I have been recently experiencing muscle twitching 24/7 and I finally found a doctor that told me the flat out truth. My untreated anxiety is causing psychosamatic symtopms. Basically I keep telling my body it is sick or something wrong and it responds to that. I am finally on meds and look forward to getting better for the year 2008.

There are millions like us, the anxiously impaired, though we are many, our fight is the exact same. We strive each day to learn to relax, breath and take what life has to throw at us with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, most of us cannot process the immense amounts of things we experience each day and the results are panic attacks and general "freak outs".

I have been suffering with anxiety for quite some time. It started after a car accident and sky rocketed from there. A few days after the accident I started to realize I could of died in that wreck and that scared me, though not right there, but my mind received a scare that it didn't like and began its "flight or fight" mode in which your body either chooses to fight what it is experiencing or flee (panic attacks/anxiety/heart attacks etc).

My body settled in its flee mode permanently for a year or so. I would get these extreme attacks that had me convinced I was dying of a heart attack or it was just seconds away. I was actually hospitalized for an attack, not because it didn't anything to me, but I was genuinely convinced I was going to die or was dying. I fell to the ground, grabbed my chest and felt my heart going rapidly out of control.

I had no idea what was going on so I couldn't calm myself. My family called the paramedics and basically watched me freak out on the ground because they didn't know what to do either. They paramedics came and almost immediately after they checked me, they kind of slowed their process because they realized I wasn't having a heart attack or experiencing anything life threatening. They asked if I smoked any drugs that night and I said yes, I had some marijuana.

I got up and walked myself to ambulance, something someone in physical danger couldn't do, sat there, waited for the ride to end, walked into the hospital, signed myself in and went to emergency. My doctor hooked me up to all these machines, my heart was still going nuts, so they gave me some baby aspirin and kept me on the machines till I settled.

Later I found out I had the attack because, naturally, marijuana raises your heart rate and I started to notice these things a head of time, so the moment I felt my heart racing that was it, full blown attack.

I've had a few big ones after that, but once I started to read up on the disorder, I started to understand and realize what the hell is going on. My attacks weren't as big any more and they started to decline. The doc put me on some clonazapam, only a few though because he said its hard to get off them if you have them regularly. So I had a few pills to assist me, which was good for awhile. They served their purpose. But I didn't want to be labeled as someone who was suffering from a mental disorder, which it is folks whether you agree or not, so I stopped them.

I had a few more attacks afterwards, but I realized even further that it was all mental. I read up on it some more and noticed that everyone was experiencing the same thing; pains or aches that they thought were something far worse, triggering the belief you are dying, then resulting in a full blown attack.

It (the disorder) removes our ability to rationalize. What is considered a general ache or pain to the next person, could mean life or death to us. But that is where we must stop the cycle. We must tell ourselves, no, this is not a heart attack or tumor or something of that nature. It is simply a growing pain, ache or general muscle pain from exertion.

I tested myself a few times. I tried to put myself into a situation that would send me into a frenzy. My panic triggered because I manifested my an ache in my chest and when it hit, naturally my mind went into its flee mode and the anxiety attack was coming in hard and fast. But I stopped, took several large deep breaths and it was gone. I found out that when we are about to have that attack or when that familiar feeling returns, we stop breathing. So when it happens, continue breathing. Stop what you are doing and take some deep breaths and you will see that the effects disappear returning you to your original state.

My personal tips for over coming anxiety, or at least calming it when it strikes:

1-breath. read up on how to breath from your stomach instead of your chest which can cause some discomfort and result in an attack later.

2-sleep regularly. i cannot stress this enough, your body needs sleep. one of the main causes of anxiety and high blood pressure is lack of sleep. your body needs to relax. take 3-4 naps a day of around 10 mins each if you can. if not, go to be early.

3-avoid caffeine. caffeine naturally increases your heart rate and blood flow and to someone suffering from anxiety this can be a nightmare especially if you are the type to think everything is dangerous to you especially a fast heart rate.

4-listen to relaxing music for 15 minutes a day. download some tantra-based or arabian music and just focus on breathing. when you feel the tingles, your body is working on trying to relax. keep the tingles flowing.

