Welcome to Twitch: Steve's Story

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polygonplex

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hello.

my name is steve- 22 years old - healthy like you all and a new twitcher of 2 months.

mine started after a two week fever/sore throat bout in the middle of a stressful hot summer in Crete working with some other urban plannig students.

it began with scary body jolts and jerks as i fell asleep (right at that moment between thought and dream). they started the night before i had to give a presentation to the mayor and i was really worried and stressed out. they scared me but i figured it was just anxiety and they subsided in the following 2 weeks to maybe one or so every other night (depending on stress and anxiety as i fell asleep). I had one during class one day and it scared the hell out of me. Then, a few days later (on a day where i was very tired from the night before) I developed a twitch on my index finger that happened maybe 8 times a day for 30 secs or so and moved my finger back and forth. Very scary. I went to the doctor, he did blood tests, reflex tests, a cardiogram and all were fine. He said I was very healthy but see a neurologist if they (twitches) continue. Then i read about ALS. Soon after the situation with work got more stressful and the twitches became more rapid, fluttering and throughout my body (feet, pecs, thighs, back, stomach, calves- everywhere). Also, my index finger began to twitch only when I'd use it heavily. I figured maybe it was from the 7 or so hours a day on my laptop. Anyway, that is what scared me the most. The other twitches seemed to occur based on stress, heat and sleep.

Anyway, I'm back in Cincinnati now and after 2 months of this it has taken all of my attention and is causing me more anxiety and fear than i've ever had. My index finger stopped twitching all together (wierd, my original twitch), but my other muscles are randomly fluttering away. I also feel a bit tense and my muscle feel harder....though this may all just be my imagination. My body still jerks in the morning and as i fall asleep and i still have the "falling sensation" dreams right before i jerk. though i look for it i've never found weakness or atrophy.

anyway, a few questions: how many of you began with body jerks? and how many right as you fell asleep. seems this was the cause of all my problems. i hear it is uncharacteristic of ALS which is good, but was it related to only stress?

also: how many of you are my age? seems many of us are young on here. i keep reading about increasing numbers of younger people with ALS though i know the statistics and its scary.

also, i should schedule a nuero exam. anyone go to the cleveland clinic? i figure i'm not too far and they're experienced so what should i expect?

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING ON THIS BOARD and site. ITS HELPED ME ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS IN EUROPEAN INTERNET CAFES. (boring me).
 
Hey Steve!

If that is not a classic description of BFS, I don't know what is. But I am no doctor. Have you gone to a neurologist? They can tell you pretty quickly, before they even administer an EMG if something sinister is going on. But here are some things I have learned on this site and other places that may help to put your mind at ease:

1. You are too young to have ALS. Even cases that begin in people's late twenties/early thirties are usually an inherited form of the disease.

2. Myoclonic jolts (the body jerks you were describing), never occur in ALS. It is common in BFS.

3 from my own neuro: "If you can feel your twitches, it's BFS"

4. BFS often occurs just following a viral infection, and the twitches are often exacerbated by stress and anxiety. When you calm down and accept your condition as benign, you will see a marked decrease in the frequency of your twitches.

5. The incidence of ALS is like 1 in 100,000, avg. age of onset btw. 45-50 yrs. of age.

So as you can see, you have many things pointing away from ALS. Go see a neuro! It will make you feel much, much more at ease. If you feel the Cleaveland clinic is worth the drive, go for it! It's a top neuro. center. But wear your seatbelt! If you really want to be scared, look up the statistics for the deathrate in your age group for automobile accidents.

Hope this helps,

Jen ;)

(European internet cafes....ah, what I wouldn't do to be 22 again...)
 
Steve,

Your story sounds very much like many of the people here. I am 23 and my symptoms began about 16 months ago. Prior to the twitching, I also had the body jerks while trying to fall asleep. I didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back I think they were caused by a severe lack of sleep and stress. Anyway, the jerks have since gone away completely, but I am still bothered by these annoying twitches.

I would definitely recommend scheduling an appointment with a good neuro. I think it is important because it will help give you the reassurance you need to believe that you don't have something terrible like ALS.

Take care,

diotz2
 
Get an appointment with a good neuro. I am one of the few people on this board who is tually of the right age to perhaps have ALS and my twitches have continued unabated for quite a while. I went to a neuro and got the whole battery-nerve conduction, EMG, Thyroid, various enzymes, Lyme, MRI, heavy metals etc. All negative except slightly high CPK. Despite my age, this has put my mind completely at ease. ALS occurs in about 5,000 to 6,000 people in US every year. Almost all of them are over 45 years. This is out of what, about 280,000,000 people? Between it's rarity and your age your odds are infinitesimal of having ALS. Go to the Doc and put this rest in your mind.
 
Welcome Steve,
Im in my 20's also, started for me almost exactly the same way 1.5 years ago after a virus. It will get better trust me. Welcome to the club!
 
thanks for all the good replies all.

I came across something online written by a neuro that i would like to ask you all about:

"Several clues help the physician distinguish benign fasciculations from the ominous fasciculations of motor neuron disease. In the patient with motor neuron disease, the muscle twitch often occurs once or twice in one muscle, then in another muscle, and then in different spots in the limb. These "migratory" fasciculations are sometimes difficult to find, because they move from place to place before the examiner can observe them. Benign fasciculations tend to remain in the same area."........

Do any of you have the type of twitches in which different muscles twitch throughout the body in a series? I get these often "malignant" kind. Where a calf will twitch twice then my neck or something similar. Also, sometimes my bicep will begin then stop then my finger will take over all n say 5 seconds. I don't believe I have "malignant" twitches, but reading this made me scared b/c I have never read anything like this and I get those "traveling" twitches. Any of you here twitch like this???

thanks
steve[/b]
 
Steve,

Out of the things to worry about, I wouldn't worry about migrating twitching! I not an expert, but if you read the old posts, you will find that the majority of the people here have sporadic, migrating twitching. And they're all fine. If I can give you any advice, it would be to pick your battles, and don't sweat the small stuff...It will drive you crazy. Trust me, I know from experience.
Good luck to you.

Gary
 
Steve,
what I've read about fascics in ALS and BFS is totally against what you wrote.
In my opinion BFS fascics tend to migrate and ALS fascics are usually in one and the same spots for long long time (untill the muscle is dead and out of use). Benign fascics occur in many places and can migrate. In BFS we also have "hot spots" but it usually doesn't mean that this spot twitches really non-stop. You can have 100 twitches a day for 7 days in your hot spot and say that it's non-stop, But it's not really non-stop.

So, I think that migratintg twitches are a hallmark of BFS rather than ALS.

regrads
Marcin
 

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