Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!
Why Is My Arm Twitching!? An Inquiry.
Biology 103
2005 Second Paper
On Serendip
Why Is My Arm Twitching!? An Inquiry.
Matthew Lowe
For several days now, and as I write this paper, a muscle in my left forearm has been twitching vigorously on a regular basis. It is not painful, but I am always able to feel it while it is happening. In general, an episode of spasms begins suddenly and with great rapidity; about ten contractions per second. It then usually slows to irregularly-spaced single spasms, with the occasional double-twitch. All individual spasms are very quick; the contraction and release taking a fraction of a second. The twitch is visible: it appears that a narrow section on the right side of the large anterior muscle (the one that lifts the wrist) is being pulled forward about a quarter-inch. The visibly affected area extends over the inner elbow and about four inches up the upper arm. I had originally attributed the twitch to caffeine or stress, as I find that my left eye twitches in a similar way during periods where I am forced to drink lots of coffee and skimp on sleep. However, for the past few days I have consumed no caffeine and gotten a reasonable amount of sleep. I got some light exercise, and was moderately nervous for a musical performance last night. One possible strain on my left arm was a pain in my wrist from probably straining too hard, playing guitar for a more extended period of time than I am accustomed. Extensive stretching, massage, and more aggressive tactics have done nothing to slow the spasms, indeed, direct pressure on the area will not even stop spasms as they are occurring.
The first step in diagnosing this annoying and increasingly distressing affliction seems to be to determine what is actually twitching. It seems that only the muscle itself has the ability to actually move a part of the body, but of course muscles respond to nerve impulses. Could ligaments or tendons be malfunctioning and triggering these movements? It appears that this would not be the case, as ligaments merely connect bone to bone and tendons muscle to bone. They are made of soft collagenous tissue, and classification of these tissues are based on stiffness of the "crimp" of the tissue and its resistance to load under pressure (1). These characteristics do not seem to suggest the capability of autonomous movement. The same is the case for actual nerves. The action, therefore, must be in the muscle. Something, therefore, is triggering the irregular bonding and release of myosin heads to the actin filaments. This action is also, at a certain level, uncoordinated, because though the movement of the actual muscle is large, there is no visible translation to a bone, moving a limb. Perhaps the "power stroke" of the muscle is so short, and in a small enough section of the muscle that it overcomes the deformation curve of the tendon. However, the timescale of this phenomenon is far shorter than the muscular action I am experiencing. Perhaps the muscle in question serves another purpose. The two strongest possibilities for identity of the offending muscle, based on the line the spasms trace, are pronator teres or the flexor digitalum superficialis (2). There is little reason to suspect the second, as it is a deeper muscle, and much more of it would likely move if it were to misfire. The pronator teres appears exactly the proper size and shape. This muscle originates at the Medial epicondyle of the humerus and at the coronoid process of the ulna, and inserts at the middle of the lateral surface of the radius. In other words, at the very bottom of the humerus, a few inches down the ulna, and between them on the radius, respectively. The muscle pronates and flexes (rotates and bends) the forearm at the elbow. Though it appears that the bulk of forearm flexion is performed by the Brachialis, most pronation is done by the pronator teres, further confusing the question of why my arm remains still when the muscle twitches (3). The muscle is innervated by the median nerve, a common site of nerve compression and repetitive stress syndromes. There exists a pronator teres compression syndrome, but it is fairly rare and its symptoms include pain in the area, weakness in the hand, certain types of palsy in the fingers, and do not include twitching of the muscle (4). None of these apply to my situation.
A visit to a medical reference site querying "muscle twitch" yielded information I had assumed at the beginning of my inquiry. Barring neurological disorders such as Lou Gehrig's disease and Muscular Dystrophy, causes of muscle twitching were simple: caffeine, excessive exercise, stress, a diet deficiency. The former three I was willing to rule out in my situation, but it is possible that there has been a deficiency in my diet. Returning to institutional food has greatly increased the proportion of meat in my diet, which had been significantly reduced during the summer, and it seemed particularly high in the past week. Further research suggested that spasms and cramps could be caused by a calcium deficiency resulting from high protein or phosphate intake. A deficiency in pantothenic acid (Vitamin B) were pointed to as a cause, but several prime sources of the vitamin were part of my diet in the period in question. A high Magnesium-to-Calcium ratio in the body was another cause. It is true that most recently, green vegetables and legumes, the major sources of magnesium, had not been in adequate proportions in my diet, but this would presumably result in, if anything, a low Mg/Ca ratio Consuming foods containing lactic acid was pointed to as a possible strategy (6). In the end, it was unclear exactly what could be done on a dietary level to correct this ratio, as consuming more of one mineral would block absorption of another in a complex web, and it would be impossible to be certain of the proportions in my body without knowing the proportions in the foods I ate, without having kept careful track of what I had eaten in the period in question.
