Newbie Here: Twitching for Two Months

[TwitterKitten]

Hello,

This is my post to this forum, even though I have been surfing this site for about a month now.

Please bear with me for this long post.

A little background:
My whole body has been twitching on and off for about two months now. It all stated with twitching in my right hand near to the thumb and then slowly I started experiencing twitching any where on my body - hands, legs, tummy, face, forehead etc. I must add though, most of the times my twitching is very mild that I can only feel it. However some times it can be easily seen.

Because of this twicthing for obvious reasons I got very much disturbed. I was emotionally so distraced, that till recently I was not even be able to smile. All this time my wife kept telling me that there is nothing wrong with me. I have a six months old baby daughter and I wasn't able to enjoy her and appreciate her daily progress.

My medical journey in this ordeal:
My general practitioner ruled out any of the scary deseases by means of testing my reflexes and the blood work.

As that did not satisfy me I went to Nuro. He immediately asked me whether I was searching for information on internet and asked me to stop reading internet. He checked me by asking me to walk in straight line with my eyes closed, to push his hand as I hard as I can with my hand (one at a time), he taped muscles on my hands, legs etc. and looked for any twitches in response which he couldn't. He also poked me slightly by niddle in my legs and hands and asked me whether I feel the sharpness of the niddle which I felt. He also touched my legs and my hands by vibrating tuning fork and asked me whether I feel the vibrations till the end which I felt.

According to him, I do not have to worry about any deseases like any ALS or MS etc. He thinks that the stress level is the reason why I am experiencing all these twitches. He asked me to do some daily exercise to reduce my stress level and also asked me to try to relax.

Since then I have started regular exercise and I also try to relax. Some times I do not feel twitching and some times I do.

My question is - Do you think my nuro may have overlooked some things as I still have unexplained twitching? Can a Nuro rule out deseases like ALS, MS without MRI and/or CT scan?

I will be obliged if you can answer my questions. And Sorry for this really looooooooong post.

Thanks

 

[TrisTrip]

Your post is long but not unnecessarily. You provide excellent background into your case.

First to answer your questions:

It’s nearly impossible that your nuro could have overlooked something like MS or ALS – this is exactly what they are trained and experienced to look for.

They could have overlooked something’s like B12 deficiency, lime, etc. but I would assume that the big scary diseases have been ruled out 100%.

MS is difficult to rule out as it precipitates over a number of years; it can take 10 years for an MS diagnosis. MS can not be diagnosed without a CT or MRI. That being said twitching (fasciculation’s) are not a presenting symptom of MS and occur much, much later in the disease.

MRI and CT do not show signs of ALS. If, during a nuro physical exam (which you had), a patient shows signs of ALS, an EMG can be used to support the diagnosis. An EMG is unnecessary unless signs of weakness or wasting prevail during a nuro exam. – You had neither signs of wasting or weakness, both would precede ALS type fasciculation’s.

Bottom line: You don’t have ALS or MS.

Sometimes a GP will raise his eyebrows at symptoms and send his patient to a nuro. In your case even your GP thought this was unnecessary – this is a good sign. Also, a nuro may do his physical exam (suspecting something) and then an EMG. If the EMG turns out dirty he may say that it’s possible that you have ALS. But with a GP and specialist telling you that MS and ALS are not suspect, you are surely fine.

You’ve got a six month old baby and the stress associated (trust me I know) perhaps you should look into stress as a possible cause of your fasciculation’s. It’s what’s caused most peoples twitches.

Please feel free to ask me any further questions. I’ve been at this a long time and have done copious amounts of research.

- Jeff

 

[TwitterKitten]

Thank you Jeff for your positive reply. Today in the morning I read your response and it really made my day.

Once again I appreciate your response.

Thanks