5-BREATH! i cannot stress this enough. anxiety sufferers are shallow breathers and dont even know it. if you know it, then train yourself to breath properly. your life will better as a result in all other areas.

6-exercise. i know, i know "my heart will race and i will freak out". but your heart must race once and awhile to develop and strengthen. start off by walking around your block and then move to running. or even do household chores. vacuuming your floor does a lot, as does sweeping.

7-do your research. google.com is your best friend. knowledge is power, but too much knowledge might cause another attack because you could find new symptoms your mind could manifest. the key is to understand that you manifest these things. your mind operates on infinite time, meaning it could take essentially no time at all to trigger a feeling or emotion. one second you could be reading, a pain strikes, next thing you know your mind thinks you are dying and your body reacts by fleeing and your attack is full blown by this time.

8-know that you are not alone. someone out there is experiencing the same thing you are or worse. it will ease your mind. its like a soldier on the battlefield. he may be scared to death, but to know his buddy next to him is going through the same thing and is experiencing the same fears, helps him cope and push on.

I hope this little novel I wrote here helps anyone who comes to the this forum in the future. Remember to breath and you will be fine.

In December 2007 I just finally figured out what was causing my muscle twitching that has been happening since April or May 2007. I was deficient in magnesium. That explains why my heart rate has been rapid and I have felt anxious, with tense muscles and unable to relax. My natural doctor said to take Calcium-Magnesium-Zinc by Solaray that was available in the health food store down the street. Magnesium has to be taken in a certain ratio with calcium.

I have done this and day by day it has decreased till I just got a couple twitches a day. I did the recommended dosage 3 twice a day for a bit then doubled that. At the appointment dr. said to go back down to regular dosage but then it came back because that wasn't enough and I am still borderline deficient. So she said 9 a day was ok for me. I would give this a try -- and make sure you have medical advice from someone qualified. I'm not a doctor. There are other reasons muscles can twitch but this is a common reason. Muscle twitching often indicates electrolyte issues which can be really serious. I was most alarmed when the twitching kept me up all night and when I felt quivering around my heart. This can lead to a heart attack if you are deficient enough in magnesium - so make sure you get some help for this.

With the muscle twitching about gone, I can make it come back full force by drinking too much water or by having honey or maple syrup or other carbs (it takes magnesium to control blood sugar and I have been carb intolerant for a long time). When the twitching was the worst, carbs would make my eyes bloodshot. Now it is helping that response so that is not happening nearly as much. A rapid heart rate accompanies lots of muscle twitching for me -- it wasn't till I drank a whole bunch of water and depleted my magnesium further that I figured this out.

Good luck! I hope you let me know if this put you on the right track to getting help. Show this to your doctor if you need to.

Alyssalyn

haha, I totally went off topic there. I too get muscle twitches, but I find it when my muscles are in strange positions. When I'm leaning on my left arm, my left pectorial muscle will spasm or one of the muscles in my arm will go nuts.

I take daily vitamins, omega-3 tablets and a blood pressure pill, but the spasms still remain. i find when i exercise they go away as well as when i stretch, they stop until my body is tensed up again.

with a combination of exercise and stretching, i can safely say your spasms or twitching will decrease significantly. unless, it is related to a magnesium shortage like the others mentioned.

ask yourself a few things when you experience them:

1-how much have i moved today?
2-does it happen only when im in this position?
3-do i stretch enough?
4-am i getting enough exercise?
5-am i drinking enough water.

Water is your friend. If you don't drink enough, your body will let you know. A spasm/twitch can also be a dehydration symptom. Your muscle will do a little dance to let you know it needs some nutrients and minerals.

hopefully that is helpful. just some stuff i discovered with my struggle with anxiety.

I have the same problem with the muscle twitching but i have decided to increase my sugar level and see if that helps i'll report back and let you all know how that went.

I too have had muscle twitching. Of course I've been worried that it's something awful....The twiching usually happens in my legs and arms but now it's in my stomach and I can't stand it anymore. It's hard to sleep. Went to the neuro and he did an EMG today, but he thinks it's nothing. I have just moved, lost my dog, (stress) and have had muscle twitching before and it's gone away. This time it's been happening for about 1 month. Has anyone had muscle twitching with more than 1 episode? I'm so tired of this. Has anyone tried Lexapro with any relief?