Would there, then, be anything that could be done in the short term? It seems to stand to reason that the malfunction of myocin in the muscle would be triggered by the synapses of a nerve going haywire. Is there any way that the functioning of a cluster of nerve cells could be directly impacted? A relationship between electrical pathways in the body and acupuncture came to mind. Most charts of acupuncture meridians that I was able to find related the acupoints to organs, as opposed to specific muscles or limbs, which seemed like a dead end. This was interesting, however, as it was indicated that Eastern medicine traditionally conceived of disease as a collection of symptoms rather than a unified state of the body, which would suggest that their treatment strategies would target various body aches outside of the major organs in the trunk or head (8). Another article indicated that "The change of electric activity is part of signal transduction and can precede anatomical change," but that some electromagnetic patterns in the body mapped by a SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) are consistent with the meridian system, but not necessarily "any major nerve, lymphatic, or blood vessel" (9). The author goes on to note that "An "annealing" mechanism may play a role in acupuncture and related techniques: Small perturbations at singular points elicit a "shock" to the system - activates and shakes the biological system out of its abnormal and unstable state. After activation, the system has a better chance to settle at a normal, more stable state." It seems likely that acupuncture could have an effect on my own particular malfunction, if it is in fact related to the electrical impulses in the muscle, but it seems that to find out exactly how would require the involvement of a specialist, or, as the web seems to indicate, the purchase of a book.
In the end, this particular spasm episode will likely soon come to an end, but a few questions still remain unanswered in my mind. First: if, for instance, the spasms were caused by a nutritional deficiency, why would that macro deficiency manifest itself in one section of the body for an extended period of time? Second: another article outlining the system of nerve impulses involved in a reflex reaction demonstrated the level of communication necessary to return a reflex impulse to its point of origin. What if my left pronator teres or its median nerve thought that it was receiving an impulses and was actually responding normally? If so, what could this false impulse have been caused by? Most of my confusion arises from the specificity in manifestation of a generalized explanation. What is so different about this particular assembly?
1) Notes for a U-Michigan biomechanics course
2)Contents of upper limb and back, drawings of macro anatomical assemblies
3)Upper Extremity Muscle Atlas
4)eMedicine, Hand and nerve compression syndrome overview
5)National Institutes of Health, NIH Reference Site
6)Acu-cell, Nutritional causes of muscle spasms and cramps
7)Acu-cell, nutritional mineral ratio primer
8)The Med-Com Resource, Acupuncture primer
9)The Meridian System and the Mechanism of Acupuncture, Article on acupuncture research
Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities
Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities has 50 remote-ready activities, which work for either your classroom or remote teaching.
About Student Papers
| This paper reflects the research and thoughts of a student at the time the paper was written for a course at Bryn Mawr College. Like other materials on Serendip, it is not intended to be "authoritative" but rather to help others further develop their own explorations. Web links were active as of the time the paper was posted but are not updated. |
What's New? Subscribe to Serendip Studio
A Random Walk
New Topics
-
1 week 3 days ago
-
1 week 6 days ago
-
1 week 6 days ago
-
2 weeks 12 hours ago
-
2 weeks 12 hours ago
Comments
So glad I found this page
I am a 39-year-old woman, and I've had fasciculations on and off since I was a teenager. Back in the spring I finally had an examination by a neurologist. I must say, he was very thorough and took my problem seriously, which was a huge relief as my GP had been quite dismissive of my concerns. But my exam was perfectly normal - I do not have MS, ALS, or any other neurological disorder. I am on the waiting list for an MRI just to be on the safe side, but he is expecting it to be normal (as am I, but I still would like it done just in case).
For what it's worth, I am not convinced that there is a cut-and-dried correlation between one's lifestyle and these symptoms. I've had attacks at so many different periods of my life - times when I ate well and times when I didn't, times when I was more stressed and times when I was less stressed...... I have never been able to determine any relationship between my attacks and my stress level, caffeine intake, meds or nutrition..... the problem continues to be annoyingly random and unpredictable. My general health is quite is good, and I have no other serious medical issues.
My biggest problem is that, when I get an attack, it prevents me from sleeping - I can see that I am not alone in this! But I have found one strategy that seems to help: a vibrating massager applied to the twitching muscle can sometimes get it to subside long enough so that I can fall asleep. I'm not sure if the vibrations numb out the muscle/nerve somehow, or if it simply distracts me from the sensation of the twitching..... I have an Obusform pad, the kind you put on a chair or on a car seat; I put it on the bed and go to bed lying on top of it, so that it is directly underneath whatever part of me is twitching (most commonly, it is my left upper arm). And it will allow me to fall asleep, so that I don't end up with massive sleep deprivation on top of the annoyance of the twitching. Before I found this solution, I thought the insomnia was going to make me crazy......
