Thyroid Issues: Muscle Twitches

Here's an old post I found with some of the problems you(and almost everyone on here) are having, which involves the thyroid:

The muscle twitches you are describing sound a lot like hypoparathyroidism (undersecretion of parathyroid hormone or PTH). Too little PTH leads to a deficiency of calcium, which causes muscle fibers to "twitch" spontaneously. It is usually caused by some type of damage to the parathyroid glands, such as when thyroid surgery has been done. (The parathyroid glands are located on the posterior surface of the two lobes of the thyroid gland.)There are a couple of very simple tests which may indicate hypoparathyroidism. One is Trousseau's Sign: the hand contracts spontaneously when BP is checked with a cuff on the same arm. The other is called Chvostek's Sign: When the angle of the mandible (jawbone) is tapped, the muscles of the face will spasm. You could almost try that one yourself.Good luck and please re-post and let us know if you find out anything. "I have been experiencing muscle twitching and spasms all over my body for a few months now. It started in my left eye. At first, I would notice it after I sneezed, flinched or got under the shower. Then it started to do it on a more frequent basis. Then I started noticing small twitches in my arms, then my back, then in my legs. By the end of the week I felt them going off every few seconds, randomly, from head to toe."

Howdy:

mmimen, last night, when I first read your post, a response was triggered in my gut. I was super tired last night, my mood a little intolerant and so I decided, "better wait until the morning." This morning with the sun shining, and refreshed after a reasonable sleep, I find myself with the same response in both my gut and head.

You are around twenty years old, you have stopped growing physically, and there is clearly nothing wrong with your intelligence. You are off at a prestigious university, hopefully pursuing the career that is your dream. You are, in short, in an enviable position compared to many people in this world and yet you find yourself plagued with the worst kind of imaginings. Why is this?

This is an important question that you need to ask yourself. Is it because, perhaps, that you are fulfilling the wishes of others, and not that which springs from your own heart? Do you feel pressured not to let somebody down? Yes, your twitches and other sx are a real part of your physical experience but your reaction to them, I think, is beyond the pale. For this reason you need to decide that you are a man in charge of his own destiny. You are not your Father, nor your Mothers provider, you are not the hopes and wishes of anyone but yourself. You have to, as a man, be a man.
This means assuming responsibility for the direction that you deem important, this means facing the day with a confidence, an assurance that you are in charge of your own destiny.

I lived under the shadow of trying to please my parents for my many years. I remained their "little boy" trying to please them, to get that pat on the back. When my Father died and I had not accomplished what I know he would have liked me to have, it almost killed me. It was not a pressure that he even spoke of, it was a pressure that I assumed all on my own.

Am I telling you to grow up? yes, in a sense I am. You will, hopefully, have mentors of both genders that you look up to, but you ultimately have to walk this world as your own man. We have to cut the apron strings ourselves, because parents, particularly now-a-days are loathe to do it. Place on yourself, your rightful and earned mantle of manhood, take responsibility for the direction that life will now take. It can be tough but it is incredibly rewarding.

It means your education will be your own, it means your relationships with women/men will be secure, it means that someday, you yourself will be a good guiding hand for your own children. It is our right to do this, our duty; it is the calling of our inner voice, from which only good comes.

Cheers,
Basso

I'm pretty amazed at the numbers of people on this list who have health anxiety. It would be pretty interesting to figure out whether the anxiety is part of the root cause of the BFS, or whether it just exacerbates it.

But as common as health anxiety is, I don't think it's a prerequesite for having BFS. I don't feel that I have health anxiety. In my case, though, maybe stress takes the place of anxiety. When I started having symptoms, I was severely anemic and didn't know it, so my body was under a lot of stress from that. Also, I have a fair amount of ordinary stress in my life since I'm a single mom to two kids, and I don't have anyone to help relieve any of the stress :crying: so it tends to build up.

