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JAS41989

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Upland
First I am a 26 year old male. I've always had the occasional twitch that comes and goes in my thigh or arm, but lately they've been more prevalent. I used to only feel/notice them when I was in bed at night. I'd move my leg and they'd generally stop and never return. A couple nights ago my thigh was really going at it, so I googled what could be causing my twitching...

To my surprise the answers ranged from "harmless and stress related" all the way to "you might have ALS" which was obviously terrifying.

After I read that my body really feels like it went for a ride. My thigh twitched like crazy, then my calf would go for a few seconds, then my bicep/tricep area, right before my thigh again. For the last two days straight I've had random body wide twitching, even while I sit here at my desk my thigh goes thump... thump thump... calf twitch... thigh thump.

I tried getting to the bottom of it. I stared at my thigh while I sat on the couch today and I can clearly see the twitching activity. I've read that this is a positive sign because it's near the surface? I have no idea. There is so much information on the internet.

I have no loss of strength, muscle, or coordination that I have really noticed. I'm not very active. I go for a walk with my wife and dogs every morning for about 2 miles, and that's about as active as I get. I'm posting here so I'm obviously filled with stress and anxiety. I drink a cup of coffee or tea in the mornings, and I take a multivitamin. Other than that I'm not all that special.

I've made an appointment with a neurologist on Monday, but I'd love some insight before then.
 
Thanks for the amount of detail you have given.

Great news is that what you are describing is not how ALS goes.

You have noticed that your anxiety has affected the twitches. Now this is a good sign - twitches mean nothing clinically on their own. Twitches that are affected by anxiety are not the fasciculations one gets with ALS, and with ALS those twitches are accompanied by other serious symptoms.

Getting to a neurologist is a good idea as he/she will be able to check you thoroughly and get to the root of what is happening and allay your fears.

Don't underestimate what anxiety can do to your body. Try to stay calm now, keep hydrated and do some really nice things with your wife and the dogs over the weekend.

All the best
 
I appreciate you taking the time to draft such a thoughtful response. I'm fairly certain my twitches at this point are anxiety driven. You've stated that what I described is not how ALS works. Do you mean random body wide twitching? Visible twitching? Or something else entirely. I apologize but seeing as this disease is rare, I obviously know very little. I am not messing around, I never even made an appointment with my PCP. I found the best neurologist on my area that accepted my PPO and I got an appointment. Obviously I am hopeful that my twitches subside by then.
 
JAS, I don't know why you're concerned about ALS. There are no signs of ALS there. Twitching is so common that it's not diagnostic of anything. Half the population twitches. Calm down. And forget about Dr Google.
 
I think there's just a confusing amount of information online. Honestly, I've just never ever had such persistent twitching. Think I was just afraid of a new change with my body, and as you said Dr. Google jumped straight to ALS...
 
That's why it's great you can ask here, you are right there is a lot of confusing information if you just start reading on the net :)

What I meant about the twitching is that in ALS twitching is only one symptom amongst many others. The twitching may or may not even be there at diagnosis and it doesn't help achieve a diagnosis.

So I can see by what you wrote that your problem is twitching rather than reporting the symptoms of ALS.

Staying as calm as you can now, hydrated and doing nice things honestly is the best thing you can do. One thing I've learned is that it's about how you do any journey in life, rather than what the journey is. Don't waste this weekend in a panic about a disease you don't have. Make it a great weekend and then see this doctor on Monday and let things get sorted then.

Staying off this site is the first thing you should determine yourself to do now. Two senior and experienced members have answered.
 
Thank you both for the reassurance. I had a long talk with my wife about my concerns yesterday. She found your input and the sticky thread about ALS Symptoms very helpful. She doesn't even think I need to see a neurologist, as much as I just need to stay off the internet. Twitching in my calfs and my thighs is still persistent, though not as frequent as yesterday. Still... Such an annoyance. It's unlike anything I've ever felt before. I swear after I sat on the computer all day yesterday I walked around my living room on my heels and toes, and all other kinds of weird stuff. Basically, outside of a few straight days of twitching in my thighs, calf muscles, and occasional spasm in my side, arm, whatever... I have no real symptoms of ALS. I haven't felt weak, tripped while walking, had trouble walking up stairs, etc.

I'm just a twitcher with a computer who is now obviously very afraid.

Going to do my very best to stay off the internet this weekend. Probably going to keep my appointment with the neurologist, simply because I've already made the appointment and filled out the new patient paperwork. Not sure if he'd even order any tests or just tell me to go home. I'll obviously check back in after my appointment. Even if it's just to let you know that you were right.
 
Good man. Smart wife.
Good luck to you.
--Mike
 
One common twitching cause is needing more Mg, K or Ca in your diet. Try increasing one at a time and see what might help.
 
