Questions about anxiety and twitching

[NeedAdvice39]

I'm a 40 year old male and around 5 1/2 months ago I was sitting down and noticed that my calves were twitching. Not painful at all, but just twitching back and forth. I did what most do and googled it and got worried about something completely different. This could have been going on longer, but I hadn't noticed.

The calf twitching has not stopped and I now also have twitches elsewhere off and on. Near my elbow twitches mainly at night. I also get bicep, thigh, feet, and a rare eye twitch. Everything but my calves is occasional and movement will generally make it stop.  All of the twitching is worse at night.

My calves are both sore occasionally (and hamstrings). I have no weakness and have no physical limitations. Running, walking, and completed a small construction project a few weeks ago. Can also walk on toes, heels, lift weights, play basketball, etc.  The twitching is really bad at night and wakes me up early in the morning. I have less pain and sleep better after taking a muscle relaxer, but I don't know if that's resting my muscles or my overactive brain.

I mentioned the twitching to my doctor and he said it's likely anxiety and will go away - which it hasn't. Also have had an onset of floaters for the last 9 months.

I'm seeing my GP in a month or so and plan to mention this to him again.  Is it true that it would be unusual to twitch for six months with no other symptoms?  Is it also true that body wide twitching points away from ALS?  Lastly, can anxiety keep these symptoms going for this long?

Thank you for your time.

[Mikeymem3]

Hey this is my first time posting on this website because I actually came for help because of another issue I was having. However I did stumble upon this thread because I had serious issues with this exact thing you are going through.

First off I am only a 20 year old male so take my advice for what it is. About 7 months ago I started noticing twitching across my entire body from my face,arms,legs,calves,feet...etc. Of course I did what I shouldn't of done and I checked with Dr. Google and saw that I could possibly have ALS. I am an over thinker and I pretty much convinced myself that I had the disease. I lived in so much fear thinking when the next symptom will start to show. Every doctor I went to said it was just anxiety of over thinking. Of course I didn't believe it and had every type of test done to reassure myself that I wasn't going to die from this terrible disease. After getting a clean brain MRI, EMG, and various blood tests I started to realise that the odds are in my favour for not having ALS. I spent countless months on ALS forums thinking that I was going to suffer this terrible fate but after 7 months of non stop twitching I still have not developed anything sinister like they say. To this day I still twitch everywhere but I haven't developed anything else. I have come to conclusion that my anxiety is causing the twitching as a stress response and I have come to accept that. Unfortunately for me I am still a heavy thinker and keep thinking I am suffering from different terrible things but this is where my anxiety gets to me again. Once I can start controlling my thoughts instead of my thoughts controlling me I can realise that I am ok.

But enough about me, as for you.. At the age of 40 it would still be considered a young age to develop this disease. Most people get diagnosed in there mid 50s. Like I said I'm only 20 years old and after doing countless research I have a lot of knowledge about this subject.

The golden rule is that twitching accompanied by no other symptom such as clinical weakness (which means you physically can't do something) doesn't mean anything. In almost all cases people who have already began twitching have some sort of weakness associated to it and as for you being able to do your normal activities is a very good sign that your twitching is harmless.

Check out the website BFS website. Benign fasciculation syndrome pretty much means harmless twitching and there are TONS of people going through the same thing which is why this website helped me get over my ALS fear. After 7 months I still twitch to this day but the worry and time waisted thinking about the disease is something I can never get back. It's not worth going down that fearful route. I wish you the best.

Good luck to you!