Neurological? Full host of psycological and phisical symptoms.

[Oregon 24]

I am a healthy 24 yr old male, and recently I have been experiencing some odd symptoms.  For Five weeks now, I have been experiencing muscle twitches and spasms all over my body.  Sometimes they twitch fast, and the effected muscle group is very small, and sometimes it is a very slow twitch involving a large set of muscles.  They could contract or twitch only a couple of times, or they might be almost continuous.  I have noticed that the movements occur much more often in the evening, and are very active during sleep. Sometimes my thumb muscle will randomly contract. I also find myself jerking my arms or legs just as I fall to sleep.I also get aches in my limbs.  Sometimes I get sharp shooting pains   that start in my neck, and travel down my arms.I have been getting frequent headaches in the back and top of my head, and often times, these pains are accompanied by neck and back pains.I have also experienced a very drastic change in my social habbits.I have been depressed, feeling overwhelmed, and suffering from a great deal of anxiety.  My sex drive is non existant, and I at times feel a little out of it. I wake frequently in the night drenched in sweat, and feeling wired like Im hopped up on adrenaline.  When I get out of bed in the morning I feel very disoriented.  I have been going through alot of stress with work, home, and recently passing a kidney stone.  Last week I made a visit to my Doctor.  He ran a series of blood tests, and gave me a quick exam.  All tests checked out perfect. He believes It is anxiety, and put me on Ativan. Meds help, but Symptoms still persist

[Carol in PA]

Oregon 24:
Shanghai makes a good point.
Many of your symptoms look like tick borne infection.

The night sweats can be a symptom of Babesia, which can be passed by a tick or other insects and is similar to Malaria.
This is a parasite that infects the red blood cells and causes night sweats.
(There are also other infections that may cause night sweats.)

The muscle twitching is a common Lyme symptom.
The Lyme bacteria invades the body's cells, including the nerve cells, and depletes magnesium, which upsets all the enzyme processes.  
Muscle twitches, vibration sensations and strange skin sensations (parasthesias) can result.

You can supplement magnesium several ways.  Intravenous infusions, intermuscular injections, or oral supplements (magnesium glycinate,   http://iherb.stores.yahoo.net/magnesium4.html )

You can eat foods high in mag such as almonds or almond butter, and even absorb magnesium through the skin, with Epsom salt baths.

Lyme Disease can cause depression, anxiety, fatigue, insomnia, and many mental health symptoms.
I think it's irresponsible of your doctor to attribute all your symptoms to anxiety.

See this site for a list of symptoms and lots of information:
http://www.canlyme.com/patsymptoms.html

Supplementing magnesium may help your symptoms, but if your symptoms are due to Lyme, you'll need more.
Support groups like LymeNet.org can help you find a doctor who can diagnose and treat this.

Wishing you the best,
Carol

[Shanghai SD]

Have you looked into Lyme Disease.
Your symptoms sound very similar to what was happening to me.

I cant ever remember ever seeing a tick or a rash. I dont even live in a place where it is a problem. All other testing was normal. Finally, after travelling 1/2 way around the world saw a Lyme literate doctor. My symptoms fitted a climical picture but he ran a hwole heap of tests to make sure. He ran tests for Lyme at a more reliable lab.....came back positive. Was a big surprise for me.

All I know now is, that the sooner you rule it out, the better. It can progress quite quickly and be more difficult to eradicate if you leave it to long.

Cheers

[Demiguise]

Worrying can certainly create brain-fatigue & then re-route.
It's a physiological fact & can convert into pain/spasms. Glad
the site helped. Gd-health to ya'!

[Oregon 24]

After Reading about BFS, I am almost certain that this is the case for me.  After the innitial onset of my symptoms about five weeks ago, they have been slowly improving.  The feeling of fatigue seems to be completely in my head, being that when I am in a good mood, the symptoms are almost completely absent.

[Demiguise]

Stress/fatigue/frustration all = some type of disorder. Could be
anxiety that triggers fear of symptoms or vs-versa. Brain &
spine work together. Your problem came on quick so panic is a
part of the actions & chemical relaease problems you're having.
I didn't read any reports of MRI's so you should get copies of
ALL labs for a file in case things progress. You then feel more
impowered & do better w/ stress. You sound like you have classic
symptoms of 'Benign Fasciculations', fancy word for your jerks.
At end, I'll give you a google (use quotes & + exact). This is
isn't light read but helps. Url-posts aren't allowed! w/o mri
info, it's imposs. to guess. ALS shows spinal inflammation/
deposits of IgG/activated calcium channels/Frontal lobe lesions/
& Occipital involvement-(located in back & top of head). Any
neck pain involves occip. so may be just spine problems if you
use computer for hrs. w/ wrong posture like we all do. Neck
traction & limit to 2 hrs a day stopped my tremors. Inflame Occ.
& you may have trouble w/ fog/understanding words off-on/words
to images (I see a cup but it's a ?, glitch, then word). Frontal
lobe is multi-task/speech/emotion/etc. Often firing/inflamm.
will mix these & it triggers spine motion. ALS is also very
clinical. Labs can't all be in range. They are easy read & I'm
sure you had elev.-Sed Rate. Ativan is in benzo rx series &
works well on spine/brain as a trial for jerks/sleep/stress.
"benign fasciculations"+fernando+ALS then click 1st story @ top
& read what Fernando outlines. I had severe tremors & even
chipped tooth drinking coffee. Lo dose Xanax wk'd for me & then
higher dose pm for sleep. Spine-spasms have stopped. All disks
have msg. fibers. Pinch off C4 & you get shoulder pain. Gd-luck.
I'll ck back if any ?'s.

[oliver2003]

http://www.mmoninternet.com

[Oregon 24]

Could it be meningitis?

[Oregon 24]

They did check my Thyroid, that too was ok.  I had an episode with simular symptoms a few months back, but it really only involved muscle twitches in the jaw, mild headaches, and some general fatigue.  Those symptoms were constant for about two and a half weeks, and shortly after seeing the Doc, the symptoms vanished.  
They ran a series of tests to basically test my body chemistry, all of which came back normal.  They also tested my reflexes, strength,  and balance.

This time they ran several more in depth blood tests.  Basically, they have gone as far as they can with bloodwork.  I told the Doc I was frightened of having a serious Neurological disease like ALS or something of that calibur, but he assured me that I am in far too good of physical shape to worry about that.  

Honestly, I don't really feel like he really put alot of thought into it.  As soon as I mentioned Anxiety, he latched to that as the most likley cause.  

At times I feel shakey, off balance, or even weak.  But i can't tell if it's all just in my head.  My arms will feel like they are tired and fatigued, but when  I use them to lift something, there is no problem.  I can lift weights, run up stairs, walk on my hands, skateboard....  But somehow, I feel like I am weak.
Can I be creating these feelings through stress and anxiety?

[utahmomma]

Your symptoms could be from a whole bunch of things that a blood test won't pick up.  Talk to your doctor (be persistent) and get an MRI to see if it is something neurological.  Have your thyroid levels testes - a problem with your thyroid or parathyroids could cause similar problems.  If your doctor won't order additional tests, find another doctor.  It sounds like YOU know that something is wrong, find a doctor who will listen to you.  Best of everything.

[Oregon 24]

Typing even feels awkward, where normally I have no problems.  Yes, I know I made a few mistypes.  I told you I feel a little "out of it."