Hey party people. My appointment with the the neurologist is in a few hours. I'm just checking in. I got some blood work done over the weekend and it came back relatively normal. CBC showed blood count was normal. Basic metabolic panel showed that my electrolytes were all in range... Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, etc. Nothing listed about Magnesium (at all) so I assume that means they did not test for it.

Wanted to have updated blood work for my appointment today so I could waste zero time. Getting to the bottom of what is causing all of my twitching. I've not had caffeine, any sort of sleep aid, or medication of any kind in 3 days. Today makes day 4... I've been drowning myself with water, taking my multivitamin, and even introduced a calcium, magnesium, and zinc pill once a day.

Sadly... Twitching has not subsided at all, haha.

Here is to hoping the neurologist appointment comes with good news.
 
Update from my Neurologist appointment today...

I had an interesting appointment that lasted roughly an hour and a half today. Doctor took a tremendous amount of time with me. Spent about 30 minutes just getting a bit of my medical history. After he reviewed my blood work, put me through some walking, strength, and reflex exercises.

His thoughts...

"Your twitching seems to be predominantly in your legs, and you do have some hyperactive reflexes. Not incredibly concerning ones, meaning you aren't kicking through my roof, but they're a little more on the active side. No signs of clonus, which is positive. You don't seem to have any visible issues walking or with leg strength. Most muscles seem fairly symmetrical and equal in strength. I'm going to give you my list of what I think it could be...

1. You had persistent lower back pain before the twitches started. Though the twitching started up a few weeks after the persistent back pain, you could have aggravated a disc in your lower back, which now that it's settled on it's own with exercise and massage therapy is messing with your nerves, causing your legs to twitch hyperactively. So, I'm going to order an MRI of your back so we can get to the bottom of this and see if that's the player in our game.

**I did not mention my lower back pain in my original post, because since it had stopped bothering me a few weeks, I did not think it was related.**

2. You recently got married, started a new job, your mother in law had a heart attack... This could be life telling you that your plate is a little more full than it's ever been before and adrenaline and anxiety is causing a flare up of benign fasciculations. These won't harm you in any way. I'll just see you once a year or so to remind you that you're not dying, yet.

3. The last thing I want to say is that today, without any other testing than the ones I've put you through here. Based on what I've seen and your blood work we can rule out a few things in particular. First, this is not a nutrient deficiency of any kind. Your electrolyte counts and CBC look good, so just keep taking your vitamins and watching your diet. Second, your blood work doesn't show any signs of this being some sort of chronic liver failure or liver disease of any kind, so you can cross that off your list of worries. Third, this is not ALS or some sort of motor neuron disease. Your muscles, even your weaker ones show plenty of physical strength. If you aren't struggling to get through your morning walks with your wife and dogs, and you're able to stay active running errands on the weekend, that's a pretty solid indicator that your legs are not failing you at this time. So please, if you are concerned about ALS just go ahead and put that to rest.

So... After this he said he was ordering me an MRI to get a better look at my back and try to identify if I had any visible damage. He said if the MRI came up clean, he would "most likely" call me just to tell me that I had BFS and I could come back in 6 months for a check up, but that was ultimately just if I wanted to, because it wasn't going to harm me.
 
Perfect. He was good! And thanks for such detail, JAS.
Can't ask for a better outcome than that on this website.
 
Just a friendly update... Today I had an MRI of my lower spine done. My neurologist said he wants to start his focus there, so we can continue our process of elimination. Twitching has not really stopped yet, but the doctor gave me some medication (Ativan) to help me relax and sleep a little better, so I've been able to ignore it a little better. Luckily right after the MRI, I was given imaging to take to my Neurologist. His assistant said they'd review it today and give me a call sometime next week. My follow up appointment is on the 14th. Until then, I'm not sure I'll know much more than I know now.
 
Just wanted to check in regarding my follow up. The MRI of my spine proved to be unremarkable. There is a small lesion of some sort, but he told me it is benign and I was born with it, and it wouldn't turn into anything I needed to worry about. He did not take an MRI of the upper part of my spine or my brain.

I'm still twitching like a mad man... Some days are better than others. He told me at this time that ALS does not present itself this way, and even with twitching and brisk reflexes he finds me to be strong and carry on quite normally. At this time I've been diagnosed with BFS. I've started seeing a therapist once a week to work on some CBT techniques, and I started on some mild anxiety medication.

It's really difficult to accept a benign diagnosis. I've thought about joining the BFS board but it doesn't feel that active. I dunno... I appreciate everyone here who took the time to talk to me.
 
That's great, thanks for updating us. BFS is a real diagnosis, you should be doing a happy dance. The fact it's hard to accept a benign diagnosis says to me you need to seriously seek mental health help to deal with your anxiety which is also a very real diagnosis.

All the best. You will do yourself a favour to stay completely away from here now, staying here would be another sign that you need mental health help.

Very happy for you :)
 
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