Richards5491
New member
Hello, I found this forum after doing a search for benign fasiculations. I will not bore you with how mine started because it is textbook (twitching in eyelid that spread...you know the rest, after a period of exteme anxiety). I had an EMG last year and an MRI, and a somatasensory evoked potential test (2 of them) and of course all was clear. I was worried about ms. Had the nicest neurologist in the world who did all of this to prove I was ok! I still twitch but I really don't think much of it anymore. He said he has about 2 people come in a week who twitch and then go on the internet and FREAK OUT.Fast forward to this year: I was on a plane on a really bad flight, and I have EXTREME anxiety about flying and this flight was the worst. Absolute horrible turbulance, stuck in the back of the plane, a million degrees. Then, all of a sudden I felt super weird, and the right side of my body was not exactly paralysed, but it was very difficult to move, super heavy and it was like I had a stinger, like half "asleep" numb feeling, but had no weakness at all. I can't tell you how scary this was and how odd this felt. It was within a second it happened and I really thought for a second I had a stroke or something. My face though was fine. Things felt very heavy to pick up. There was a doctor on board who was not too concerned just because I had full strength and was otherwise normal. I was wearing compression-type tights since I am an athlete-and did not want my legs to swell at all on the flight.So, coincidently, my hotel was right in front of the Mayo Clinic emergency room in Scottsdale, so they took me there and did a CAT scan, and EKG and the doc said he sees something like this once a week or so and it could be a silent migraine that causes this. Since I had no real neuroligic symptoms he did not call in the neurologist. Having the right side of my body basically messed up was symptom enough for me but...when they asked me to do everything I looked fine. Making a fist or contracting my hand felt fine, it was easing up and relaxing it that felt so freakin' weird. He then asked me if anyone if my family had ms and I said no, that I had all the test about 9 months back and he said, not be be cruel, but that does not mean anything and even if you did have it, there is nothing we can do so you might as well go home. Yikes. He said take a few advil and I bet you feel fine in 24 hours. And I did. I woke up and went for an 8 mile run actually.I did go back to my neurologist at home and told him what happened and he said I was fine and wished he had a xanax for every time he flew and that again, I don't have ms. He ran that prickly thing up and down my legs and arms and tested strength. However, I am TERRIFIED of ms now and every time I get a pin *beep* feeling in my finger or nerve problem, or don't feel right, I get extreme anxiety. Has anyone had such an extreme sudden onset of something weird happening like that?? I have since run into a person who's side of face went paralysed on a flight and then it just returned. However this week I have tingly feeling in my fingers, and twitching is worse so I am freaking out again.
A friend also ended up in the hospital as you did with numbness and diagnosed as migraine. It may be worth it to consider what you ate hours prior to the trip as that may have increased the stress on your nervous system (see my post on this from yesterday).Something else to consider - because you're an athlete - your familiarity with your physical functioning is more in tuned - plus you expect more from your body than others. Likewise, you probably reject such eccentric behavior from your bod (I still have this problem also). My neuro said - 'hey, if you were a couch potato you wouldn't even notice, or care about, some of this stuff". Try try try not to freak as it only makes it worse. Get along with it however you can (think of it as an irritating roomate) get your circulation going - move a bit when you feel the tingling starting - do some lazy stretches and see if you can coax it away.