Physical anxiety symptoms - muscle twitches, cramps, weakness

Rubybleu · ‎02-03-2019

The past week or two I’ve been totally ruled by my health anxiety. I started having a weak feeling in my left hand and arm and something about MND came on TV and now of course I have MND. I’ve been experiencing muscle twitches and cramps/sore muscles, mainly in my calves and forearms. I saw my Dr in relation to this and he tested my reflexes, strength and pulses and all was fine. I keep trying to reason with myself but I just can’t shake this MND idea. It’s ridiculous. My Dr only prescribed medication to take when I’m having a really bad moment but the problem is I’m having these every day for most of the day.

Is anyone else experiencing this type of physical anxiety symptoms? This is all new to me as I’ve never experienced this type of anxiety before.

Boo90 · ‎08-09-2019

To be honest mine all did start after a high period of stress so I’m just putting it down to that and the added fact I already have health anxiety so I’m more aware of my body’s sensations. I’m going back to the doctor tomorrow to talk to her and see if that also helps me, iv booked in to also see a lady on CBT therapy as to my ways on dealing with my health anxiety, and hopefully after the 24th of this month I can let go of my fears and back to life (until it strikes me again) I agree that I have seen a lot and read a lot about it being an end symptom or a symptom that is also present with other symptoms, I watched this dude on YouTube who actually made me laugh as he went on about how we are stuffing our central nervous symptoms worrying about twitching, I repeatedly watch these over and over! Even tho I do feel like I have the other symptoms I just have to accept it’s either my anxiety or it’s what I fear and in either case at this present stage there is nothing I can do about it

44Max44 · ‎08-09-2019

I find that most if not all of my anxiety symptoms go away if I'm not thinking about them, and when I 'check' a particular symptom it usually magically re-appears if I wasn't feeling it beforehand.

Today I felt a new symptom, the back of my head/neck started to ache but I just put it off as neck pains because I was looking down at my phone a lot, and it only really hurt for maybe a couple of minutes and then went away when I took my mind off it, but that still doesn't make it any less worrying for me. Stupidly I googled the symptoms which just makes me feel worse and even tricks my brain into getting more symptoms that I read about... it's like placebo to the max.

I'm getting so tired of assuming the worst every time I feel any sort of pain or sensation, I just want to get a full-body scan or something so I can stop worrying but I wouldn't have a single clue how to get that done. Things I didn't even think about yesterday are my biggest worry today, and it's just an endless cycle. Trying to think rationally sometimes works, but it's hard to think rationally when you convince yourself that something is wrong with you.

It's pretty much an exact re-run of what I went through a few months ago, every single day I'd come up with something new to worry about, and I'd get all these different symptoms which I visited the GP for like over half a dozen times. It's so draining.

Boo90 · ‎08-09-2019

Hey 44max44 what have your symptoms been may I ask?

44Max44 · ‎08-09-2019

All of them or just the ones from today?

The ones from today were just a pain in the back of my neck, pretty much where the neck meets the skull, and it lasted maybe a couple of minutes. I didn't really have any other symptoms other than that.

However I've experienced: stomach pains, nausea, headaches, twitching, pins and needles in limbs, fatigue, insomnia, the sense of it being difficult to breathe, aches and pains pretty much anywhere around the body, jaw aches, a 'pressure/heat' sensation in the chest, heart palpitations, de-realization (felt like I was in a dream), and much more.

Boo90 · ‎08-09-2019

Oh ok, iv been experiencing twitching (fasiculation) I think they are called, started in the arch of my foot and then randomly in my arm and both legs even my back and stomach, the one in my foot seems to have subsided and the constant one in my calf on same leg.now it’s mainly my upper arms, I also wake really sore in my arms almost like while I’m sleeping I’m al tensed up or something, I’m a hair dresser part time and the other day noticed I could literally only fold like 3 capes and my arms ached and felt heavy, my upper thighs also feel heavy, so you think this could be anxiety? I have always had some sort of health anxiety, this is probably the worst episode tho, and I’m still convinced I have mnd even tho I’m 29. I just feel like alone or that my symptoms are too strong to be anxiety. I don’t know I just know between now and the 24th of this month when I go for nerve conduction studies I’m going to freak out. Have you found anything that helped with your twitching? Do you still get it?