My Experience, Food allergies, Etc.
Hello everyone,
Sorry about your twitches...and mine.
Mine started several months ago. At the time I was exercising a lot- running daily. I read that that Benign Twitching Syndrome or whatever it is called, is often brought on by exercise or stres....I have both. I was also suffering from what seems to be food allergies (I have been food allergic for about 10 years where it has been very difficult).
I really think mine are caused by food allergies, although I googled it a lot and they can also be related to epilepsy, and blood sugar problems. Due to this I am eating a very well portioned diet.... just to make sure....very light on grains.
(I avoid wheat and corn anyway)
It HAS helped.
My other main symptoms are my mouth/ chin feel puffy after some meals...and I get nerve sensation in my feet. My joints have occassionally cracked off and on for years- food allergies again.
I truly think mine is cause by Candida. That is yeast overgrowth and worth Googling. MY tongue is white showing yeast overgrowth... and has been for years- i think this is causing my symptoms/ body to be more off balance.
My symptoms do seem to alternate from one to another- why I believe food allergies and candida play a part. They are not constant...I usually have one or another.
Right now after eating my muscles twitched, now I am having some aicd indigestion.
Since twitches started I take magnesium, calcium, and omega oils.
DON'T DISCOUNT FOOD ALLERGIES.
Twitching Sucks!!!
I'm twitching right now, as I write this. I'm under a lot of stress and I have not had much sleep. I drink a lot of coffee in the morning to wake up from not sleeping well the night before. I haven't excercised like I usually do and I've recently resorted to tylenol P.M. which is obviously not working at the moment because I'm up writing this letter. I'm hoping after this huge project is over on Saturday, I will be able to chill out and sleep again. I'll keep you posted. I take vitamins, perhaps not the right ones. I go to the chiropractor, eat, pretty healthy and usually excercise. but my stress level has been very high lately. I do feel better about my right arm twitching since I found this sight.....Thanks for the letters of understanding, maybe now I can sleep just knowing there are others out there twitching!!!!
I have the same problem with
I have the same problem with a twitch in the my left upper-arm. Its odd because the muscle will twitch but nothing else will move, what is the muscle for if it doesn't cause anything to move?
twitch
I have had a twitch forever, so i went to the doctor, and he said that it's probably nothing, even though it's happened for years. What do i do, should i get help from someone else, or is it nothing?
arm twitching!
my left upper arm has been twitching for 3 days now. have been reading alot of the posts and all seems relevent. have had alot of exams recently and have a caffine addiction. diet isn't too good either!
Arm Twitching!
Hey! My upper right arm has been twitching for 2 months now..and its driving me crazy! It's 3am and I cannot sleep.
It started out to no where...i get the same sleep,exercise, and diet as I've always had. Nothing changed in my life. I usually last for hours. I notice it through out the day but mainly at night. I have tried Ben Gay thinking it will calm the muscles-doesn't work. I've tried getting more vitamins, doesn't work.
A friend suggested muscle relaxers- anyone tried those yet??
-Sleepless in Texas
So long
My left arm (and virtually everything else at random intervals, but my left arm continuously and seemingly perpetually) has been twitching for about 2 months now. just wanted to share my experience with everyone else. My arm won't stop, nothing helps. Ice, heat, hitting, resting heavy objects on the effected area seem to have no effect. I'm going to a doctor soon. I'll let you guys know what I dig up.
lower thigh twitching!
I could barely sleep last night because my lower thigh was twitching so much, and it has continued all day!
It doesn't hurt, but it is annoying me like crazy!
It seems to calm down if I stretch out a bit, but not long after that it starts up again. I've never had twitching last this long and it is soo annoying.
Any advice?
I have that same problem ( But in my Thigh only)
This happens almost everyday it seems like whenever I'm drinking coffee or when I'm depressed about something my twitching of the nerve starts to happen it don't hurt it just bothers the hell out of me when I get up to walk or when I go to sit down my left thigh still continuesly twitches.I mean does my thight even twitch at all.Can anyone tell me why does these twitches keep on happening?I don't like it whenever my left thigh twitches.Please respond back to this message.
Left Thigh Twitching vaughsly:
My left thigh didn't start out twitching since lastnight.But of all things my left thigh did this morning.Like for hours & hours.But it never hurt me though.It just bothers me when I can't find away to have my left thigh stop twitching.If for any reason could any one out there could tell me how to stop these twitches.I hate to just have those just so often.Please reply back to this message if any.
