Stress or something more serious

[Nolllies]

       I am a 22 year old college student.  Around the end of 2007 I began having, what felt to me, like blood expanding in arteries.  I believed that this was what it was because the sensation was metered to a similar speed that my heart beats at.  Since then the sensations have become more common and I have began to have them in a wider variety of locations.  Because of the increased occurrence and size of the sensation I can now tell that they are muscle twitches.  I watched a video on fasciculations and have come to realize that this is the correct term for what is occurring.  However, if their are minor medical distinctions between fasciculations and what appears to be a fasciculation to the untrained eye, I may be incorrect.  My blood pressure is also high, it varies from 60/130 to 79/165 depending on whether or not I have exercised recently.  I have also experienced a feeling as though there is a lump in my throat.  I read on wikipedia that this is concurrent with BFS (benign fasciculation syndrome) but took that with a grain of salt given wikipedia's track record.  I am also experiencing shaking in my hands and lips.  My doctor believes that it may be the result of stress given the fact that I often stay up late to study and because the symptoms began shortly after a particularly stressful event.  Also, not that it is related, but it is worth mentioning that I also have a visual symptom that I have discovered is referred to as visual snow, this began 5 months before the other symptoms.  I sometimes will also sit in a hot bath and the front of my left quadricep will feel cold.  I mentioned this symptom to a doctor in the ER and he suggested that I have a CT.  The scan revealed no abnormalities.  I recognize that there is a really good chance that I am worrying myself over nothing, I just want to get a second opinion because to somebody who has never experienced these things before it is hard to imagine this array of symptoms resulting from stress, thanks.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

I understand your concern.  The normal CT scan findings are somewhat reassuring in the sense that you do not have an anatomic abnormality.  There is indeed a very good chance that all of these can be related to your stress levels and the only way to know is really, to avoid it (however, this is easier said than done, and may be unrealistic for some).  I suggest that you not worry to much, however, be vigilant regarding new symptoms that you may experience, and be sure to report those to your doctor.  Also, make sure that your blood pressure is adequately maintained as this can result in blood vessel damage if left uncontrolled.  Regards and God bless.