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Still confused about twitching
I am so embarassed to be asking this. You would think with as long as I have been on this forum I would have figured it out before but I still don't get it! I have twitching all over my body day & night. It does not make my limbs move unless it is my hand. This all started in August of last year. Can twitching be a part of MS???
The other thing that happens almost daily is the numb fingers in my left hand & numb on the right side of the body from head to feet - feels like novicane. ALSO a numb tongue! MRI of head & spine w & w/o contrast were "normal" as well as LP. Tested for mimics, B12, Lymes, etc in July. PCP sent me to a neuro (who did the testing) then passed me back to the PCP last year. Dr suggests it could be stress, migraine or a virus.
A full description of my sx is located in my journal. Have put off going back to the doctor just incase it is stress causing my symptoms (have had my share of that lately :)
Thanks for reading this.
Janette
The other thing that happens almost daily is the numb fingers in my left hand & numb on the right side of the body from head to feet - feels like novicane. ALSO a numb tongue! MRI of head & spine w & w/o contrast were "normal" as well as LP. Tested for mimics, B12, Lymes, etc in July. PCP sent me to a neuro (who did the testing) then passed me back to the PCP last year. Dr suggests it could be stress, migraine or a virus.
A full description of my sx is located in my journal. Have put off going back to the doctor just incase it is stress causing my symptoms (have had my share of that lately :)
Thanks for reading this.
Janette
Janette--glad you will rest easier! I am on the West Coast, so yes, I do sleep, I just maybe go to bed "later" than you! Don't send checks, just keep sharing your own experiences. :)
Quix--you didn't confuse anyone, I was just looking to make sure I understood you correctly. Thanks VERY much for the info. I always wondered why it was my rear-end muscles that twitched after walking, even though it's my upper thigh/hip muscles that FEEL very strained when I walk. I shall now give my rear end its due respect. :)
Nancy
Quix--you didn't confuse anyone, I was just looking to make sure I understood you correctly. Thanks VERY much for the info. I always wondered why it was my rear-end muscles that twitched after walking, even though it's my upper thigh/hip muscles that FEEL very strained when I walk. I shall now give my rear end its due respect. :)
Nancy
Thank you very much for posting this question!! I am having the same issue!! I have one spinal cord lesion on the right side but the twitching is pretty much everywhere! From what I hear, a spinal cord lesion can affect anything below it but I have the twitching in my face too! Now I just have to figure out if all of those muscles were weakened by the lesion or if I have something different going on! Currently in the process of ruling out Lyme just to be on the safe side!! Goodluck to you!!
UM - what I really meant to say is I shall rest easier knowing that if I ignore the twitching & numbness it will not hurt my body any further. This was much more informative than the doctors - the neuro left a message on my phone with test results & said he was sending me back to the PCP. When I talked to the PCP office the nurse said they could treat me for the migraines & I told her that I had not had one in 3 months & she said "OH" & proceeded to say that she was not sure what else could be causing the sx.
SO - where do I send your checks :)
Thanks again
Janette
SO - where do I send your checks :)
Thanks again
Janette
Quix, Nancy & Udkas,
AAAAHHHHH - so maybe my doctor does know what he is talking about :) I shall believe him then & just ignore the twitching & numbness. Knowing that they are not part of something really bad makes it easier.
Thanks for your input. Wonering if you guys ever sleep? :)
Janette
AAAAHHHHH - so maybe my doctor does know what he is talking about :) I shall believe him then & just ignore the twitching & numbness. Knowing that they are not part of something really bad makes it easier.
Thanks for your input. Wonering if you guys ever sleep? :)
Janette
Thanks again Quix for the interesting and educational info.
Hi, I find that I get my twitching (fasciculations) mostly when I am experiencing weakness or numbness in my leg, but the twitching occurs in my thigh of the same leg that feels weak and heavy, I do get them sometimes in other areas but not all over my body and normally when my other symptoms are at their worst, like I am tired or have exercised a lot and are usually worse when I have rested after the exercise..but I would not say that they are my main primary symptom. But Janette and Surruh I can imagine that they would become very annoying if you had to deal with them all the time.
Udkas.
