Searching for Relief from Twitches: First Neurology Visit

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MegazHD

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I just found this site after suffering from twitches all over for the past 9 months. The twitches began about six weeks after learning that my paternal Grandfather had Huntington's Disease. Since muscle twitches can be a symptom of HD, I have been terrified and searching for an alternative explanation for my twitches. I will be having my first neurologist visit this Thursday. I would be interested to know if anyone else has considered HD?
 
I read a post on here a while back where someone was worried about Huntington's. Since Huntington's is 100% genetic, there is always the option of getting tested to see if you carry the mutated gene. They check this gene (which is on chromosome 4) for the number of CAG repeats. I know because of the genetic nature of Huntington's, lots of people choose not to be tested, because they fear a positive result. What other symptoms have you been having? The twitches could simply be from stress, after learning about your grandfather.
 
I don't appear to have any other symptoms but every time a finger or toe twitches I freak out. At first I put the twitches down to anxiety about learning of my risk of Huntington's but then when the twitches disappeared for almost two months (Jan/Feb) I completely relaxed about it all and was feeling fine when the twitches came back again and now I experience them most days - some days worse than others. I have tried Magnesium supplements, Acupuncture and Homeopathy, but nothing has helped so far. Some days I think I should have the genetic testing for HD, but then I get worried about how I will feel if the test is positive. No one else in my family is having any symptoms and none of them want to be tested.
 
I, too have worried alot lately about Huntington's. My father's family is not close at all and I feel so uninformed about any of their medical history and with all these symptoms and tremors (like the one lately in my face), I have worried alot about this and have searched about it on the web only to become more anxious. I know that some of the searches indicated that they can perform CT scans and MRI's of the brain, as it appears they would be able to see some sort of degenerations within the brain in this disease. Has anyone heard anything like that?

Thanks. :rolleyes:
 
Hi Sharon,

I say this with all sincerity. Why are you still visiting other sites? Healing starts from a point of affirmation and then must continue so. If you are constantly questioning your well being then how can you become well. There are many on this board who have lived with their BFS for alot longer than me, and they teach us that we can be happy and productive, in spite of our twitching.

Forget about als, ms, huntington's, etc! Fixate your attention on things that shift your response from the negative to the positive. When you feel upset or down about something, immediately stop that train of thought and think of something in your life that makes you feel really great. Ice cream (YUM), kids (most of the time), laughing, what-have-you. I love putting music on and dancing around the house like a nut, naked if it's just me and my wife. It frees me, it helps me connect with that part of me that forgets to groove otherwise. Acting up in front of other adults is also fun. My wife sometimes wonders if we will ever be invited out to dinner again because of how juvenile I have behaved. I don't try to offend or anything of that nature, but I don't hold back my sense of fun, of wonder.

It is amazing how, as adults, we schackle ourselves into certain ways of acting. I can feel in myself sometimes how I would like to bust out but something contrains me. Of course, it is fear. Fear about what people might think of me, fear of failure etc. So I am fearing what one person is thinking and they, in turn are fearing what I am thinking. How silly.

I think, it is in revolutionizing the way we behave to the world at large that we are able to heal inside. It takes courage to change a habit, but certainly not the courage that it requires to feel continually unwell and afraid. That really requires the old "stiff upper lip."

How awesome to be as alive as we are. A real, true miracle.

Cheers,
Basso
 
Basso, tell your wife you can come to my house for dinner any time!

Sharon, Basso is right. I know, I have been there too. You have to start shifting your focus from negativity onto wellness. Anxiety does so much damage physically.

Diego4Life
 
I know. Here I am replying to other posts and trying to give advice to others, but I continue to slip. Because I have been having this shaking lately in my face and hands, it has led me to this sort of by accident. There was a show on television about a woman whose 2 sons had Huntington's (I know, I should have switched the channel....) and she did't know she had the gene to pass it on because she did not have the disease. She is serving time in prison because she took their lives because the disease had devastated them so terribly and they were under 24 hour nursing care. She went on to describe their ordeal and started talking about the shaking that started early on in the disease and that sent me over the edge because it began my wondering if when they do the tests like EMG, CT Scan and MRI, if that would pick up something like this. I know I have to get through this and move on, but it is difficult sometimes. Perhaps I should stop trying to post to give advice and support to others until I can get myself straightened out. Sometimes you just fall into that feeling that they must be missing something (the doctors). I appreciate your replies and Basso, I always love to read your posts and admire your courage and positive outlook and look to it as an inspiration and hope that I can get to that place (sooner rather than later).
 
Sharon,

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak anyone out. It is just that I am new to this site and had not found any posts that mentioned HD which happens to be my main concern. Fasciculations, according to my neuro, are not an indication of HD. I found this out after my initial post. I am trying to convince myself now that my twitching is simply anxiety/stress related. It seems to me that most of the people who post on this site have anxiety issues.
 
Please do not apologize. It was not you that has freaked me out. It is this whole thing and not being able to get a grip on it. Some days I am fine and then others I feel totally helpless, like there has to be something wrong because this wasn't happening to me 6 months ago. I am a very high stress person, almost obsessive compulsive - always checking to make sure I turned the alarm on, always checking the stove, "hounding" my girls about whether or not they have everything in their bookbags for school. I guess this kind of personality makes me look for something, some answers. I have a follow up with my neuro in a couple of weeks and I am going to ask her all of those questions that I didn't think about before and hopefully leave there feeling some sense of peace and ready to move on and accept everything that is happening. Thanks for writing back and I am glad to hear that fasciculations are not indicative of the disease. My primary concern was the twitching and shaking. I especially notice my shaking gets worse when I am out in the sun for a long period of time. Also, my face started quivering a couple of weeks ago on one side after a day out at a soccer tournament. I am going to ask my neuro about that as well. Thanks again and don't feel bad about your questions and posts, that is what this is all about, support, reassurance and asking questions. ;)
 

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