44Max44 · ‎08-09-2019

I've found that magnesium works well for the twitching and also helps get you to sleep. You could also try drinking Gatorade or something similar as being low in electrolytes can cause muscle twitches and cramps.

I usually got twitching in my neck (my head would twitch to the side quickly), my legs, arms, and even eyelids... but since realizing that all these twitches were caused by my anxiety, they stopped. The magnesium I take every day probably helped out a lot too.

Just like you MND and other diseases similar to it are one of my biggest fears, and I'm only 20. I even have a weight in my room that is there for the sole reason so I can do a few sets of weights whenever I feel like I'm weak just to prove to myself that I'm not.

So to answer your question, yes it could just be anxiety causing all of that, but I'm not a doctor. I've found that there isn't a single thing anxiety can't make you feel, because if you convince yourself that you have something and then read up on symptoms, usually you start to feel the symptoms you read about. Because of this, I try my hardest not to google symptoms because it usually just makes it much worse.
I can also relate to how these symptoms can at times feel too 'strong' to just be anxiety. I was 100% convinced that I had something wrong with me a few months back and went to the GP about it and was ready for the bad news, but then the tests came back all clean, and the symptom that was so strong just a few days prior completely disappeared and I haven't felt it since... it's crazy what your own mind can trick you into thinking...

One thing I did that might work for you is I started trying to convince myself that my foot was hurting just to see if it would start to hurt, and lowe and behold, it started to hurt. Also, if I'm not feeling a symptom but check to see if I am feeling that symptom, it usually re-appears.

All in all, I'd recommend getting some magnesium and an electrolyte drink to see if that helps you out until the 27th.

All the best,
Max

Boo90 · ‎08-09-2019

I have been taking magnesium but thinking of starting to take 2 instead of one and also electrolytes. But I haven’t eaten in 8 days and iv actually lost 6 kilos so that wouldn’t be helping either, thanks for your reply’s! I hope you also find peace in your anxiety

take care 🙂

44Max44 · ‎09-09-2019

Eating something would definitely help! I find that when I haven't eaten enough I feel super weak and can even start shivering/shaking. If you can't eat because you get nausea I find that Up & Gos work really well because you just have to drink them, and they're full of vitamins and minerals.

Boo90 · ‎09-09-2019

Oh I actually never thought of that, my kids have them at times so I will give them a go, yea just can’t seem to stomach food because I have got myself into this convinced mode of having this terrible illness. It’s so stupid to most people but they aren’t the ones feeling it, I went to a hypo lady the other day and she did some tapping technique on me and I’m not sure if it worked if because I was wanting it to it felt like it did something, I keep telling myself if it was mnd I would have more symptoms or the twitching wouldn’t have left the areas it has and moved, but im no doctor and I feel like I’m fighting two minds at the moment

Amands · ‎05-10-2019

Thank you fir your posts, I recently joined after reading these posted.

5 weeks ago out of no where I started feeling weak in the legs which made me a little anxious the tingling in my fingers and legs, muscle twitches, tingling lips I went into a panic. Although I’d being seeing a physio as my muscles are so tight, now I know from stress, I panicked so much as I googled symptoms came up with MS and other diseases. I couldn’t eat for 3 weeks! I lost so much weight I worked, but I could not function couldnt make dinner for my family or anything. Finally went to the GP Started on anti depressant, after a week had to stop, made me sick. Happened to see another GP that was on said it’s my somatic nervous system from long stress my sympathetic nervous system has been in flight or flight mode for so long. I was getting hot and cold spots too. I’m eating again my symptoms have improved. The leg weaknes and tight muscles are improved. I started getting anxious again today now tingling and hot spots on my arm so it’s definitely anxiety .

i hope this information helps someone else, as I haven’t met anyone who’s experienced these symptoms .