Finding Support with Calf Twitches

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Same here Chad.. ! Call me up anytime brotha!Has anyone found any sort of remedies that have stopped this problem? I assume not.. but I wonder if there is something we can do about this. Maybe just time will cure it.. and we just need to deal with it until then...I wonder if all of us together can find some sort of commonalities between us that sparked the problem.. Also, if there is anything that we can do to stop the problem.. does anyone have any success stories of something that they think they did to make the problem go away ?Just trying to be optimistic...Thanks again !!Mike
 
Mike- Great news. Don't think about whether the neuro used the acronym BFS or not. He got the benign part right and that's all that matters. You are fine. Refer back to the appointment and your post anytime you feel anxiety or worry starts to set in again. You have a clean EMG and a clean clinical exam. Clean EMG + Clean Clinical = 100% fine, nothing, nada. As to magic pills or cures, there aren't any. Otherwise none of us would still be on here talking about it. Some folks will suggest this med or that med to lessen symptoms but I don't know of anyone who has found a drug, herb, supplement or anything else that cures the twitching. The only treatment that I think works to greatly reduce the symptoms is an anxiety laxative. Not a real medication, but rather flushing anxiety out of your system when it ratchets up. You have to be the one to figure out how best to do that: 1) exercise, 2) hobbies 3) Tai Chi 4) Smoking and Drinking 5) Colombian Grass :sick: You asked about commonalities among members. I haven't been around here long enough to opine on this fully but there seem to be a fair amount of people who are already health anxiety prone and most of the people here appear highly intelligent as opposed to the average message board. Anyway, hopefully being cleared by the Dr. Richter will flush a lot of the stress out and you'll notice some improvement.
 
You know you are correct when you say that the intellect level on this board seems to be somewhat higher than normal.I spoke to Chad on the phone and he seems like a bright guy.. Who I believe is doing some medical studies (correct me here Chad) I see there are docs, lawyers, on here.. I personally own my own insurance agency but also have an MBA in Management/Marketing. Not saying I am brilliant, but I would say I am above average.. I can say that something triggered in my body pretty quickly.. It didn't seem to be a gradual start of calve twitching but kind of came on all of the sudden.. Let me share a few of my theories... and I am going to be straight honest with you..Prior to me realizing I had any twitches (i say realizing because, I am not sure if I had them longer and just didn't notice them):1. A week prior I helped my dad move to another house -- I was picking up heavy stuff, literally running up the U-Haul truck -- I was using this opportunity to get a little work out.2. The very next day I helped my future brother in-law work his Firework stand (this was on the 4th of July) I was literally standing on the side of the road with a sign signaling cars to stop at our stand. I also at times held a big box of fireworks and was jumping up and down (calve work, of course) I did this for about 6 hours straight. I have also had several stressors in my life lately that I wonder could have triggered something in my system:3. My mother was recently involved in an auto accident which resulted in another person losing his life. This happened at the end of June. I also happen to be her insurance agent (this has been a stress from a personal and business level)4. My uncle (who i wasn't super close with, but nevertheless, he was my uncle and he was a great guy) passed away on July 5. I went to the funeral, saw a lot of family that I hadn't seen in a long time.5. I was in talks with a girl to hire her to work at my business. Now, I only have 1 employee (other than myself) and I was really worried about the added expense of this employee but know that I need to make the move if I want my business to grow.6.. I do have 2 young kids (ages 5 and 3) and they are the best kids, but anyone with young kids knows, that you don't get much time to relax. 7. I have been on statins for a long long time. First, Pravachol, then Zocor. I stopped the statins last week, it hasn't changed a thing, but nevertheless, it's another one of my suspects.Now, physically, did I pull something in my back/spine that created some sort of distorted signal that carries to my lower leg muscles ?Was my mind filled with excessive stress that created some sort of distorted signal pathway to my calves?Did the statin finally decide to wreck havoc on me ?Am I totally off base ?One thing I can tell you.. It SEEMS that right when I wake up, my twitches are gone. As soon as my mind wanders about my problem(about 3 minutes after I wake up), it seems to start in. Is it that I am just so sleepy that I am not aware of them, or is it the morning time stress rush that is turning the twitches on ? What is it that kicks in shortly after we awake ?I am only sharing to see if we can find some commonalities.. Also, if anyone has had them resolved by some method, herb, yoga, chiropractor, etc... please share... Thanks for listening!Love,Mikey
 