Hi, I find that I get my twitching (fasciculations) mostly when I am experiencing weakness or numbness in my leg, but the twitching occurs in my thigh of the same leg that feels weak and heavy, I do get them sometimes in other areas but not all over my body and normally when my other symptoms are at their worst, like I am tired or have exercised a lot and are usually worse when I have rested after the exercise..but I would not say that they are my main primary symptom. But Janette and Surruh I can imagine that they would become very annoying if you had to deal with them all the time.
Udkas.
People with normal nervous systems can get fasciculations in heavily exercised muscles. That can intensify if the muscle groups are ennervated with damaged nerves.
ABSOLUTELY your entire glutes are used heavily during walking! If they are weak, then twitching after a moderate amount of walking would make sense.
Where did I confuse people here?
Udkas - TM is a demyelinating disease just like MS. Twitching in the muscle groups affected would not be surprising.
Quix
ABSOLUTELY your entire glutes are used heavily during walking! If they are weak, then twitching after a moderate amount of walking would make sense.
Where did I confuse people here?
Udkas - TM is a demyelinating disease just like MS. Twitching in the muscle groups affected would not be surprising.
Quix
Hi,
I was not sure if to post or not, so thanks for saying thanks...lol, I prefer to leave technical things to people like Quix as she explains things so well.
Yes you can get migraines without the headache, I was made aware of this by my neuro and now he has made me more tuned in I can tell when I have a migraine, I get the visual symptoms too, like the shimmering etc. but I don't always develop a headache, I get vertigo and my neuro said that it was to do with my migraines which were caused by spinal lesions so they feed each other.... and migraines seem to excacerbate my symptoms. but like Nancy said migraines can cause numbness but it is usually only on one side of your body, as I went thru a big stage where I thought perhaps all my symptoms were caused by migraine.. (but they are not) I get the twitching but in the muscle groups that are affected and my diagnosis is TM, and apparently you can get twitching with TM.
Good luck with it all,
Best wishes,
UDkas.
I was not sure if to post or not, so thanks for saying thanks...lol, I prefer to leave technical things to people like Quix as she explains things so well.
Yes you can get migraines without the headache, I was made aware of this by my neuro and now he has made me more tuned in I can tell when I have a migraine, I get the visual symptoms too, like the shimmering etc. but I don't always develop a headache, I get vertigo and my neuro said that it was to do with my migraines which were caused by spinal lesions so they feed each other.... and migraines seem to excacerbate my symptoms. but like Nancy said migraines can cause numbness but it is usually only on one side of your body, as I went thru a big stage where I thought perhaps all my symptoms were caused by migraine.. (but they are not) I get the twitching but in the muscle groups that are affected and my diagnosis is TM, and apparently you can get twitching with TM.
Good luck with it all,
Best wishes,
UDkas.
Quix says--"Also, heavy exercise may cause the twitching in the immediate, post-exercise period, but just in the very fatigued muscles"
Do you mean in NORMAL people, or people with nerve damage?
(I guess I must use my rear-end muscles to walk, because those are the ones that would start twitching fast and furious all over, like popcorn popping, after a moderate 40-minute walk!)
Janette--good luck getting things sorted out. I had a lot of twitching early on in my symptoms--areas that would twitch mightily for a long time, and it's a bit disturbing! Yes, you can have migraines without having a headache. Most definitely. My son would get numbness "marching" from his fingers up his arm. Classic migraine syndrome. I just got visual auras. It can cause numbness on one side of the body. Or it can just cause dizziness. Or it can just cause nausea and diarrhea. All kinds of things--with or without a headache!
Nancy
Do you mean in NORMAL people, or people with nerve damage?
(I guess I must use my rear-end muscles to walk, because those are the ones that would start twitching fast and furious all over, like popcorn popping, after a moderate 40-minute walk!)
Janette--good luck getting things sorted out. I had a lot of twitching early on in my symptoms--areas that would twitch mightily for a long time, and it's a bit disturbing! Yes, you can have migraines without having a headache. Most definitely. My son would get numbness "marching" from his fingers up his arm. Classic migraine syndrome. I just got visual auras. It can cause numbness on one side of the body. Or it can just cause dizziness. Or it can just cause nausea and diarrhea. All kinds of things--with or without a headache!
Nancy
Could be. Tongue, lip, gum and throat sores and ulcers are usually viral infections. In fact, for those with Herpes Simplex I (fever blisters/cold sores) the first day of the outbreak in some people (like me) is associated with a viremia as they have fever, headache and flu-like symptoms.
