Persistant Fasciculations as Firefighter

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chinook82

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To start this i am a 30 year old male that is very physically active and worksout 5 to 6 days a week, and im a firefighter. Around the month of july last year i started getting annoying and persistant fasciculations on both calfs. They have been 24/7 ever since but probably not to the same intensity when they started. They were very bothering but I was not affraid until i did that darn internet search. Needless to say i started to freak out about them but i just hoped that they would go away. They never did so i ended up seeing a neurologist in november. He did the office physical test on me and said i didnt show any signs of any disease but he knew how much it was worring me so he set me up for a mri, blood test, and an emg in december. During that time it seemed like I was getting more fasciculations throughout my whole body(sholders, triceps, thighs, buttocks, biceps, and back). Some days would be worst then others on the intensity. Late december he did the mri, blood test and emg on my legs. This January he did his follow up on them and said nothing appeared abnormal but wants to see me back in 3 months to see how the fasciculations are then. He told me not to worry that it is rare to get als. I have no muscle wasting or weekness. I am still very active. It is still in the back of my mind that it could be something bad since he wants to see me back again, and that i have them all over all day when i use to rarely have them. Was anyone elses like this where it started in both calfs and over months spread to whole body? Its been 7 months since it started and i still cant seem to bring my mind to ease. This past week my left tricep would go crazy for a few seconds through out the day. It is just now starting to calm down. Is that normal of bfs or not?The biggest part that makes it hard to be confident its benign is that there seems to me some als stories out there where they had fasciculations a while before weekness?? Any info or ideas regaurding all of this would be greatly appreciated
 
Yes, that happened to me. I took a medication in September of 2011, and a bit later, I had a constant vibrating in both calves. I thought it was RLS because I only noticed it when I was going to bed, but then they progressed to being felt at any given moment when I wasn't moving. Just still. Held up the calves to the light and saw the rippling. Got the point where I had to cut some stockings and where them to bed, to decrease the sensation. If I do recall though, a lil' after they, I started to twitch in the soles of my feet. Very irritating 'cuz it tickled.Read about you know what. Went to various docs. Was okay for a bit, then really freaked out and got them everywhere. It was badddddddddddd. Went to the neuro, got a clean EMG result, slightly dirty nerve test that showed some neuropathy in my hands, and I was okay for a week.Then they came roaring back.
 
yes same as you...similar time frame too. a lot of symptoms got better over 7 months but the twitching has stayed consistent....whole body with hot spots every now and then.so far best remedies for me to calm things down have been juicing, gluten free diet (mostly), avoid caffeine, reduce excercise from heavy to light\moderate, electrolyte water, reduce commitments outside of work, focus on getting decent sleep when\if possible, stopped watching\reading newsI have had 2 clean EMGs and the neuro still wants to see me back in a couple months to follow up...its pretty typical for them to want to see their patients again at some point. Some of them actually do care about the well being of their patients. I don't see your situation being different. you sound alot like me...and we both sound a lot like a lot of people on this forum and I feel pretty confident saying its BFS. hope you get to feeling back to normal.
 
Yes, I definetly think that if something bad was happening to you it should have shown on EMG. If your doctor say it's OK believe him. I am also waiting for my follow up as just like you my neuro wanted to see me back again despite clean clinical and clean EMG.
 
Do you think there should be any worries about only getting the emg on my legs done. I was about 5 months into it when it was done and the calves are the only place where they are pretty much constant. Im not sure if i just didnt notice all the others throughout my body or they got worse as time went on. I never got an emg done on my arms or anything cause they werent my original concern. Obviously now that i worry i notice them every where. Should i be worried or satisfied with the leg emg since it was my first and constant fasciculations?
 
You can read hundred of post here of people like you, me included, having an EMG and starting doubting it soon. Yours legs what was concerning you for a reason, that where the symptoms were the most important, so that was the right place to put the needles.
 
Another question I have is can you cause your muscles to twitch sometimes by flicking them. Can people with bfs cause twitching by doing this?
 

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