I have had a twitch in both
I have had a twitch in both arms and my eyes for many years. SO long I can control if i want to use them. Too bad it is pretty much impossible for me not to. It is strange, and i am kinda scared. It also looks kinda weird. Have you ever seen someones eye(s) constantly twitching? I need help.
I have had the same thing i
I have had the same thing
i think it is cause of strenuous efforts from the arm generally from the previous day. i went to a dance last night and today my arm is twitching. it also might be cuz its sore...?
Just frustrated
I have been having twitching in my left forearm since May and went to a neurologist because I was having migraines also. He says they are not related at all and he is not concerned about the twitching. I called it a spasm, he called it a twitch..whatever..he is not concerned but i am. my arm is tired! its almost like I have been working out my left arm non stop. it does not feel weak just tired. I want the twitch to go away...
:(
Left arm twitch
This page was such a relief to find. I woke up a few days ago with what I thought was a pinched nerve in my neck. Ironically, the muscle opposite my left elbow has been twitching on and off the past two days. I never made the connection before. I also deal with a lot of stress, drink a lot of caffeine, and get less sleep than I should, not to mention my diet probably isn't where it should be. I guess my symptoms are excused. :P Thanks everyone!
Twitching perhaps caused by meds?
I have been twitching for almost 2 weeks. The most annoying one is on my right bicep, sometime it feels like it wants to jump out the arm. To be on the safe side I had an MRI this morning and had blood drawn out yesterday. I will have results tomorrow and trust me I'm scared because you start thinking about diseases..
I started to think what could have possibly causes these twitches. I know I was taking Benadryl almost on a nightly basis for about 2 or 3 weeks for my allergies and because it made me sleep good. But now I am finding out that Benadryl (Diphenhydramine)may have started these twitches. I'm hoping this is at least the root cause becuase I did not start twitching until maybe 1 week later after I stop taking Benadryl. At the same time I was also taking Questran for my IBS. I also read that Questran has a side effect that can prevent your body from absorbing Vitamin E so I stopped taking all these meds. I have been off these meds for about1 week and still have the twitches. I did start taking multivtamins and Magnesium 500m daily and I believe it is helping. I hope this info can help someone.
Right arm twitching
I too have the same to similar symptons of right arm twitches. It started three days ago. It isn't painful, but irritating. You can even see it twitch through my clothes.
I've had some LEFT arm injuries in the past, so my LEFT shoulder and blade are always in constant pain. Sometimes the weather intensifies the pain, sometimes it's brought about riding in the car too long, other times it just hurts for no reason. I've experienced pain, numbness and burning on my left arm, which extends to my lower left back, and front chest area. I'm in excrutiating pain as I am typing. BUT, now my right arm started to twitch. Could it be related? Who knows? Dr's say they think my left shoulder problems are due to nerve injuries in my neck. But can never do anything to alleviate the pain.
I don't know if my diet is deficient in anything...I do know I don't sleep nearly what I should be sleeping, bordering on insomnia. The only common denominator. I'm a little nervous, about the ALS/MS diagnoses. Should I be?
Twitching in my right arm muscle
I have the same twitch in my right arm. Only started today.Comes and goes. I am 36 years old and I really dont understand what is going on. I am fit and eat well. It would be great to get some solid facts about this problem. I guess we really dont understand why, even doctors dont know alot about the human body.
If it was diet and sleep related why have I not experienced this before??
About 2 years ago I had blurred vision on in my right eye that made it impossible to see anything useful out of that eye. I got got used to it and my body adapted to this. So what I am saying is that I could see out of my eye but it was all distorted with snowflakes. I got used to this and I think my brain adjusted to this loss of 3d vision. I had to turn my head at roundabouts when driving.
It was very fustrating trying to read a book as everything was scrambelled.
***************************************************************************
One night I was trying to read harry potter to my son and suddenly everything became clear in my vision. I swear there was a schreeching sound when this happened but who knows. I was screaming "I CAN SEE AGAIN" This was a very emotional moment for me and I cried tears of joy and sadness as I did not understand.
Now I cant explain what happened but all I know is that miracles happen.
******************************************************************************
Why do I have problems with my right side of the body?. The vision right eye thing and now this twitching. The only thing I can pin it down to is FLOUROESENT LIGHTS and LCD SCREENS. That is the only change that has been present in the last 3 months that has been different in my lifestyle.
DON'T REALLY THINK THIS WILL HELP ANYBODY BUT HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET SOME ANSWERS SOON.
READ DAN'S POST AGAIN...above
Everyone seems to be missing his post. He is correct -- it can be due to several different vitamin or mineral deficiencies: calcium, magnesium, potassium, SODIUM, (yes, you can actually be low in sodium if your adrenal glands are exhausted from too much STRESS), but also iron, manganese, vitamin e, essential fatty acids, etc..
