Introducing Myself - Muscle Twitches

Hi, I've been lurking here for a little while and I thought it was time to share. I think this is the place I need to be but if not, I'm sure you'll let me know.So, a little background. I'm a 34 year old male, married, with two children. I work out 4 days a week and have been for about 5 or so years now. I've been experiencing muscle twitches all over for as long as I can remember. Never thought anything of it as I figured it was my muscles reacting to my workouts. They aren't long either. Just a couple of visible twitches and the episode ends. And they all seem to happen in places that I concentrate on my workouts. Never had them prior to working out as far as I can remember either. I also drink quite a bit of caffeine per day, not enough water, and my sleeping habits aren't great either (probably because of my caffeine intake). I also have anxiety, high anxiety actually. I'm quite jumpy, irritable at times, and can't stop my mind from racing with bad thoughts. Sometimes I think so hard about what I'm going to say that I start stumbling over my words and I end up stuttering or losing my train of thought due to concentrating too hard on what I'm going to say next. I know it sounds ridiculous but it's what I deal with. It's like my brain it trying to process faster than what my mouth is allowing to come out. People with high anxiety probably know exactly what I'm talking about. If I'm in a relaxed state of mind, this doesn't happen/ I've tried anti depressants but I hated them. I always give them 30 days to take hold. So far, I can't stand the way any of them have made me feel. They also caused a constant twitch of my left eye. I already had a twitch that acted up every once in a while but it goes ballistic when I start on the anti depressants. So you now may be asking yourself "what is this guy doing here, seems like he has it all figured out." Well...... I do have a good reason that's added an extreme amount of anxiety as well as causing me to think of other terrible things on a daily basis.Just a few months ago my father was diagnosed with ALS. Needless to say we were floored by the news. And for a person who already has high anxiety, it's been more than just an added struggle.So last summer my family was on vacation and it had been a while since I had seen my father without a shirt on. So the house were were staying at had a pool. When he took his shirt off I was initially alarmed at the size of his arms. I couldn't believe how emaciated they looked. He's an active guy but not with the weights like I am. He's more of a daily walker and eats way better than I do. However, his arms looked really really skinny to me. I never said anything about it and he never made any complaints. Later I asked my wife if she noticed the same thing and she said "absolutely". So my dads arms were sort of the "elephant in the room". No one talked about it but everyone noticed it. A couple weeks later my father tells me that his shoulder had lost mobility about a year ago but he just chalked it up to a rotator cuff issue. He had is other rotator cuff worked on about 5 years prior so he just waited on it. At least that is what he told us. I don't know how he couldn't have noticed his own arms losing muscle so maybe he was just covering it up for as long as he could. So after a MRI the doctors said it wasn't the rotator cuff however it was probably something a little more sinister. Even then, we weren't thinking ALS. I was thinking maybe MS at worst. Needless to say after a bunch of tests run by neurologists at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins, he was diagnosed with ALS. If there is any silver lining it's that the neurologists said that with no family history of the disease on either side, that me and my brothers have nothing more to worry about than the next guy. My father is one of the unfortunate sporadic victims of ALS. We don't want to believe it but it's hard to go up against some of the best doctors on the entire planet. They also said it seems to be slow progressing ALS due to the fact that it's been over a year since the shoulder stopped functioning. Sure, it could speed up at some point but the doctor told us that even he has some ALS patients like my father who have had symptoms for over 10 years yet no further progression of the disease. For some reason those statistics aren't really measured. So back to me. I've been told by some of the best doctors on the planet that I have nothing more to worry about. I've had twitches since I can remember which are probably due to working out, caffeine, and high anxiety. But I still can't calm down. My mind is racing all the time now. Every little twitch has me on high alert. I can't help it. I even talked to my brother who works out as much as I do and he told me that he twitches all the time and not to worry about it. He's also a big caffeine drinker as well. We're a lot alike. So that should calm me down, right"? What are the chances that such a rare disease hits us so close to home (with no family history), hits my father, myself, and my brother all at the same time? Yeah, not happening. I don't even know if the odds could even be calculated on that?But I can't seem to get my brain to believe it. Any and all advice would be appreciated. No one around me is feeling like I do right now.

Hi P20... I am very sorry to hear about your father... Like you said I pray it's a very slow condition as it appears to be and that it perhaps even halts ! Did your fathers first symptoms present with twitching or does he twitch ? I am saying that as if it didn't then it has zero similarities to your symptoms! From what I've read the familial version is passed from generation to generation and you would be aware of other cases if your family had that.I really don't know what to say but you've hot some twitching and if you read this forum you will see that we all twitch a lot all the time from head to toe with focused hot spots and some we feel and see and some we see and don't feel, some are slight and some are thumpers ! Some a fast and some are slow... This is a good place for support, when I arrived I was totally unfunctional with anxiety, the doc have me diazapam which helped but the support here help hugely ! Your the same age as me and I also have 2 kids, this recent episode kicked off for me 2 weeks after my 2nd child was born ..Everyone on this forum is here for you man, you will find some awesome people here who love to help !