Mike- Not sure about all the possible triggers you listed. Many have speculated it starts:1) at a time of greater stress in life,2) post illness (specifically post viral)3) post antibiotic or other med.I'm probably missing some others. My situation when mine started was a mixed bag. Two small kids, little sleep, stressful job, and was in class till 10 pm several times a week to get my EMT license to volunteer for my village. I was working round the clock. I came down with an odd virus. Had pain in my neck/gland and was DX'd with pharyngitis. A day later I broke out with a bad arm rash. I was on Zpack antibiotic and a few days later it all started and very suddenly like you described. So mine coulda been the stress, the virus, or the antibiotic or who knows what. The point is, it hasn't gone away and I've learned to live with it and the tight leg muscles and other weirdness. I know what you mean though about waking up and not having it for the first few minutes. I went through that early on, thinking it would just go away and hoping every morning it would be gone. The first few minutes I'd lie their and then it would slowly begin like a microwaving bag of popcorn, first a few random pops, then an orchestra of pops/major fireworks of twitches. It gets easier to live with as time goes on.
 
I have also heard that West Nile (mosquito) could cause this.. I don't recall getting the other symptoms though and have never been tested for West Nile. I do know that even though I had a normal EMG and neuro exam, I still stress about this and get depressed. I wish there was something that I could do so that I could not feel the twitches... As long as it doesn't hurt me, if I don't feel them, then I could probably learn to tune them out.I can tell you I will eventually act on any possible remedy to "give it a try" and if I have success, I will undoubtedly share it.Oh, my neurologist mentioned some medication to me.. He asked me if my GP tried to give me "xxxxxxx" (can't remember the name). I said no... Anyway, he didn't prescribe it to me, just Ativan, which I haven't taken yet... I know what Ativan is, and I don't know if I want to start putting that crap in my body... Unless anyone can come up with a reason how this might help me.. ? Maybe reducing the stress with the Ativan may eventually resolve it?? I am skeptical. I apologize if what I am saying is repetitive on any other chain of messages.. I am just 1/2 way venting, and 1/2 way trying to dig to get any sort of info that way help us all...Peace,Mikey Mike
 
Mike- I think you just have to give trying to live with it a chance. I still have some anxious moments but I've come to realize there's no magic pill, no magic cure and the only thing that's worked for me is not stressing so much and just living life. I had a medical wake up call about a month ago which made me realize realy quick how minor these twitches were. In the greater scheme of things, there's a lot of people living with far worse conditions and real pain. If you can focus on others and keep your symptoms in perspective, you'll find things a lot more easier. As to Ativan. I've taken it several times before and did not like it all. I felt kind of out of body. I'm not big on medication as it is, and I did not like the feeling I got on this pill. I personally could never function/do my job on this kind of med. It really did a number on me. Yeah, I wasn't anxious, but I was just numb to everything and did not feel like myself at all.
 
Mikey,For what it's worth, your experience sounds a LOT like mine. As for a quick fix, I can't help you. I'm 6 months in and I still twitch. I know the less I think about them the less I seem to have them. When I do notice them I really don't freak out about it. You will probably find that your calves twitch pretty regularly...I feel the calves twitching sometime and sometimes I don't.I think the day will soon come when the twitches won't phase you. If you have been cleared by your doctor, you should definitely relax. Twitching is certainly annoying, but nothing to be too concerned about.Welcome aboard. THis is a great forum and has truly done more for my mental health than any other course of action I've taken so far. Stick around and do like so many of the other good folks on here do to try to help others who are going through this. It's funny, if you use the search function you will generally find literally dozens of posts that will sound exactly like your experiences. Yours sounded exactly like mine (with the exceptions of the cramping).
 
I am actually joining this group because your symptoms sound so much like mine!!!! These twitches are driving me crazy.. I have a constant one in my right calf that seems to appear everytime I sit or lay down.. I also have others that will come up every single day but mostly in my calves... It all started I think over a year ago.. At first I thought I may have Restless leg syndrome and just kinda tried to ignore it... Then, I started walking 5 miles a day and it started to get awful in my legs!!! Especially the calves.. I will have a few good thumpers above the knee but it seems as though my calves never stop...I went to see a Neurologist and passed the exam he said with no trouble.. I also had a normal EMG..... Still waiting on bloodwork.. Should I be worried that this is something way more serious? Now that I notice the twitching, it seems to happen more and more.. I wonder if this because I am so in tune with whats going on.... I also sometimes notic e a buzzing feeling in my feet.. This all started after I had a sinus infection that would not go away!!!! I seriously took 7 rounds of different antibiotics.. The twitching seems to be getting worse and not better... Please, if anyone can respond.. I am hoping it makes me feel better.. I also went through the awful scare of looking up muscle twitching only to come up with tons of forms on the bad word.....
 