AND VERY IMPORTANT: Your blood tests can come back as "normal", but you could still be low in calcium or magnesium (just to mention two).
Red blood cell magnesium is a very unreliable test -- it doesn't show if the magnesium is entering the cell.
And the calcium blood test is also almost completely worthless: if your blood calcium runs too low, calcium is pulled from the bones to help raise levels.
It's definitely not the result of a drug deficiency.
Hope this helps,
Kelly
Interesting
Put me down as another one having these same twitching symptoms. I distinctly remember the first time it happened. I was sitting in a class in college and all of sudden my left arm in the tricep area spasmed like 4 or 5 times over the course of maybe 10 seconds. It was so weird but at the time I attributed it to my recent lack of exercise.
It's now about 8 years later and while I don't get that arm spasm very often anymore I have many very tiny twitches all over my body. It's been happening for years and seems to be mostly my legs. The level of activity comes and goes but definitely seems more active when I have been exercising regularly. Also at night it's either just more noticeable or actually more active. It's something I've learned to kind of block out but I want to see a doctor about it just to make sure it's nothing more serious.
I'm wondering if habitual use of caffeine over time could cause this. I have been a coffee drinker since about the age of 14, with brief periods where I drank none. Most of my life I have been a habitual user. I'm thinking about completely stopping now just to see if the twitching subsides but I expect it could take a long time to see results. The withdrawls from caffeine are horrible and could easily last two weeks, and I have read elsewhere that it can take up to 6 months for a "full recovery."
The weird thing is that yesterday I went the whole day without a sip of coffee because I had "decided" I was going to quit. So by mid afternoon a had a full on headache and was feeling tired most of the day. I ended up going to bed early because of the headache and just feeling crappy and I tossed and turned ALL NIGHT. It might have been my imagination but the twitching was more noticeable than ever. That really leads me to believe there is some connection with caffeine, but I have no way of knowing for sure. This morning I gave myself a small cup of coffee because I can't deal with the withdrawl symptoms right now. I resolve to kick the coffee habit sooner rather than later, though.
Whatever this is I'm pretty sure I did this to myself because as far as I know there is no family history of this sort of thing. I'm sort of a hypochondriac as well so I would like to have some of the more serious diseases ruled out.
Here's to hoping everyone is well!
Verdict: Can be cured with 3km swim
Hi,
So, I was saying...I had this twitch in my arm / shoulder for the whole night. It lasted about 13 hours. The whole night until lunch time.
I hit the pool and did a very hard session which resulted in just under 3km in one hour. Verdict... No more twitching.
For instant twitch removal go and hurt yourself with excercise. For lasting twitch removal just add veggies to your diet. Common sense.
Hi my name is Ryan, and I am
Hi my name is Ryan, and I am a twitcher.
My shoulder/arm has been twitching for about 9 hrs straight now. Ive never had this before but it sure is interesting. I do alot of intense swimming and gym training every day which has alot of effect on the arms. For me its just above the triceps/shoulder muscle on the back of my right shoulder.
I can confirm that my diet over the last year and a half has been quiet poor, really lacking vegetables and basic fibre foods. I have also been working very late nights until 1am sometimes.
Im gonna take the obvious patterns of this forum and implement them.
1) Eat some vegetables once a day
2) Find a magnesium / calcium rich source of food, and vitamin suppliment
3) Go to bed earlier
4) I am going to do a very intense 3km swim at lunch time and kill it
Ive got a feeling that number 4 should cure it, but I'll let you know after lunch.
can be a few things
pretty much everyone on here nailed the main reason why. I know for me,it my neck that is f**ked up, c-3 i think. but for me that is the main cause. becouase after it gets worse my vision will get really messed up, and i get sick and feel like dying. All thanks to my c-3 vertabra.!!! SO chances are it something like that. So if the twiching continues try a chiropractor as well as a doctor. Chiropractor wil cost less ( of course it depends on if you have a health insurance.) For example my arm has been twitching all day, I remember last night thinking that I was sleeping off and my neck is going to be messed up in the morning. Well its afternoon and my neck is messed up and arm twitching. As soon as I played around with my neck and poped thing back in place, it stopped! for now at least, Chiroprator here i come.
no other cause
I've had my own odd twitches lately - the other day a muscle in my butt would NOT stop twitching for basically an entire day. THAT was annoying. Tonight a muscle in my neck is being special. I take a multivitamin, drink soymilk and milk, and eat plenty of fruit (although I could use more vegetables). I don't get a ton of exercise, but that's no change, and my stress level hasn't really changed. I only drink 1 can of caffeinated soda per day (just Coke zero). Oh, and I take an anti-seizure medication for bipolar II, so I can promise that that won't cure you. Basically, there really isn't a good answer for why I'm having the twitches.