Magnesium is what you need, liquid is ideal or a citrate form.

I will try magnesium. Do I have to take it with calcium too?

Nope, you can certainly take a cal mag supplement but I would take additional magnesium on top of that.
If you are taking cal mag 2:1 ratio (meaning two parts calcium to one part Mag) you are likely getting 250 mg of calcium and 125 magnesium. Take 2-3 of those and add an extra 400 mg of Mag citrate before bed.
Otherwise I would take 2 x 400 mg mag citrate, once in the morning and once before bed. If you over-do it with Magnesium, you will get diarrhea so at that point cut back.

Hope that helps!

I have recently been experiencing muscle twitching all over. I have had anxiety issues in the past. Of course the first thing I did was go online and diagnose myself with ALS. That makes it worse because then you start to worry and that makes you have more anxiety and more symptoms. Nice to hear other people have has the same twitching and don't have a major disease. thanks !!!!

I am so relieved to find this forum. I have suffered from anxiety/depression for years, but have not had the latest symptoms which is muscle twitching. I was put on Wellbutrin in March of this year and that is when they started, just more intensely back then. I got off it after a week, but since then, I feel them especially at night. I even went to a neuro, had blood work, MRI of the brain, an EEG, an 24-hour EEG, and all were normal. The twitching had gotten better, but since weaning of Ambien for the past week or so, the twitching has returned and have really bad insomnia now because of it. Of all the side effects I’ve had, this is the most uncomfortable, even worse than palpitations and shortness of breath to me. I went to see a psychiatrist yesterday who put me on Lexapro and Clonazepam. I hope as the meds kick in, the twitching subsides with time.

I suffer mild anxiety and have been taking klonopin as need it. But since last week i notice that my thum finger started to have some twitching, got a little worry.

But after a few days now I have muscle twitching all over the body in different places. When to my GP and he recomended me to go in 10mg of prozac. I really do not want to, but I now take the klonopin and I see not much help easing the twitching. I am very worry that this will not go away.

I bought some calcium with magnesium pills and started to take them.. second day today but still do not see improvements.

I hope this goes away I am very strees out with this new symphtom.

thanks

hi everyone , my name is craig. this is the first time this happened to me. wed nite , icame home from work. around 5pm,. the upper left side of my body face especially, started twitching with no control on my part thru the course of the nite the twitching came backin sucession three times but going. my hear t was racing and i fast now and very scary, my roomate tookme to the emeregency room, they said that it def was not a seizure and can be a tic from stress and anxiet.y sent me home with valium. i went home took the medicidne tryed to re llax and twitching beame worse. went back to the er where i was admitted for 2 days and just release today. the neourgolist did an egg and brain scan, everyhing cam e back normal. iam not convinced, iam 45 years of age and this never happend to me. tomorrow iam following up with my primary dr to see if hen refer me for an mri , i need closure i myself think there is something wrong. please help, iknont know what else to do, thanks craig

hi iam 45 years of age and 2 nites ago out of no where my upper lert side of my body starting twitching thru the night got worse , went to t he ER whenthey said its a ticks from stress and axiety. sent me home with valium. did not work 6 hrs later went back to er snd was admitted, where they ran all types of test brain scan egg . everyhing came back normal. iam not convinced, it almost felt like a seizure. they said no sent mw home with valim which did not help. i was admitted the 2nd time but iam convinced its neurogical not stress. i will call my primary dr go see hom and request for an mri. to me this is frighting mystery dx and iam scared.anyone from advise thanks craig 45 please help ny ny

Hi, sorry to hear you feel so unwell. I had the same but i came off sweeteners ..look under sweetener warnings & MSG. Hope it helps!!!!

Hi,

I am new to this board but it definately hits home! I have "suffered" with anxiety and depression for approximately 18 years. I did not start taking medication until 4 months ago. I am really not sure if any of them have really worked (zoloft, wellbutrin). I now hacve a twitch in my left thumb, feeling very anxious. I do try to control it but it is very hard. I am a 48 year old male with a nice family (4 children); I hope none of them get it! My wife sometimes has a hard time trying to figure out why I get anxious and/or depressed, sometimes gets mad at me. I do tell her that if I could control it I would. I still maintain an active lifestyle (ie. work, kids sporting events, etc.) so I guess it is good that it does not get any worse. Thank you for listening, I will definately stay on this board if other people continue to comment, Dan

Might as well chime in...

