Muscle Twiches

I am a 44 year old female who has been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia for the past 9 years. Recently I have hurt my neck by lifting a box. I have a bulging C-5 disc. Three weeks after this occurance I work up with twitching in my whole body. This can be any muscle from neck to toe. I was told by friends who are RN's that disc do not cause this problem. I have experienced these twitches up to 6 a minute. I have no pain with these twitches.My doctor sent me for a EMG which after a week I have not gotten the results even though I have called repeatly. My symptoms are weakness in my left leg, arm, blurred vision,sensitivity to light, numbness in my left and right feet and hands. My concern is that my doctor is missing something. Should I request to see a neurologist or come to the Cleveland Clinic which my insurance will allow? I guess I should tell you I take 50mg of Zoloft, 5mg of Flexeril, and Zocor.

[CCF Neuro[P]-M.D.-RPS]

Dear FM44:

Sorry that your having such problems with muscle twitching.  I am not sure what to tell you as it is difficult to assess without seeing the MRI.  Although you have a disc buldging, is the cord compromised?  It would be unusual for muscle fasciculations to arise so quickly if the spinal cord were not compromised.  I will assume that it was not as you wold have been told.  I bet the EMG will come back normal.  Muscle fasciculations can arise from a number of conditions.  Your distribution is failry wide spread for a specific C5 disc lesion although it is possible if it is extremely severe.  If it was that severe, they would have commented on the MRI report.  I would wait for the EMG results and then depending on the results see a neurologist.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD

[Carol55]

Hi, wanted to let you know I had various muscle twitches thru
my whole body after starting zoloft four wks ago.  How long have you been on it?  It can also cause blurred vision big time.
Just a thought.  Good luck.
Carol

[FM44]

I have been on Zoloft for 5 months. The blurred vision started one week ago. My doctors office called today and told me to see an ophthalmologist. The doctor doesn't think it is the medication. Thanks for the reply I will be sure to mention it to the doctor again.

[monkeygirl]

Hi,

I am a 23 year old who has also been dealing with muscle twitches for well over a year.  They also wake me up in the middle of the night because they make me literally almost jump out of bed.  They have also been so bad at times they make me gasp, knock the breath out for a sec, etc.  These are always going on mildy..constantly but it is the biggies that are really annoying.  They all are, but not as much.  I also have gastroparesis (paralyzed stomach) and am on j-tube feedings (not g-tube) for that.  I also have long QT (electrical abnormality of the heart).  My nutritional status is more stable now after being on the j-tube. I also have other things such as myotonia symptoms (can't open hands at times), loss of balance, muscle weakness, and a bunch of toher things...can't remember them all and don't want to list every one.  I had an exercise EMG a few weeks ago.  They did this on my right hand.  When it was over, my enire right side was weak and my leg gave out as soon as I stood on the floor and I almost fell.  The lady asked if i was dizzy!  No..just weak and not expecting that to happen.  The next day, I started having really really severe muscle cramping and weakness in my right thigh.  This lasted for four days and then went away. They did not do anything to my thigh.  I know it was connected to the EMG though because the cramping and pain has never happened before like that and five days after the EMG it was gone and has not come back.  However...my exercise EMG was normal.  I know others who complain of myotonias which don't show up on the EMG etc, and also muscle twitching.  Is the EMG the only test that can pick up on these things?  I know that it is possible that my GP has contributed to these muscular complaints, but I also know a lot of people with GP and few, if any, have all of this stuff going on as well. What I don't know is how much GP (poor nutrition from it) would have an impact on this, especially since I am on j-tube feedings and no longer malnourished.  I also have things such as memory loss I am in the middle of a sentence and forget what I was saying as I was saying it) and other things, but not real significant memory loss.  Also think it could be a complication of long term gastroparesis.  Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.  I saw a neuromusclar doc once six hours from home, but am not seeing anybody now and not following up with one cause the neuro doc there said with my normal EMG and stuff he didn't think I needed to and it was probably all related somehow to my GP (although who knows how).  He is a well-known doc so I trust his judgment. Thanks.

[Jan Bailey]

Monkeygirl,Have you been checked for mitochondrial cytopathy.  You are textbook from what I am reading.  I belong to a digest forum for people with mito...we call ourselves mitoldies because we were all diagnosed as adults.  It is very difficult to diagnose but not as uncommon as your PCP would have you believe.  If you are interested e-mail me at ***@****

[wolf]

hello,i have had problems for the last 5 years,muscle aches and twitching all over;burning,numbness over the brige of my nose and flushness in my face at times,i take klonipin (klonopin) 0.5 a day helps. i have been to boston, had all the main tests done still no results, had mri,of the brain to rule ms and other disorders.  they said they have no answers for me,also went to biofeedback no help.it is getting worse and no one can help me.can you help me in any direction to go?

[kimsak]

Have you been tested for Lyme Disease? I went through heck & many Dr.'s before a Neurologist finnaly diagnosed me with CNS Lyme Disease.

[wolf]

yes they tested me twice for lyme disease,neg, can you be neg and also have it.?how did your neur. treat your problem? did you see more then one nueroligist? before they found out what it was  iburn and sting all over my body including my face and hands and muscles all over achewhat should i do??

[kimsak]

Hi, the problem is that the tests that they currently use for Lyme disease are not accurate. You can test negative & still have Lyme. I would research Lyme on the internet if I were you. I went undiagnosed for years because of neg. test result. And if the western blot is neg. ask to see results because you could have a few lyme specific bands but not enough for cdc reporting. Unfortunately a lot of Dr.'s use this to diagnose.
A Neurologist finally diagnosed me after a MRI of the brain showed a white spot. He said that it could possibly be MS or Lyme, with the symptoms I was having. I was sure it was MS, because I was told that I did not have Lyme Disease and I believed that. He then did a spinal tap and it was positive for Lyme & negative for MS. Muscle spasms & twitching can be a symptom of lyme and so can burning sensations, along with many more.
I was treated with IV antibiotics for 8 weeks & still cant get rid of it because I had it so long.
                            Good Luck, kimsak

[kimsak]

Also, not everyone will show positive fingings on a MRI or spinal tap. I got lucky I guess, I finally have a diagnosis. I would see if you could find a Lyme Literate MD and let them evaluate you. It is more of a clinical diagnosis. Try www.lymedisease.org  I hope I got that right