I've read some comments about doctors not taking the issue seriously, but the truth is that a health care provider must be discerning when treating any condition. What if you went in to see the doctor with a minor cough, and the first thing he started investigating was cancer - by doing MRIs, biopsies, and so forth... when really you have asthma. Unless a life-threatening condition is blatantly obvious or at least heavily suspicious, clinicians will treat it conservatively - going all out on every issue would overwhelm our health care system, thus blocking care to those who are most in need.
Sure, if your twitches are incessant, associated with wasting, and/or significantly interfere with your daily functioning, then your doc will probably take it a little more seriously than a case like mine, where I have sporadic self-resolving twitching spells (lasting a few hours to a couple of days) in different locations. Yes, it's annoying. Sometimes mine even hurt. But I think everyone gets twitches just like everyone gets pimples.
MAYBE IT'S THE RAIN.
This is hilarious! I am in my thirties and have been twitching since I was about 7 or 8. I never met anyone who suffered from the same thing other than unrelated stories I heard about twitching eyelids. I vaguely remember that being the starting point for my twitching. But it turned into so much more and Matthew described it to a tee. I have had every part of my body twitch at some point or another, and especially as a youth would find myself contorting, creating contraptions, beating, and talking to my twitching muscles for them to stop. And as many of you have noted, doctors don't seem to take this seriously.
It seems now that this twitching has taken on its own personality and has become its own person. There are not enough words to describe the things I have gone through with it. Finding out there are others out there is comforting. It may be comforting to you all to know that after so long it seems that either I am getting less annoyed, or they happen less frequently, or a little bit of both. I know I don't I get stressed over it as much, and maybe as a result they have lessened.
The funny thing is (and you may laugh) my mom used to say that her mom used to tell her that when your body twitches that it means it is going to rain. And for many years to some degree this seemed to hold true. Twitching for me seemed to trigger a day or so before it rained. I have heard that many animals have a way of knowing when rain is coming and physically predicting other events in nature. Maybe there is some truth in that. Anyways, as I type this my left elbow lightly quivers and I just have to say, hello my fellow twitchers, glad to know you are all out there with me.
TreV
RE: Maybe it's the rain
hmm, if this turns out to be the case, perhaps fleeing to sunnier climes is the answer..... certainly not going to get better in Sunny South Wales, lol
As so many have said before, it's the eye twitching that's the most annoying as folks always seem to think you're winking at them - I've taken to holding the offending eyelid during conversations, though this does cause minor "eye leakage" (tears) for some bizarre reason!
Isn't the human body wonderful!
Ged
A cure to twitching muscle-acupunture
HI, twitchers.
Recently i also experience the same thing in my left deltoid (a muscle at the center).
Why not try acupuncture? It may work for you as it work for me:)
Twitching too!!!
twitching
Hi muscle twitchers
I think every single muscle in my body had twitched during last month.. My muscles started twitching on June 13, 2008. at that time I had a cold and Asthma(but I was not taking any medications). first, I felt very weak then the muscle twitch started. it is been a month now and I am still twitching. I saw my DR who referred me to a neurolgist. the neurologist told me the same thing you all know. he said it might be stress or defficency in some minerals but the blood test came normal plus I am not stressed. I tried everything to stop it but nothing helped. I reached a dead end but at that dead end I found all of you to support me and calm me down. I am so glad to know that i am not alone. you have a good night and funny twitches
Twitching
Twitching in my upper right arm started 8 days ago. Will twitch about once an hour for a few seconds, it drives my crazy! Of course, ALS was the first thing I thought of... my great friend was diagnosed with ALS several years ago... started with twitching in his right forearm.
Thanks to all who've posted that they have similiar problems and discovered it was a dietary/stress issue. I pray that mine is the same. If it doesn't subside, I will see a MD and discover what the twitching actually stems from... but of course, I am scared.
Please let me know how I can determine if this is a cal/mag issue or stress related issue as I surely don't know what to do. The twitching drives me crazy and I am under a lot of stress lately. I sure could use a true medical opinion. Thanks for your help.
you need to have a blood
you need to have a blood test done
have MS, and twitching
i have a pretty benign relapsing-remitting MS since over 6 years. My only symptom till a few weeks back was some neuropathic pain in my feet. But for a while now, I am having the muscles in my forearm twitching, and since a couple of weeks, one of my eyelids twitches continually number of times a day.
My neurologist, who i met before the eye-twitch started, has scheduled me for a EMG test. I am hoping that it is just another of those strange and minor symptoms that MS-ers might report off and on...
