cell phone the same.

  • adam39626
    adam39626 rsarah21

    Posted

    What I think you should give a try to Acupuncture. Acupuncture is commonly used for pain relief.
    • sarah06129
      sarah06129 adam39626

      Posted

      Yes, i have thought about this and think i defo may have to try! Never done it before so anything is worth a try. Onluy thing is i dobt have pain in general in my muscles i get most pain when ny anxiety is on. But as i say i have majorly cut down on drinking and seems ti be a tiny fraction better, though, i havent actually put myself in any situations where my anxiety or an attack may happen. I literally drop the kids to school come hone stay in till i need to pick them up. I do a weekly shop at beginning of week with my mum so that i dont have to go out in the week and i feel safer and better like that thought i wouldnt recommend living like that to anyone!
  • branden32122
    branden32122 rsarah21

    Posted

    Ladies and gentleman, I have your solution.

    http://www.neurosymptoms.org

    It's called a functional neurological disorder. It includes things like benign fasciculation syndrome.

    The majority of individuals who go to a neurologist with symptoms fall into this category. The vast majority of us on this site are those individuals. I myself have been dealing with this for 6 years.

    Essentially, people go to the neurologists with very real symptoms. Those symptoms combined with clinical findings are not consistent of organic identifiable disease. The symptoms are still real and imaging of the brain during periods of the symptoms show that the brain has undergone changes. But they are not from disease and the changes are not permanent. There are several triggers. Most notably (and for most people) is stress. It's not the adrenaline dump that we usually associate stress and anxiety with. It's the constant scanning and mini adrenaline dumps for "that's new" symptoms that we find. The constant self awareness keeps us in a state of stress, even if we don't realize it.

    I have a laundry list of weird things that I have going on. I have a migraine disorder called cluster migraines that last for months. My symptoms are triggered by and always follow my migraine. About 6 months go by and all the full body twitches, face/arm tremors, muscle cramps, weakness, and numb body parts go back to normal. I was diagnosed with BFS. It's a functional neurological disorder. Pretty much all of you fall into the same category. If you have been to the neuro, had the tests done, and have been given a clean bill of health, then live life like you stole it. Because every day you sit here and analyze it, somebody who really has ALS is struggling through life wishing they could take your spot.

    Ignorance is bliss. Smart people have a tendency to self diagnose and try to find the answer ourselves. Many many doctors do the same thing. It's so bad that most neurologists who go see a neurologist get diagnosed with benign fasciculation syndrome lol. That happens more often than you would believe.

    If you go out, start exercising regularly, eating healthy, spend as much time outdoors doing activities as you can , and embrace your symptoms, they will pretty much go away. You have to say, "I guess I just twitch everywhere now" and stop trying to find the reason why. That's how you get it to go away.

    It's a condition that sits right in the middle between physical and mental. You fix how you mental, and the physical will fix itself.

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