Hey man-First off, I extend my sincere condolences to you, your dad and family. Seeing ALS progress and take a loved one is something I'm not sure I could bare. Regardless of your own person anxiety problems, this personal struggle is monumental and I beg you to use medication if you think it will help. Its not for everyone, but if it can help prevent you from losing your mind please consider it.Secondly, lets talk about you and your twitchy situation. You already know your dad's ALS is sporadic (not familial) so no reason to expect the same fate from that source. We know a lot about how familial ALS works and if those experts are telling you how it is....believe them. They know. So where does that leave us? That leaves us with a 34 year old dude who functions normally in every day life, except you twitch. You twitch with a very familiar pattern in fact.....its very familiar in two ways. 1. Its exactly the way BFS often presents. 2. Its not at all the way ALS would present. And as you probably already know from your dads story, ALS is a disease with WEAKNESS as the hallmark. Real victims of ALS first realize something is wrong when something doesn't work (ie: shoulder/arm). You are unfortunately seeing and LIVING the very difference in how BFS presentation differs from ALS. That is a terrible tragedy but should offer some clarity to your own personal situation.

Thanks Johnny! I appreciate your kind words. My family and I are only just starting this journey with ALS and I know that eventually, the roller coaster ride is going to be insane.We are still just in the "shock" stage of all of this. However, my parents are moving forward with certain things. They've got their wills updated recently, and my father is currently upgrading all parts of their house to eventually sell it and move into something more accommodating for an ALS patient to live in. It makes me tear up just typing that. I always thought the house I grew up in would be the same house my own kids would spend quality time at with my parents. My children are ages 8 and 5 and don't really understand what is going on because ALS hasn't really taken anything away from my father other than some shoulder movement. So they see nothing different and my father does his best to stay strong in front of us all. My mother on the other hand is a complete wreck. I can't even talk to her about it without her breaking down. I can't get mad though. My father does everything for her and she is feeling really lost right now. I just tell her that when it's time, me and my brothers will step in and take over. But until then, I can't take anything away from my father while he is still capable of doing everything. I told them I wouldn't treat him any different until we absolutely had no choice. I ask him how he feels every once in a while and he just gives me small updates. The disease is going to let us know when things really go south. As of now he's still incredibly mobile and thankfully there doesn't seem to be any bulbar symptoms. We have season tickets to the Ravens and he's still making it to all the games. However, I know this could and probably will be our last season before my father can no longer make the hike up to our seats. Hopefully we can get another season in but as you know, ALS doesn't give a *beep*.I appreciate you reading my story and commenting with words of encouragement for myself and my family. I know I'll be leaning on this place from time to time. Just writing out this post is somewhat of a therapy.

That's just horrible to think what you and your family are going through, but your father and mother are lucky to have you and your brothers to step in and help when needed. I'm happy to hear that you are going to sporting events and treasuring all the time left with your dad and making the most of it. That's really the point of life, isn't it? Its just sad that sometimes it takes a tragic event to help us prioritize our lives and realize what matters. Although dealing with ALS, at least you will get lots and lots of precious memories with your dad and your family for the near future. When you consider some alternatives (ie: sudden, unexpected death), there is a bit of silver lining. Although not a family member, I have also known a victim of ALS and saw firsthand how the disease affected her physically over a couple years. I pray that you and your family will have the strength and patience to be there for your dad and each other. As for you, please try and accept the truth of your own personal case. Squash any lingering doubts that you are somehow doomed to the same fate. Your case is one of a benign nature, without question.

Hi,practically I can only join again to Johnny...Just would like to add that familial stress like that is a huge one... you would need each and every support you may found, and I suppose professional speaking therapy in any proper form should be in your list too. Meds seemingly not necessary right now on my point of view (you still seem to be holding on) but if you would feel worse and loosing control on your own life, then it might be a part of coping strategy... Those 'chemicals in your brain' may make your life a real hell (there are tons of examples on this board what stress hormones can make), and in that case anything keeping them on short string might be a great benefit.Of course when it comes to parents end of life, first thought is always 'what if it is my doom too'. This is a natural way of thinking and reacting so you should not be surprised... But please note that even in rather unusual case affected your dad first and main symptom was still loss of motor ability which is not your case.

Really sorry to hear about your Dad, hopefully the progressions remains slow.With your history (working-out, caffeine, anxiety, stress, long period of twitching, poor sleep routine, family member with ALS) it might be more of a worry if you stopped twitching The chances of the twitches indicating anything sinister are ridiculously low, although I completely understand that can be difficult to really believe no matter how many times someone tells you or you tell yourself. This isn't meant to sound like a lecture but your Dad's situation shows you how precious life is and you have 2 kids who I am sure you want to give the best childhood possible. It would be a real shame to waste any of your life worrying over something that just isn't going to happen.Hope you get the support you need (and if nothing else finding this board proves there are thousands of healthy-twitchers!).GlowGreen

Worrying like that is not the way to go... I found myself 2nd guessing everything and asking but what if this or what if that ! I found that there's a lot of people who twitch and if twitching was actually something bad then every doctor and neuro would be concerned right away ... I've seen 1 doctor, 1 neurologist and a doctor who performed an EMG and NCS and they all said everything's normal ! I have to believe this and try ignore my twitching and sensations as I have a family, a 2 year old and a newborn ! I have to be there and on form for them! I get good days and bad days but lately more good ...You know the chances of your fears are so so minimal it's not worth thinking about ... I can't imagine the place your in emotionally but please try to believe the doctors who know what they are talking about.. Your ok...'

anxious i would love to have your frame of mind,i have had 2 neurologists and gp who say bfs i dont know why i keep second guessing been on this board is realy helping me though...i hope i cop on to myself soon!

Bubbles, I'm just trying my best to get my head back to how it was as so much of the trouble is there ! You can do it too ! I will pm you ... You just gotta catch yourself on every time you ask what if and keep busy at work etc !! I still worry but I think less and less each day !