Twitching
Check out the info on Benign fasciculation syndrome. It involves twitching, pins and needles and anxiety usually about health related problems. This has similar symtoms of ALS, MS and a couple of other disorders. I too am twitching in my fingers, arm, leg, and have pins and needles and migrating numbness and terified it's something else, but this info helped ease my fears.
twitching in fore arm
I have had steady right fore arm twitching for about 3 weeks. It is maddening. I also have a "restless leg" feeling slight pins and needles in my arms occasionally. I am physically fit and get moderate exercise. I feel like I just worked out... not to exhaustion... but energetic with a heightened nerve sensation. Any ideas?
Why Is My Arm Twitching!?
I have been seeing my internist for muscle twitching in my upper left arm for the last few weeks. It is possible that the symptoms described by others for me at least, is being caused by my cholesteral lowering medication. It appears that this is a negative symptom of the drug. We are still trying to diagnose the problem. There is no pain and yes, it is quite annoying!
Twitching
Twitching can be from misaligned vertebre in the spine. A chiropractor might be able to help in such a situation.
I've had twitches here and there for my entire life (I'm 51) so I don't think it's a serious thing.
I have been twitching for
I have been twitching for about a year now it started when me and my boyfriend broke up last year. i figured it was just some stress from the break up but we are back together and i am still twitching. I twitch every single day and it is Very very annoying. It happens in my calf my thighs my legs, feet arms stomach and back. Also whenever i tap my palm it jumps. I would really like some help i dont want to live the rest of my life like this HELP
same symptoms
yeah, all of this happens to me too... it usually starts after i do a workout or change my diet and i'm under a lot of stress. my grandpa died of ALS (lou gehrig's disease), so as soon as i found out muscle twitching was a symptom, i immediately thought that was what i had. even when my twitching went away, if i read an article about ALS i would get all stressed out and then i would start twitching again. ha, it's a vicious cycle! but yeah, i'm just a big hypochondriac. mine usually just goes away after a week at the most, sometimes just after a day. and the twitching has occurred on my back, my eyelid, near my knee, and on my bicep. i swim a mile and a half every day and probably don't eat enough... good luck everyone! i take some comfort in knowing that it's not something that just happens to me.
Twitching arm!
At least I am not alone- this woke me up the other night....I do have carpal tunnel syndrome, and I usually wear braces on both hands at night when symptoms are bad...When I moved recently, I lost my left brace...but that wrist really hasn't bothered me, so I figured "No Big Deal", I'd just wear the right & I'd be fine...
We'll since I've been wearing the right only, my left upper arm, on the outside, right below the shoulder developed a twitch. It comes and goes, it doesn't hurt, but it is quite annoying. It is VERY visible...It was so bothersome, that it woke me from a dead sleep the other night. I was having a dream that someone was shaking me-and woke up w/ my arm twitching...lasted close to an hour...
It is twitching as I type...
I recently went on a diet, I added fruit BACK into my diet...cut down on the garbage & started w/ portion control. Stress is there, but no more than usual...caffiene intake is 2 cups a day...
Maybe my body is rejecting the fruit? By acting out in my arm? LOL
I guess it is associated w/ Carpal Tunnel as suggested above. I too, also have problems w/ my spine- herniated discs in C3 & C4... along w/ sciatica...
still twitching.... arrrghhh!
Glad I am not alone...that out there somewhere, all of you are twitching with me! Good luck to everyone-
twitching neck!!
i have twitching in my neck and its driving me crazy!
Its only a very slight twiching causing my head to move
a little bit.
I went to the doctors and they thought i had low calcium
levels so i had a blood test but they say its fine.
Im going to get a second opinion soon, hopefully they
know what it is!
Exact same symptoms
It’s good to see so many accurate reports.
I have had the same thing from time to time (over years) never noticing it for more than a few hours at a time off and on for for a few days or so. Usually the same muscles for each group of episodes sometimes spreading or changing. Sometimes moving or rubbing or holding will help (not today!).
Are these particular muscles most susceptible? I used to get the eyelid a lot (always same eye - left side) Often right or left thigh (near knee), upper arm (right now -last night and today -driving me nuts.
I would say for me it is likely stress, maybe caffeine (i had been off for a while and had a little recently), i am very tired - not sleeping well i guess. Diet is not great, but fairly static.
Exact same symptoms down to the location
I have had spasms in the same locations as yours the eye and arm, my left arm in the exact spot that was described, and my eye has been twitching as well. I too thought it must be caffeine or stress. This makes me wonder.
Exercise and Rest
As is everyone here, I've also been having muscle twitches, and for the last 6 months of so they've always been in my left hand, controlling either my forefinger, my little finger, or my thumb. It makes it even more annoying when my finger moves, and it freaks my friends out too!
