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Anxiety and muscle twitching
Hi,
I have been experiencing severe muscle twitching in my entire body for over two months now (this also happened a few other times in the past 8 years) and also an electric feeling like I've been plugged into a light switch. It is worse at night and when I'm trying to sleep or rest. It seems to correlate with a popping that happens in my thoracic area - whenever that pops when I am laying on the floor doing stretches, or I lift something and it pulls on that area, then the twitching seems to get worse. I have had a negative EMG and a thoracic and cervical mri which were unremarkable, and the doctor tried to tell me it was anxiety. (Yes, I am prone to panic attacks, though I haven't felt anxious for a long time - until now, because of the twitching.) Could this really be anxiety? If so, why is it happening while I am sleeping and then it wakes me up? Am I still twitching and anxious in my sleep? I did have a positive ANA test and a low WBC around 333 and I'm waiting for the results to come back from my second test that I took on Friday Sorry for the long story, though I really am trying to figure out why this is happening.
Thanks so much for your help.
Kind regards,
Sonja
I have been experiencing severe muscle twitching in my entire body for over two months now (this also happened a few other times in the past 8 years) and also an electric feeling like I've been plugged into a light switch. It is worse at night and when I'm trying to sleep or rest. It seems to correlate with a popping that happens in my thoracic area - whenever that pops when I am laying on the floor doing stretches, or I lift something and it pulls on that area, then the twitching seems to get worse. I have had a negative EMG and a thoracic and cervical mri which were unremarkable, and the doctor tried to tell me it was anxiety. (Yes, I am prone to panic attacks, though I haven't felt anxious for a long time - until now, because of the twitching.) Could this really be anxiety? If so, why is it happening while I am sleeping and then it wakes me up? Am I still twitching and anxious in my sleep? I did have a positive ANA test and a low WBC around 333 and I'm waiting for the results to come back from my second test that I took on Friday Sorry for the long story, though I really am trying to figure out why this is happening.
Thanks so much for your help.
Kind regards,
Sonja
HI, Just to let you know--I had the same symptoms( the muscle twitching that first started in my arm and then spread thruout my body). Anyway, i went thru all the medical testing (including a negative EMG) and everything came out okay. My anxiety reveals itself via my body. So as you go thru the testing, just know that there is someone (probably a lot of others) who have been thru the same thing. That is the thing about anxiety--it makes you feel all alone, like you are the only one to feel that way. Stick with this site--it will help you see that you are definitely not alone.
Sonja, you may as well fill out some profile data and get comfy, because something tells me you are going to be here for awhile -but not TOO long.
Let's see if we can find a "suit" that fits your situation.
Your symptoms are NOT INCONSISTENT with anxiety. But that doesn't mean they come from anxiety, either.
That's why you're gettting tests -to see if something ELSE is going on.
But meanwhile, you are anxious about whatever it is -while the jury is still out. Is that about right?
That WBC looks suspicious to me. I'm not a doctor, but if memory serves, an average count in a healthy person is somewhere between 4000 and 12000, depending on various factors. I'm guessing you forgot to add a 4th digit to the number you reported, because a value that is 10% of the low end of the normal range seems, well, REALLY low. Or perhaps the metrics in your tests are expressed not as thousands, but as hundreds, which would mean the low normal number is 400 (not 4000). In that case, while your result is low -it is not, perhaps WAY TOO low. Test results like these can mean only one thing -more tests!
Hopefully, someone like Ryan or Greenlydia (people who really DO understand this stuff)will float by, tell you to forget everything I said and give you the straight dope.
You DO say that you are "prone" to panic attacks, which in my mind is support for strange bodily sensations because the panic engine is ALWAYS running until the reasons for the panic are found and the whole thing goes out with the trash. So, I would encourage you to get a consult with a psychiatrist for a some talk therapy whose aim is to find out what's going on and what to do to bring an end to it. Notice, I'm talking about therapy, not just a prescription and a pat on the behind and out the door. I'm guessing that, if you can root out the prime movers, your bodily sensations will greatly improve. You don't mention what meds, if any, you are taking so we can't say if medication is a factor -how about it?
And then, of course, track down the significance of that blood count, and be aggressive about it. This is your life we're talking about.
Finally, get involved right here. As your story unfolds, we want to know what happens and how you manage it -and we want to help if at all possible. You probably won't need to look too far before you find someone who says, "Hey, you've got that?! I had that, too, and here's what happened...". So, become a member, give us some profile data and even a photo or "avatar" if you like; "paint the picture" so we have some idea of the person as well as a name.
We'll be watching for you...and welcome aboard.
Let's see if we can find a "suit" that fits your situation.
Your symptoms are NOT INCONSISTENT with anxiety. But that doesn't mean they come from anxiety, either.
That's why you're gettting tests -to see if something ELSE is going on.
But meanwhile, you are anxious about whatever it is -while the jury is still out. Is that about right?
That WBC looks suspicious to me. I'm not a doctor, but if memory serves, an average count in a healthy person is somewhere between 4000 and 12000, depending on various factors. I'm guessing you forgot to add a 4th digit to the number you reported, because a value that is 10% of the low end of the normal range seems, well, REALLY low. Or perhaps the metrics in your tests are expressed not as thousands, but as hundreds, which would mean the low normal number is 400 (not 4000). In that case, while your result is low -it is not, perhaps WAY TOO low. Test results like these can mean only one thing -more tests!
Hopefully, someone like Ryan or Greenlydia (people who really DO understand this stuff)will float by, tell you to forget everything I said and give you the straight dope.
You DO say that you are "prone" to panic attacks, which in my mind is support for strange bodily sensations because the panic engine is ALWAYS running until the reasons for the panic are found and the whole thing goes out with the trash. So, I would encourage you to get a consult with a psychiatrist for a some talk therapy whose aim is to find out what's going on and what to do to bring an end to it. Notice, I'm talking about therapy, not just a prescription and a pat on the behind and out the door. I'm guessing that, if you can root out the prime movers, your bodily sensations will greatly improve. You don't mention what meds, if any, you are taking so we can't say if medication is a factor -how about it?
And then, of course, track down the significance of that blood count, and be aggressive about it. This is your life we're talking about.
Finally, get involved right here. As your story unfolds, we want to know what happens and how you manage it -and we want to help if at all possible. You probably won't need to look too far before you find someone who says, "Hey, you've got that?! I had that, too, and here's what happened...". So, become a member, give us some profile data and even a photo or "avatar" if you like; "paint the picture" so we have some idea of the person as well as a name.
We'll be watching for you...and welcome aboard.
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