Muscle twitching, Bruxism, Tense feeling

Hi. I am a 30-yr-old female recently (6 months or so) experiencing involuntary muscle twitching. Some days it is worse than others, but it is most noticeable at night before falling asleep and anytime I am laying still. The movements are very small, but I feel them and when I am in bed with my husband he feels them too. Sometimes just before I fall asleep my foot will jerk. Other twitches feel like they are under the skin in my calf. And sometimes while typing on my computer, if I hold my hand still and tensed, it will jerk just a tiny bit. I first noticed the twitching after about a week of drinking Wu-Long Tea, which I discovered contains ALOT of caffeine. I had myself really worked up thinking that I may have ALS and ended up in the ER with a panic attack. A CT scan was normal but I have had no additional testing since then. Also, I think I may have Bruxism as I have also been clenching my teeth at night, grinding them, and just generally feeling tense. It is hard to relax. Another new symptom is a dull, kind of heavy, burning feeling on the outside of my left calf. Pretty much hurts everyday, but it's not debilitating and I think it could be a sports injury....but not sure.

My medical background is significant. 6 years ago, I had two grand-mal seizures. The first one was during my sleep. At the time I had been taking Hydroxycut (diet pills) and so I attributed the seizure to that. I stopped taking them of course. 5 months later, I had another seizure. This time it happened after I took some meds for a sinus infection. I was referred to a neurologist and he ordered an EEG, which apparently was abnormal. He prescribed Dilantin. Shortly after I became pregnant and stopped taking the Dilantin. I was a stay at home mom for 4 yrs and never experienced another seizure.

I also suffer from migraine with aura, however they have almost completely resolved since cutting out caffeine from my diet (after the scare with the Wu-Long tea) Now, I seem to wake up with headaches occasionally and I think they may be related to the teeth grinding.

Could the Bruxism be what caused my EEG to be abnormal? Is it possible to have isolated case of grand-mal seizure? Could the muscle twitching be related to lack of sleep (6 hrs per night?)

One more thing I should add is that I smoke marijuana daily. Could any of these symptoms be related to marijuana use? I have a feeling that it could be stress related as well, but all of my neurological symptoms are overwhelming me and I would just like to get some opinions. Thanks

Brooke

[Philv]

I have a similar problem.

One night in March this year, I went to bed as normal but just as I was drifting off I jerked back awake. Assuming it was a one-off I drifted off again, but the same thing happened, and has continued to happen. Every time I'm near sleep I'm awoken again by twitching and jerking.

This can sometimes last all night, resulting in a completely sleepless night. Other nights it can be 3-4 hours before I eventually go to sleep.

The doctors put it down to stress of planning a wedding but the wedding was in September and I'm no better. I've tried herbal meds, Chinese medication and hypnotherapy but they were no good. The only thing that can give me a decent night's sleep is alcohol, although this is induced REM sleep, and I don't want to become dependent on booze as it will have an effect on my health in other areas.

I went for a sleep study in November but their findings were inconclusive, although I do have a second appointment next month.

This problem is really frustrating and is beginning to impact on my life. The doctors reluctantly gave me some Diazepam but this hasn't worked either.

I also suffer with bruxism (teeth grinding). I never associated the two until now. Is there a connection?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

[sashagirl13]

I wish I could say I knew the answer but I'm on here looking like you. I am a 35 year old female that had my first child last December. I returned to work at the end of February and returned to my pre-pregnancy workout routine. Approx. a week into the routine and about 3 weeks back into work, I woke up to muscle twitching all over my body. I was sore everywhere and my muscles wouldn't not calm down. I happen to have a doctors appt that day so I ask my doctor about it. He felt that I may be stressed (because I returned to work at a hectic time and now I had a baby) He put me on an anxiety/anti depressent but after 2 weeks of messing with the dosage i felt no better. The twitching got alittle better but I was still sore. He sent me to a specialist for fibromyalgia. She sent me for a ton of blood work and and a EEG and everything was normal. She then sent me to a neurologist that stated I had hyper reflexes but that it didn't mean anything. He had me repeat the EEG and it was also normal.  I have good days and bad days but I noticed that when I was off of work for 10 days, I was feeling much better....dare I say almost normal?? I went back to work and by the second day I started having vision almost blurred and dizzy. When I got out to lunch and had a little caffeine I felt much better. I did some research and started to take magnesium supplements and that seemed to help a little but just recently the weird twitches when I am at rest are happening again. They happen mostly in my wrist and fingers so I tend to sleep with one hand between my leg and one under my head so if they do twitch i won't wake up. i have noticed that if i don't get enough sleep they are worse. I plan to follow up with new doctors for a fresh point of view. I will keep you posted and would you please do the same?

One other item is that I have suffered with bruxism and migrains since 2000. My bruxism is not too bad and I would only say that i grind my teeth 5-10 times a year but it is interesting that all three of us have the same thing.

[gwen700]

Hi everyone,

This is a very interesting conversation. I recently found that I have violent muscle spasms in my jaw that cause me to clash my teeth together (mostly while asleep but sometimes when awake).  I chipped one tooth, loosened many and have nearly killed another. This is all very painful and very scary because I do not seem to have control over it.  I have many symptoms of bruxism and last night I noticed my hand twitching and waking me up twice before I fell off to sleep.  My dentist, in my opinion, is not acting as concerned as I would like.  I am going to check for any underlying conditions and following that I may look into accupuncture, which I have heard can heal many ailments, including bruxims and related disorders.  

Anyway, good luck to everybody and lets help each other out if we can!  

Thanks,

Gwen