Stress-induced Twitching: Seeking Help

[lynShelbyLynn]

Hi I am a 36 year old female from Ontario, Canada. I started twitching
last Feb. ie Feb 2004 after a stressful time with my mom terminal of Cancer. I haven't stopped. Been to a neuro who said it was stress.
Well since then my mom passed away, I quit my job to relieve al stress in my life and yet......I twitch. I had an MRI clear, and yet the neuro
won't see me again as he feels its nothing. Well for all of you who
twitch, it isn't nothing to me. Getting to see a doctor if your lucky to have one takes a while. Seeing an specialist 6 months to a year. Great health care in Canada now. I don't know what to do. It scares me that I don't
have any diagnosis. I've put on weight and am stiff, and twitch usually in the same spots, plus random twitches here and there. I twitch in my
index finger between thumb and twitch on the side of my foot, same
side as finger twitch. I have random twitches here, there as well.
I twitch mostly all the time. Does anyone have anything similar. How do you know it is BFS? At this point, I know nothing and of course suspect the worst. The neuro did the usual looking in my eye, put some sort of vibrating thing on my body to see if it felt the same, tested my reflexes, heel to toe walk. He just said stress. Well guess what how long can you say it is stress? Also I have quick little muscle vibrating feelings in my legs. Anyone else have this. Any comments would be appreciated as I am in a country where access to doctors is almost non-existant. I might as well live in some far off country as there is no health care here.

 

[Diego4Life]

Hi Shae, well I am no neurologist, but I am a chiropractor so will give you my thoughts: If you have been twitching since February last year without other neurological deficits, i.e reflex abnormalities, muscle atrophy or weakness, then I feel that you can rule out anything sinister. We are taught to look for fasciculations with weakness and atrophy. Fasciculations occurring on their own are just fasciculations. The nasty diseases are progressive and don't hang around too long before they become apparent. That means a few months, not a year. To reassure you on that front, just look at past posts from over the last few years.

As to the fact you don't have a diagnosis, I wouldn't focus too much on that. You saw a neurologist who examined you. If he had suspected anything he would have arranged tests, but he didn't. That means he found no abnormalities. A lot of neurologists have not heard the term BFS. I am from the UK and not one doctor I have spoken to here has heard of it. My neurologist just classifies my fasciculations as benign.

Because the neurologist you saw didn't give a name to what you are experiencing is because he probably doesn't know one, but clearly in the abscence of any pathology, which he confirmed to you, your fasciculations are benign and by virtue fit into the BFS catergory.

From the symptoms you describe, I would say that you fall well within the syndrome and again you can reassure yourself by reading past posts on this forum, many describing exactly the same stuff as you.

Hope this helps,

Diego4Life

 

[twitchtwitchplayspo]

You might come to the US for a relaxing vacation, spend some "real money" to see a neuro and get another opinion. But you might do all of that and still not get the difinative answer you are looking for. My neuro called mine a "post viral condition." Well, I could have told him that. I knew I had a condition before I went to see him. The Chiro above is most likely right. As long as you have been twitching with no progessive deterioration you are probably OK. Smile and be happy. Life is good even while you twitch.