Follow up Question

[Twinsplusone40]

I wrote in November that I was having muscle twitching.  Since that time I did go and see a neurologist.  He ordered blood work and an EMG. Both were normal.  I have no weakness or atrophy.  I went to the follow up appointment recently and he said I have no neuromuscular disease.  I did forget to ask him a question. Can you get twitching from muscle strain?  For example bad posture or a very tense body posture? I have read where people get a condition called Benign Fasciculation Syndrome.  He didn't mention that. I was given Buspar for anxiety because I don't know if anxiety started it or the twitching started the anxiety.  Will this drug help? This was just very strange one day twitch free then the next twitching.

[AJ1962]

from what I have learned, BFS can came and stay or it may go away in time.  The great doc's on this forum have defined it many times but each one is a little different.  They don't hurt.  It's just a muscle twitch, only there's a lot of them all of the time.  Stress, alcohol, anxiety and so on ALL affect BFS. Some days you'll have twitching all over and other days you'll hardly notice any at all.  I have had mine for about 10 months now, other's have said they have had them for years.  If it's not dangerous or a bad sign of something much worse to come... then I personally, and I'll bet everyone else too, is just fine with them and we'll live with them.  I have seen it defined as "irritated muscle linings" or "irritated nerves".  All I know is, as I sit here and write this, my shoulder is twitching, my thigh is twitching and so are 2 of my fingers and in about 2 minutes, they will be gone and somewhere else will be twitching... or maybe not... it just depends.  I don't know about the "irritated muscle lingings" but I do know this... if I flex my arm, it will twitch afterwards for a few seconds.  If I stretch pretty hard, some muscle that I just stretched will twitch for a few seconds.  I have had twitches only "bump" one time in a muscle and I have had others stay in one place and twitch non stop for a week or so.  It's not something that every doctor knows about.  My 2 GP's are great guy's and are smart doc's and neither of them had heard about it but in the same note, both of them have patients that have what I have and all they could say was I have the same thing as them and there's nothing wrong with those other people either...  I was scared I had ALS but both of my doctors all but laughed at me for even thinking that I had it.  They knew I didn't have ALS or MS, except for my dermatologist that saw my arm twitching when he was doing something and said, "do you have those all of the time?"  and I said "yes I do", and that idiot said I probably had MS!  What a moron!  I dropped him like a bad habit for that.  First off, it is VERY un-professional for a doctor to say something like that without the proper knowledge of everything else, as in other symptoms, blood work and tests performed.  And another thing is you NEVER tell a person with anxiety and panic attacks anything like that because it will send them into a freaking rage and even severe depression for a LONG time... just like I did me!  And  when I read in one of those lame, home doctor's manuals about twitching and all it said was severe neurological disorder or ALS... nothing else, no other hope at all... just terrible news, I literally lost control and couldn't function as a human being for 2 months.  Thosae books should be burned and idiot, uncompassionate doctors that blurt out rubbish that can (and certainly will) scare the living hell out of someone should have their licenses pulled! The docs on this forum have always been encouraging and informative in positive ways, even when you can tell they are concerned about something that someone wrote-in... they still are compassionate and are able to say things in ways that don't scare the living hell out of everyone!  Good docs!

[bcrfowler]

So is BFS curable?  Does it hurt you? I've seen posts regarding BFS but never saw a description of it.  It also seems like muscle twitching is common, but doesn't isn't always serious.  Any info on BFS would be helpful to many.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

Glad that your workup was normal. Benign fasciculation syndrome is a condition that occurs in normal individuals and is characterized by twitching of the muscles that are true fasciculations as deemed by physical examination and/or EMG and is of a benign (non-serious) nature. It can occur with exercise, stress, and certain medications. If you have prolonged muscle contractions such as in a "very tense body posture", that could be a stimulus for the twitches. If anxiety is the cause and Buspar helps the anxiety, then theoretically speaking the twitching should get better. Try physical therapy or stretching exercises which could help straighten out and relax your posture. This may also help. Best of luck.

[AJ1962]

hey there, don't worry about the twitching being there one day and then not the next.  I'm not a doctor, so please only take this as MY experience and education from what I have been reading on this forum for almost a year now.  The twitching can come and go with BFS.  It most certainly is affected by stress, alcohol intake, lack of sleep and anxiety.... all of which will make them worse.  There is a doctor that posts on here sometimes with BFS himself and he is where I learned all of that from until I had the experience my self.  Some days I have twitching ALL over my body and some day's I hardly notice any at all.  Rest easy, not all doctors have even heard of BFS.  None of mine did and I had to tell them about it!  Obviously though, it is pretty common.  I mean, how many people do you think actually come to forums like this to find-out or discuss strange little problems like BFS?? Not that many compared to the actual population, so what you read on here is about 1% of what is really out there.  So for sure, we aren't the only one's with this strange occurance.  Yes, they drive me nuts too sometimes, but knowing that they aren't harmful is a nice thing to know, so rest your mind a little and relax.  As I said, stress and anxiety can make them worse.  Hang in there, you'll be OK.  These doctors on here aren't stupid and your test results were OK, you said... so rest easy and laugh at the little twitches, OK?  By the by... I have bad anxiety too and I take Ativan for it.  You might want to ask your doctor about it.  Stay away from Paxil though... oh my god!  Too many side effects and it turned me into a walking zombie!  Ativan though is very effective and it works for me and has been for years.  Take care!