chadwalter21
New member
I say only because I am finally done with this. Brief recap of my story. Had carpal tunnel surgery in middle of April and calves started twitching approx 3 days later. Googled calf twitching and you know the rest. I was convinced I had the dreaded disease and went to my PCP and he quickly dismissed my concerns and put me on wellbutrin because he could see how anxious I was. This wasn't a good enough answer for me and my anxiety continued to climb. This has gone on for 5 months and I had enough and decided to go see a neuro. Appointment was today. After a brief meet and greet, he asks me whats bothering me. I told him that I had carpal tunnel surgery 5 months ago and my calves started twitching a few days later. He kind of laughs at me (but in a pleasant way). I told him I googled and thought I had ALS. He laughed a little harder. I am wondering what in the world he could be laughing at (did he think of a funny joke, was he laughing at me?) He says he is sorry and to continue my story. After I finish my story he asks me to hop on the table. He does a very thorough exam and tells me it was 100% normal. When I hop off the table he tells me he wants to show me something. He lifts up his pant leg and shows me his calves. They were going crazy. He told me he was sorry for laughing, but he felt like I was telling HIM HIS story. He had surgery 5 weeks ago and his calves started twitching about 3 days later. He said even as a neuro that has been practicing for 30 years, he had the same concerns so he understood my concern. He told me we could do an EMG if I wanted to, but he was sure it would be normal. I declined. Some things he told me.....1) After 5 months of twitching, I would definitely have muscle weakness AND atrophy.2) He said we both have benign fasciculations and they will go away in time3) Stress and stimulants make it worse. I told him that my twitches have actually decreased dramatically after 2 days of no caffeine. He told me he would stop drinking coffee for a couple of days to see if his would go away. I left his office and bought a Dr. Pepper and sure enough my calves started twitching a couple of hours later. So I am officially done with this. What I have is benign and to a certain extent I can control it (or at least keep it in check) and I can live with that. I am moving on. May God bless each and every one of you. Chad