5 Months Of Twitching After Flu

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I'm 42 and (was) very fit. Had been running and swimming for past 20 years on a weekly basis. Got the flu and a cold sore attack in late Jan and in early Feb after exercising I woke up one morning with twitching in my left calf that has stayed there for 5 months nonstop. Also gradually get them in the left feet, upper left leg, and recently right calf and a few random other spots in the upper body. Although the left calf is 24/7 twitching when the muscle is at rest. In March I noticed my left calf was much thinner than the right and my left toes when raised had about 20% of the strength of my right , yet I could still physically do everything I always could (walk on heels, toes, balance on 1 foot fine). Had an EMG in June (he focused on left calf) and the neuro said I have peripheral nerve damage. I'm not fussed about the thin left calf and weaker left toes as I had sciatica 15 years ago and it may have always been like that (I can't recall testing my toe strength in the past!!).However the thing that bugs me the most is my pulse. In the first month off twitching I would lie in bed at night and be able to count my heart beat just by feeling it pound through my body (that symptom has now passed). Since then I randomly can see a pulse in my wrist or fingertips for days on end. Even though I've more or less stopped strenuous exercise, whenever I decide to have another go at a light run my heartbeat pace is normal but it literally pounds through my body and doesn't feel right. Especially since I would frequently exercise quite hard in the past and never had this sensation before. I have a follow up visit with the neuro next week to discuss this peripheral nerve damage they picked up in the EMG. Does anyone have any ideas about the bounding pulse though? is it something you guys have experienced?
 
I had a terrible pounding pulse in my left year for months .Then I had paresthesia in my face . Then the twitching started 24/7.The pulse and numbness have gone now .But the BFS is going strong .All the best
 
I too felt strong pulses in my knee in particular. Other places too but I forget where now. I could also feel my heartbeat more like you said. I no longer notice all that. After I had a lumbar disc herniation in late 2010, an EMG showed some nerve damage. A followup was declared clean by my orthopedist. Did your doc give any particular cause of your nerve damage? Mark
 
I also can feel a strong pulse in my body as well while lying down or sometimes after activity. I also can see a very strong pulse in my right hand between my thumb and index finger and also in my stomach and also in my left top foot. No idea if this is normal or not or related in any way to BFS. :D)
 
I have an appointment next week to get some detailed info on the peripheral nerve damage they picked up on the EMG. I'm guessing that the left toes that don't point up with strength (down is strong) and smaller left calf is linked to the herniated disk I had 10+ years ago. All of this twitching/pounding heart beat fiasco that just kicked off out of the blue in Feb this year is still unclear however since the neuro did mention at the EMG test that it's definitely peripheral damage then I'm assuming it's likely going to be a BFS/Neuromyotonia type diagnosis that is settling into my less dominant left side.They did an ECG test on my heart too and said normal. Would be interesting though if I could get such a test when my pulse was in that 'bounding' mode when you feel it right through your body. I think the pulse issue is more of a worry than twitching. I really don't want to go out and start training hard again when it's like this, and 5 months on the side lines is long. Makes me wonder what professional athletes do if they were to get BFS and such a symptom.
 
I'm fairly athletic and have a resting heart rate down in the high 30's to low 40's. My BP just after waking has been down in the 80's over 50's lately (according to my home monitor). This concerned me due to my experiencing the past few months a presyncope upon standing where I get light headed and sometimes feel close to fainting. I never really had this before. Told the doc about it but he seemed more focused on HBP rather than the LBP I am concerned with. I recorded 2 weeks BP and have a followup in a couple weeks. As for exercise, I have been back to cycling pretty hard nearly every day with no ill effects. I can also see the pulse between my index and thumb on the back of my left hand. But I don't see it on the right. I chalked it up to my drastic drop in body fat the past year and probably only noticed due to looking for twitches in that area.
 
I two had the pounding heart sensations when all this started. I would feel it in my neck really bad. I sleep with earplugs just out of habit, and I could hear it just pounding away in my ears. I had to stop the whole earplug thing for a while. It would wake me up or keep me up at nights. I was not anxious, my heart would just pound. Usually my pulse would be slightly elevated but not too bad when this happened. I don't get it too much anymore. Twitchy Mark - Pulse in the 30's 40's, you must be bike a heck of a lot. That's awesome. Has your doctor talked to you about Postural Orthostatic Hypotension? I think it can also be called Neurally Mediated Hypotension, but don't quote me on that. My internist said she treated this ivy league swimmer once where they could not find what was wrong with him. He had a ton of weird symptoms. I think one of them was almost passing out when he stood up for too long. Anyway, when she put the pulse oximeter on him in the office it would be normal laying down and sitting and then the oxygen would take a nose dive when he got up. He ended up, way down the line, after a ton of doctors, being diagnosed with something like the stuff I mentioned above.With your low BP and the fact that you get dizzy upon standing, you might want to bring that up next time you see the Dr. I think they test for it with a tilt table test. I had a time when I would feel dizzy for a while when I stood up, and my BP was borderline on being a problem. A cardiologist I went to told me to drink more water and add sea salt to it. I guess the more salt and water you have in your body, the more blood volume you have so when you go from a sitting or laying position to standing, your BP doesn't drop enough to effect you. I know that normal your body has to compensate with higher BP and heart rate when changing potions due to gravity, but sometimes this malfunctions. There is also something called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) where your heart rate goes too high when you stand up from sitting or laying. Just thought I would mention it just in case.
 
HiAdd me ...i see my pulse on my right palm , between thumb and index and on thenar ( left) i dont think its iwitching cause I did some testing . Ohhhh i think this is related Alot bfs get this or maybe we are so sensitive that we just see stuff other dont care + the anxiety i think in a little while i will see my organs through the skin"!!!'Jo :D)
 
I'd posted previously about how many people who start meditating report twitches (presumably they were pre-existing but a quieter mind is now able to make note of them). The 'strong pulse' issue is also a common topic in the same group of people. I have no idea about your particular case, just making a general point, but it is probably reasonable to say that for some people an increased focus on their bodies makes them more likely to notice and become concerned about their pulse. As a skinny guy (I prefer "athletic and wiry"!) I can certainly see a pulse in numerous locations across my body and anxiety / exertion cause me to feel it very strongly as well.Hope you get your concerns addressed at your next appointment.GlowGreen
 

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