Melanie,Welcome to the club. You sound just like the hundreds here including myself. You have two of the factors that some speculate may be related to the onset of this condition. Those factors being (1) an infection of some sort triggering an immune response leading to antibodies that interfere with the nerves and (2) a reaction to antibiotics. Both theories have support in the medical literature. If your symptoms don't interfere with your life, feel lucky as they do for some of us. Even if they are not disabling, they are painful/uncomfortable and interfere with concentration and sleep. The worry about what is going on is the common thread for all of us but that is what is so great about this board. This board is proof that this condition is not rare even if our doctors are not familiar with it.Krackersones
 
Thank you so much for responding Jro....I appreciatte any comments and help I can get.............. This is so frustrating! I am having to take a sleeping pill at night just to sleep.. I swear I can not sleep without it due to the popping like twitching going on..... It drives me crazy! I have a question if you know?Is BFS actually the real name for whats going on with everyone? When I asked my neuro he seemed not to know what on earth I was talking about!
 
Melanie,It seems like alot of neuros don't know what we are talking about. My neuro told me I had "benign fascilations", he never said "syndrome" so I really don't know if he knew about BFS or not. Seems like some doctors know about it and some don't. What did your neuro diagnose you with?~Leslie
 
Hi Leslie,He really never gave me a diagnosis.. Just the same. He said BF... He also didn't say syndrome and when I mentioned it he didn't know what I was talking about..do you have the same sort of symptoms...? This twitching is driving me crazy and so is the worry of it being something else bad thats making it happen.... ;-( I don't get a break.. It happens every single day.....
 
Hi MelanieI notice you are on line at the present so thought I'd send you this wee note only to reiterate what others have said - that your symptoms and reassuring check up by a neurologist mean that you can be completely confident in the benign nature of your problem so try not to worry too much as you will only make things worse by worrying.I can hardly talk though - I am the world's worst worrier about my fasciculation.In NZ, neurologists do not seem to call this problem a syndrome - merely 'benign fasciculation'. Putting the word syndrome at the end doesn't really change anything though in my opinion.RegardsSimon
 
Thank you Simon!!!! I really appreciatte those encouraging words.... I am the same way or I am now.. At first it was no big deal.. I had some muscle twitches.. Now, I notice every single one and pay attention to them all the time.. The only time I feel ok is when I am up and about.... I was excercising a lot but then it seemed to make the twitches get even worse after I sat down or "tried" to go to sleep.....I guess everyone on here gets those constant muscle twitches.. I am new so am trying to really read up on this... This site is so helpful....
 
Melanie,I have had widespread twitching for 5 months now and yes, I have them everyday. My neuro exam was normal and my EMG. I am in the same boat as everyone else. Just looking for answers but never seem to get any.~Leslie
 
Melanie,Some doctors will label it benign fasciculations others will say your nerves are hyperactive (firing when they should not) but they are not sure why but it could be related to antibodies etc. Basically, they are acknowledging that they know this happens to people and unless there is weakness it almost never evolves into anything more serious. If weakness comes about then there are things to be tried that suppress the immune system but this is only if real serious weakness is involved.You mentioned that you are having trouble sleeping. I strongly advise against taking any medication if the twitching can be coped with in other ways (changing your nighttime habits, relaxing rituals, avoiding stimulants in your diet like sugar and caffeine, etc. But if nothing works and you are never getting any sleep I would seek medical help. For me my twitching became combined with some very uncomfortable nerve sensations that interfered with sleep and made daily life miserable. I think it might be similar to a bodywide restless leg type situation. I was give Klonopin (.5 mgs twice a day) and it resulted in immediate improvement. I just wanted to share this with you in case you are desperate for relief now or at some point in the future. However, it does not sound like you are at this point and I hope you are not and never will be. However, you should know that there are things out there that can help if you need it at some point.Krackersones
 
Melanie- Welcome to the twitch club. A couple things that may be worth a try which my Neuro recommended: 1) as JRO points out, lessening the stimulants (caffeine and nicotine); 2) getting quality sleep (this is where you need to work on de-stressing and making sure you're getting enough sleep; 3) stress reduction. There's a ton of ways to reduce anxiety from yoga, to exercise, to meditation to whatever gets your mind off things. Lastly, my neuro put me on a multivitamin and a magnesium supplement even though my mineral counts were largely normal. I've done all these things to a point and I still have BFS. But they have helped me twitch a bit less and worry a whole lot less.
 

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