Anyway, I've been having them for years, and in almost every place of my body: hand, quad, arm, eyelid, calf, back...and actually over the years what I've found is that it normally starts up after a combination of lots of exercise and lack of sleep. Like last night I went to bed at 4 am and the muscle controlling my index finger has not stopped. And yes, I bet it is due also to a lack of potassium and magnesium, but I tell you that my diet hasn't changed much so that's how I know it's because of exercise and lack of sleep.
So if you go to the gym and work out hard, then make sure you get more than enough sleep.
You may be right. I have
You may be right. I have been working out 5 days a week for a few months and have noticed an increase in cramps and muscle twitchng. Espically in my right arm. I have only been getting 5-6 hours sleep per night. I go hard out when I work out.
Last night I went to sleep and woke up at 1am with twitching and cramps all over and a low heart beat rate.
I will try getting around atleast 7 hours sleep and see how that goes. As I type this, the muscle on the bottom left jaw is twitching like there is no tommorrow.
thanx everyone for your
thanx everyone for your advice. i have been going through minor twitching with my upper or lower eyelids, or legs, and one time, my cheek did it for a really long time. like it lifted itself up and then went back down. it gives me chill bumps to think of it cuz its so gross and annoying but it helps and goes away after eating pickles and bananas ( not toghether), but whenever you can. i guess the vitamins and whatever that is in them, helps with your nervous system to get it up and running again. hehe hope i save someone a good nite's rest:)
MANY CAUSES for twitching...
I have twitching off and on as well. Sometimes it goes away for years, but recently has been a problem again, mostly below the knees.
The medical term is called fasciculations, and the docs usually call them 'benign' fasciculations', even though they're annoying as hell.
They can be due to many different deficiencies: Vitamin D is a main one, b-12 is another, essential fatty acid imbalances, and then of course the usual suspects, calcium and/or magnesium and/or both.
Potassium deficiency is sometimes a cause of muscle twitching but if you've been under chronic stress for years -- your adrenal glands may be 'exhausted' or weak, and may have trouble regulating your electrolytes. There is a salivary test for adrenal function you can ask you doc for.
A good sign of this is if your potassium levels are high, but sodium is low, which is my case. So, taking calcium and magnesium MAY make the twitching worse, until the adrenals are stronger, but eating salty foods may actually help. Some people swear by dill pickles to stop these annoying twitches.
Also...low iron can cause these problems...but mainly it's an electrolyte issue, and could be weak adrenal function. And the best cure for that is...REST, and lowering your stress levels. Cutting out all caffeine (including sodas) helps a lot.
Hope this helps,
Dan
Twitching
Many of the twitches in the arms can be related to nerves being irritated in the spinal area. The nerves controlling your arms and hands are in the C1-C8 (cervical) part of the spine around your neck area. Try icing your neck area to see if this relieves any of the twitching. Nerves are being irritated somewhere in your neck area. If one is accustom to a Chiropractor see him/her and question them. Another possibility is Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. On on the extreme side see your physician and question symptoms for MS or other neurological disorders.
right arm twitch
My right arm has been twitching for about 2 years now. Recently the left started.
Also some wasting muscle waste. Yesterday I had an appointment with a neuro-
specialist. Who then, after A invasive group of test. In 20 minutes concluded
That I had A.L.S...I was and am horrified....please get it looked at.
twitching
hello
I am so sorry to hear about your diagnosis. how are you coping with it now? If you don't mind I would like to ask how symptoms started for you? My left arm started feeling tired and twitching about 9 months ago. I had nerve conduction and emg done which both came back normal. Between then and now I had severe postpartum depression and anxiety.. and cannot even remember much about how my arm felt during those months, my mind became my main worry. now just this past week my hands and feet started tingling / falling asleep for no reason, and the twitching has come back full force, from shoulder to hand. It feels buzzy and twitches inside are all i can think about. my hand also feels a bit stiff sometimes. I am so affraid of what this could be, it's consuming my life. I have two small children who I can't focus on and I will never get over my mental problems with this crap happening to my body. Can you share any thoughts / knowledge with me? I keep thinking that maybe the first exam was done too early and that what I have has progressed and will only get worse. I do not mean to bother you, I just need an honest opinion from someone other than a GP who dosn't seem to know anything. My family thinks I'm crazy. Please share any thoughts if you do not mind. Thank you so much. I wish you peace & happiness. Fran
I am so very sorry and sad
I am so very sorry and sad to hear about your diagnosis. Thank you for sharing it here. I have been ignoring worsening twitches, and now will make a doctors appointment, Best wishes going out to you!