Twitching for Over a Year

[dontstopthis]

I have been reading this board for over a year now--my all-over twitching started on March 28, 2006 and hasn't let up since. It's definitely worse in the legs after exercising but some part of my body is pretty much twitching all the time. Started in the legs, feet, arms, and torso and has recently migrated to my face, tongue, and eardrum as well. I also have some weird, mild tingling in my left hand and foot and sometimes have shooting pains throughout my body. My left hand, especially the thumb, has a tremor that I can't control. My feet and legs cramp up sometimes, too, and I've developed a new symptom in the last few months where my left knee and thigh buzz when I bend my neck forward.I've read on this forum that many people have tingling, so the tingling I feel in my left foot and hand could fit in the realm of BFS. But I also have this weird thing where any time I bend my neck forward after I've walked for a while, I get an electrical buzzing feeling in my left knee and upper thigh. If I straighten my neck, the buzzing stops. I can turn it on and off just by bending my neck. I've found that this is called "Lhermitte's sign" and is usually a sign of MS and signifies damage to the cervical spinal cord. So, I had a cervical spine MRI, which came back normal. At this point, my neurologist totally wrote me off, I think, and said, "Must be a small pinched nerve or something. I can see nothing 'medically' wrong with you." I have an appointment with another neurologist on June 20, but I was wondering if ANYONE in the world of BFS has EVER experienced something like "Lhermitte's sign" and if it really COULD be nothing serious. I also must mention that I've had a normal EMG on my left arm, but they noticed in nerve conduction studies that my left hand nerves are slower than my right (however still within the range of normal). I realize this is a VERY long post....I've been debating on posting for over a year and figured that now, with the new symptom of buzzing when my neck is bent, was a good time to get others' opinions.Thanks!

 

[hCapitalize]

l'hermittes is a sign of MS but it is also a sign of any kind of neurological damage in the neck.

I get electric shock like tinglings in my arms when I move my neck in certain ways and it stands to reason that the cause is the way that nerves are being compressed there.

 

[MarksmanS]

Yes, but what is strange in my case is that they did an mri and said there were no problems...I don't seem to have symptoms of MS. They found no compression or anything...all very weird. I don't see this associated with mnd though. I think I have enough symptoms to match Behçet's disease but I can't find fasciculations associated with it. Does anyone know if cns inflammation could cause twitches??

 

[hCapitalize]

But was the MRI taken during that actual manouevre that caused the sensation?

If you stand on a hosepipe, the water will stop, but if you were to X ray the hospipe for a blockage when you were not standing on it you would not find any.

 

[hCapitalize]

It seems then that an MRI is not necessarily going to be of help to me if I am ever sent for one.

I tend to get the pins and needles in my hands, and actually I have them in both shoulders as I type this.

Also had really bad cramps in both my feet today, causing the toes to fan out. probably I have been on my feet on the hard pavements of London too much today.

However my neck and shoulders are stiff from carrying too much too, and I could feel my neck crack and creak as I lay down on my hotel bed. Pins and needles don't come from nowhere, and if it is not demyelination, then it has to be a nerve that is compressed somewhere. Never mind if it does not show up in tests, the fact that you are feeling something, shows that something is up.

Maybe you do have to wait for things to get sufficiently serious to show up on tests.