I've actually been entertaining thoughts that death really wouldn't be all that bad. I guess that means that I actually have the complete opposite of health anxiety. (Don't worry, I'm not going to off myself ) It's just that I can't see much to look forward to in my future here - just growing old, being lonely and most likely having ill health - so maybe going to a better place wouldn't be all that bad. I've had a great life, but maybe most of the good stuff is already behind me. I have very strong faith in God, so I'm actually looking forward to what comes next.

Jodi

You see what you started mmimen. I really hope things are going a lot better for you. Take a break from your anxiety at least for the holidays, have some gratuitous sex (just not with my daughter who is also in Boston ), go dancing, do a little drinking (just don't drive), in other words have fun.

Jodi, you mention at least twice that you needed a lashing. Are you trying to show your penchant for S & M!! Hey, I'm not judging, to each their own. I have my, by now, well known satin panties and you have your whips, cool!

It must tear you apart to see your friend fighting for her life; she has so much to live for. You are a loving, caring friend and so you have been deeply affected by your friends predicament. I think that is what has made you express your feelings of hopelessness. You know that your kids need you and that you need your kids; end of story.

Okay so you are tired too, and kids are a challenge even when they don't have a medical condition. You are lonely for companionship, how normal is that?, and I am sorry that only married guys are responding to your posts. Damsels in distress seem to bring out the Knight errant in us. I don't think mmimen is married, he is young too, how about it?

When we are in a situation where we are constantly drained, and have no social life we must ask ourselves why? Usually, and especially when we have kids, the answer is time and money. We need money to support the little buggers and maintain some kind of life style, so we have to work at a job. Sometimes, it is possible to make a lifestyle change. Take a job that involves less pay perhaps, and buy a house that requires less money to maintain. My wife and I made a decision to relocate to the east coast, even though we were moving away from family and friends, in order that we might control better the stress in our lives. If we hadn't, I doubt that our marriage would have survived, we were both just too drained of energy to put anything into it. Even sex had become a chore, we both just wanted to sleep. (I have since regained my considerable sexual prowess ) I don't want to brag but I am a babe magnet, much to wife's chagrin. All kidding aside, the move was the best thing that we ever did. We recognized just how much we did care for each other, and how we had allowed our lives to be dictated by many of the wrong things. I don't know your situation so I am just throwing some things out there.

Love your friend, but her destiny is not yours and you, as ristinaL91 put it very well, are not responsible for this. Love your kids, but do not beggar your soul for them. Kids just want your time, especially when they are small, they don't need very much beyond the roof over their heads, clothes and food. ( I'm still not sure about the food part, their ribs don't stick out that much.) In other words, make time for yourself and don't feel guilty about it. You are not your career, you are Jodi and sometimes we need to shake things up on this end to make life work better. I know that you know these things but I think you have just lost perspective because you feel down.

Your writing shows that you are very funny, quirky in a good way, have a great intellect and it is just beyond me why you are not beating them off with stick; being 40+ be damned.

This post is not just about Jodi's lack of a social life, these are the simple, yet critical issues that inhabit our BFS affected lives.

Cheers,
Basso

Hi everyone,
Jodi-I can't add anything to Basso's brilliant pontification, (you know I love ya Basso!) but for what it's worth, I think you are fabulous!

From where I sit, it sounds like you feel guilty for being healthy, while your friend is not, and this seems only a natural reaction to seeing your friend suffer. But with time, and perspective just like everything else, you will come to a place of joy again.

I trust in your future, Jodi. In the brief time I've visited here, I've enjoyed hearing from you and you have much to offer. Whether it be with a husband, or solo, you are going to do more than "survive," or "muddle through." You will overcome, and it will be a sweet life, indeed.

And really, if you stop to think about it, your friend needs just your type of strength and character to help her get through this illness of hers. There is a Bible passage (if you don't mind that sort of thing) that speaks about how we can comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received. Who better than you can understand what she is going through-the uncertainty, the doctors, the hospitals, the tests, the agony and insanity of it all.

You will have many purposes, many dreams, many accomplishments, and many things to celebrate. Right now, your friend, her kids, her husband, and YOUR kids need you to be continue to be Jodi-the sweet, special, funny and faboo person we have all grown to love and appreciate.