I had a minor (just a few days) relapse of old symptoms brought on by a herpes sore on my lip.
Quix
I had a minor (just a few days) relapse of old symptoms brought on by a herpes sore on my lip.
Quix
Quix,
Thanks for your response! You always explain things so I understand them. :) Makes me wonder if the thing I had on my tongue a year ago was really something viral & is still causing the twitching & numbness.
Terry,
You are a good friend & appreciate that fact! Thanks for being there for me.
Janette
Thanks for your response! You always explain things so I understand them. :) Makes me wonder if the thing I had on my tongue a year ago was really something viral & is still causing the twitching & numbness.
Terry,
You are a good friend & appreciate that fact! Thanks for being there for me.
Janette
I have nothing scientific to say or to offer in way of advice. If it isn't MS it is still something and you need to find out what. I have had anxiety all my life and i never had muscle twitches until the past 7 or 8 years and mine are isolated to my upper thighs, primarily left.
And there is no such thing as a dumb question.
If I could help with all that is going on in your life I would. You know if you need to vent or talk or cry I am here.
Your friend
terry
And there is no such thing as a dumb question.
If I could help with all that is going on in your life I would. You know if you need to vent or talk or cry I am here.
Your friend
terry
Here is my take on twitching (those little muslce jerks that you can see or feel under the skin but that don't cause any movement of the body the exception can be the hands because the muscles are tiny and the fingers are light:
All over twitching does NOT sound like MS at all. While you certainly can and do see fasciculations in MS, they tend to be limited to those muscle groups whose nerves have suffered some demyelination. So it happens in the muscles which are weakened, or spasming, or spastic. When twitches appear and then move throughout the body, it is due to something else. My reading says that an infection, often a viral syndrome - which may not have been noticed otherwise - can be the culprit. Once started the fasciculations can last a long time - more than a year.
Dr. Kantor once made the important point that fasciculations are caused by the Peripheral Nervous System, those nerves that have left the spinal column and gone out to the body. MS is purely a disease of the Central Nervous System - which is made up of the spinal cord, the brainstem and the brain. So all-over twitches can be evidence that you are not suffering from MS.
Diffuse fasciculations, while not at all dangerous, can drive you batty.
I do NOT believe that anxiety causes fasciculations. However, once the twitchings are present, anxiety and stimulants definitely make them worse. Be careful about caffeine and other stimulants.
You can see fasciculations in a muscle that has been immobilized (like from injury or illness) for quite a while. When you begin exercizing the now-weaker muscles you may see the twitching. Also, heavy exercise may cause the twitching in the immediate, post-exercise period, but just in the very fatigued muscles.
In MS, twitches do not move around frequently. Again, they tend to occur in the weakened muscles.
The other thing that I always think of with all-over twitching is Lyme Disease, because this seems to be a common complaint with that infection. Remember that the Lyme bug LOVES the peripheral nervous system, much more so than the central nervous system.
To be complete, tho, there is nothing that says a person with MS also couldn't develop BFS. -- or get Lyme Disease, for that matter.
Quix
All over twitching does NOT sound like MS at all. While you certainly can and do see fasciculations in MS, they tend to be limited to those muscle groups whose nerves have suffered some demyelination. So it happens in the muscles which are weakened, or spasming, or spastic. When twitches appear and then move throughout the body, it is due to something else. My reading says that an infection, often a viral syndrome - which may not have been noticed otherwise - can be the culprit. Once started the fasciculations can last a long time - more than a year.
Dr. Kantor once made the important point that fasciculations are caused by the Peripheral Nervous System, those nerves that have left the spinal column and gone out to the body. MS is purely a disease of the Central Nervous System - which is made up of the spinal cord, the brainstem and the brain. So all-over twitches can be evidence that you are not suffering from MS.
Diffuse fasciculations, while not at all dangerous, can drive you batty.
I do NOT believe that anxiety causes fasciculations. However, once the twitchings are present, anxiety and stimulants definitely make them worse. Be careful about caffeine and other stimulants.