I started getting anxious about ALS behind a sore wrist (dumb) in late October and within a few days I started getting frequent muscle twitches. That's when I got really freaked out.

When it got bad it would be several every minute... I would be watching TV with the GF and I'd say "there goes my calf... now my foot... hand... back... quad... hammy... butt."

They would usually stop the first time I flexed the muscle. If not, the second time would almost always stop them... Some were like a flutter, some were a few quick contractions, some (like the ones on the sides of my feet) felt like something moved under the skin.

Mostly, they were in my legs, but not a single muscle was spared. Even my tounge twitched a few times.

These days they are much less frequent. Maybe one or two a day, some days none. They are even weaker than they were before, so I'm not sure if I'm imagining them half the time.

The other day I got a "normal muscle twitch"... You know: the kind that don't quickly disappear and 'move around' to other parts of my body. It was in my shoulder and it persisted for hours on and off... till i took a Xanax.

It makes sense, since I've been lifting lately, that I would get a 'normal twitch', but it still freaked me out. The fact that the Xanax helped tells me that the anxiety made it worse.

I just got one in my lower neck, and before it freaked me out I decided to do a quick Google search of Anxiety Twitching just to remind myself how common this is. That's how I got here.

I still see a Psychiatrist who is now weaning me off the meds he gave me.

For the twitching I've tried Magnesium Supplements, Quinine, and Gatorade (electrolytes). I don't know if any worked, or if it was reducing the anxiety that did the trick.

For the anxiety I started with low dose Seroquel (Quetapine; up to 150mg per day at one point)and Xanax (1mg per day at one point), and now I'm taking low doses of Inderal (Propanolol) 20mg/day, Neurontin (Gabapentin) 200mg/day, and either Xanax (Alazopram; .125mg) or Ativan (Lorazepam .25mg) as needed.

As I was weaning off Seroquel the p-doc switched me to Riperdal (Risperidone), and that coincided with a return of anxiety, so I stopped taking it. I plan on taking 25mg of Seroquel for a few days because I'm afraid of going cold turkey on these meds.

I also take a bunch of supplements and herbs that have some clinical research for anxiety.

Kava Kava is the best one, it works for situational anxiety, and I recommend it to anyone with anxiety issues.

I mix the Kava extract with Passionflower and Skullcap extracts in a Lemon Balm Valerian "Tea for Tension" I buy online.

I also take Saint John's Wort and Inostiol in case my anxiety is caused by underlying depression or OCD respectively.

Finally, I occasionally take a cocktail of Melatonin / Tryptophan / 5-htp / Valerian for sleep. It works well, is non habit-forming, and there is research showing 5-htp / Tryptophan work for depression.

Oh yeah, I bought some Phenibut and Piratacem as there is strong evidence that the former works for situational anxiety, and the latter helps prevent an tolerance (which is a problem with these). Only took them once, and they seemed to work, but I may have just naturally chilled out.

I recommend HerbsPharm for the herbal extracts and HerbsPro.com for the shopping.

Hope this helps someone.

I'm almost certian it's just dehydration, but I have ADHD so I take adderall.

And one of the most common symptoms of adderall over dose is muscle twitching.

So I'm just very worried,

Just drink a ton of water and gateraid to replace electrolites

its pretty normal with anxiety and depression about 90% of people with anxiety and depression get this twitching sensation and what makes matters worse is that if you are always thinking about its not going to go away,anyways since ive seen all of the talking on here my twitching as gone away just feel good about yourself it always works!

Lately, and right now, even, my muscles have been seriously twitching. But mainly it's my thumb, at the moment, even as I type. It's kind of got me worried (yeah, i looked at the als page on wikipedia) even though it's probably just the ton of stress on me and lack of sleep and a combination of things. I need to relax but just can't...

*watches as her thumb continues to twitch*

Is there anything anyone recommends doing to help relax me about it?