It seems as if my post turned into a reality check for myself and a lot of others. As far as the twitching...it is really at an all time high in my face (now particularly on the side of my nose going at a constant beating rate and very fast to the point that it feels like someone is pulling the skin down sideways). Now relating to health anxiety, there is a statement that I must make...I have been an extreme hypochondriac for the last 3 years (for the reasons I won't go into them); however, I am now to the point of this illness, and am exhibiting definite true symptoms. As a student of medicine, I should know that stress tends to induce many things as it is so exhibited by this board. All of us have been experiencing problems, and they are real, not pathological, but real. And I guess the assumption that we must make is: our symptoms may be exactly those of serious illnesses; however, they are not, pathological. I cannot tell you how many times I have been worried about one certain symptom when I think to myself how lucky I am to not have another (potentially serious) symptom that is associated with a certain disease. Can you guess what happens next? Of course you can...I end up getting the other symptom, and getting it for real. Finally, this goes to Jodi. Jodi, from your posts I have understood that you are a very genuine person, and you help a lot of people with things that they are going through. My great-uncle never got married; he never had kids; and, he never stopped enjoying his life.

Since this thread has discussed death and the meaning of life, it seems appropriate to let the “dead” give their perspective on these matters:



It may have been written in 1937, but not much has changed on these topics since then.

Cheers,
-Bill

Okay, so I looked it up, and FWIW here it is...

Maslow's hierarchy of needs
1- Biological/Physiological needs - basic life needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.
2- Safety needs - protection, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.
3- Belongingness and Love needs - family, affection, relationships, work group, etc.
4- Esteem needs - achievement, status, responsibility, reputation
5- Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, self-awareness
6- Aesthetic needs - beauty, balance, form, etc.
7- Self-actualization - personal growth and fulfilment
8- Transcendence - helping others to self-actualize

I do think there's a lot of truth to this, but in reality I don't think it can be boiled down quite so neatly. (And I don't necessarily agree with all of it either, after all, he put sex at the first level, and if it were really that basic of a need I would have died long ago ).

Don't you think it's true though that you're not going to be too worried about beauty if you're not safe, and your thirst for knowledge will be put on hold when you have a severe thirst for water?

Jodi

Yes, of course a thirst for water is penultimate, but neither you nor I are thirsty and so this point is academic.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is only a small part of what he believed. In fact he based the model on examples of highly successful people; stating that a model based on emotionally stunted people, emotionally crippled or the irrational would yield a very different model. In other words it was an ideal based upon his idea of what success was. It contains elements of truth, but like all generalities it is the omissions which speak volumes. Now wait!! Before you think that I am dissing the Maslow meister, I have included his thoughts on how people should be educated. It was quite a treat to discover this because I think the following thoughts might be some of the omissions of the Hierarchy. I feel many of the following thoughts are: "like totally right on, Man!"
Basso

We should teach people to be authentic, to be aware of their inner selves and to hear their inner-feeling voices.

We should teach people to transcend their cultural conditioning and become world citizens.

We should help people discover their vocation in life, their calling, fate or destiny. This is especially focused on finding the right career and the right mate.

We should teach people that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and if people are open to seeing the good and joyous in all kinds of situations, it makes life worth living.

We must accept the person as he or she is and help the person learn their inner nature. From real knowledge of aptitudes and limitations we can know what to build upon, what potentials are really there.

We must see that the person's basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety, belongingness, and esteem needs.

We should refreshen consciousness, teaching the person to appreciate beauty and the other good things in nature and in living.

We should teach people that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad. It takes control to improve the quality of life in all areas.

We should teach people to transcend the trifling problems and grapple with the serious problems in life. These include the problems of injustice, of pain, suffering, and death.

We must teach people to be good choosers. They must be given practice in making good choices
Maslow

Is there anyone besides me who thinks this thread has transcended "Symptom Management" and should continue in the lounge? We wouldn't want people to think this is a philosphy website!