You can see fasciculations in a muscle that has been immobilized (like from injury or illness) for quite a while. When you begin exercizing the now-weaker muscles you may see the twitching. Also, heavy exercise may cause the twitching in the immediate, post-exercise period, but just in the very fatigued muscles.
In MS, twitches do not move around frequently. Again, they tend to occur in the weakened muscles.
The other thing that I always think of with all-over twitching is Lyme Disease, because this seems to be a common complaint with that infection. Remember that the Lyme bug LOVES the peripheral nervous system, much more so than the central nervous system.
To be complete, tho, there is nothing that says a person with MS also couldn't develop BFS. -- or get Lyme Disease, for that matter.
Quix
Udkas
Thanks for posting. I have put this off since most of the things are not painful & things I can try to just ignore. I got concerned recently when I read on another post that if it is MS it is better to get a treatment early on in the process.
So - is it possible to have migraine issues without a migraine? I have had 2 migraines in the past year - the last one was at the end of 2008.
Janette
Thanks for posting. I have put this off since most of the things are not painful & things I can try to just ignore. I got concerned recently when I read on another post that if it is MS it is better to get a treatment early on in the process.
So - is it possible to have migraine issues without a migraine? I have had 2 migraines in the past year - the last one was at the end of 2008.
Janette
Hi Janette,
You must have posted at the same time I was doing my post and I missed your symptom list.
Opps,
Sorry out of my depth now, some symptoms sound like MS but there can be other causes too. I think now I will let someone else step in. Have you thought of getting a second opinion if you are concerned? Which obviously with loss of bladder control and some of the other symptoms you would have reason to be.
Take care,
good luck with getting some answers.
Cheers,
Udkas.
You must have posted at the same time I was doing my post and I missed your symptom list.
Opps,
Sorry out of my depth now, some symptoms sound like MS but there can be other causes too. I think now I will let someone else step in. Have you thought of getting a second opinion if you are concerned? Which obviously with loss of bladder control and some of the other symptoms you would have reason to be.
Take care,
good luck with getting some answers.
Cheers,
Udkas.
HI there,
All over body twitching is not normally part of MS, although some people with MS might experience some twitching.
You can get a benign form of twitching which although it is annoying it is harmless, It is good that you both have had the appropriate testing done. I guess if things get worse or new symptoms develop then I would go back and see if you could get re tested etc.. the twitching by itself could be just benign but it is good to get yourself checked, which you have both done.
Janette your symptoms could certainly fit migraine as I get a numb tongue when I get migraine and was told by my neuro that it was part of a migraine aura even when I don't get the headache.
Goodluck with your search etc., please if you are worried talk to your Dr as I'm not a Dr or had no medical training and I am only telling you info from research and info that has been passed on to me.
Cheers,
Udkas.
All over body twitching is not normally part of MS, although some people with MS might experience some twitching.
You can get a benign form of twitching which although it is annoying it is harmless, It is good that you both have had the appropriate testing done. I guess if things get worse or new symptoms develop then I would go back and see if you could get re tested etc.. the twitching by itself could be just benign but it is good to get yourself checked, which you have both done.
Janette your symptoms could certainly fit migraine as I get a numb tongue when I get migraine and was told by my neuro that it was part of a migraine aura even when I don't get the headache.
Goodluck with your search etc., please if you are worried talk to your Dr as I'm not a Dr or had no medical training and I am only telling you info from research and info that has been passed on to me.
Cheers,
Udkas.
Actually - I will just post all my sx to save people the trouble of searching.
Bladder - sometimes empties without telling me first
Memory - what is that? :)
Muscle cramps – spasm
Fatigue
Numb tongue
Numbness in left hand
Numbness on Rt side
Eye pain
Eye shaking
See spots
Stiffness in leg after spasm
Headache (2 bad ones last year)
Twitching all over body
Nausea (worse when standing) & diarrhea - happened for 2 months last year
Pain in legs after spasm
Band around left calf
tingley head
Bladder - sometimes empties without telling me first
Memory - what is that? :)
Muscle cramps – spasm
Fatigue
Numb tongue
Numbness in left hand
Numbness on Rt side
Eye pain
Eye shaking
See spots
Stiffness in leg after spasm
Headache (2 bad ones last year)
Twitching all over body
Nausea (worse when standing) & diarrhea - happened for 2 months last year
Pain in legs after spasm
Band around left calf
tingley head
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