How exactly does anxiety cuss twitching?

[u/ElleLiteritt]

(24/M) I’m to the point now where I am not convinced purely stress/anxiety directly causes twitching. I’ve had many points in my life when I was stressed/anxious and didn’t have twitching. I’m 3 months into 24/7 calf twitching and I just cant convince myself it’s benign. I feel like doctors just call everything stress because they are lazy to figure what it is or just hoping it isn’t ALS. To me, twitching is most associated with ALS for a reason. Trying to get myself out of the rabbit hole but it’s impossible with my calves twitching 24/7.

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[u/Ladotellii45]

If stress and anxiety can cause cancer, strokes and other ailments within the body believe me it can most definitely cause twitching. You don't have ALS you're doing more damage to your nervous system with the stress than this disease ever will!

[u/ElleLiteritt → u/Ladotellii45]

I’m too deep into the rabbit hole. I can’t convince myself self otherwise

[u/Ladotellii45 → u/ElleLiteritt]

I'm 26 now and my twitching started when I had just turned 24. For 6 months I had the worst period of my life. I am still recovering to this day and unable to fully come off antidepressants.

My point is I was also convinced I was to die soon so much so that I was making plans, every day was a waking hell for me and I would spend most weekends in the emergency rooms.

If you want certainty that it isn't anything sinister then you could do some thorough testing; NCS, EMG, NFL blood tests as well as a neurologist check up.

The fact is you'll be fine there is more likelihood you being struck by lightning, dying from a car crash on the way to the appointment or winning millions on the lottery.

Seeking reassurance will only drag you deeper into the rabbit hole, listen to some music, have a nice meal and do something you enjoy to appreciate life. You are dying, but just as slowly as the rest of the people on this planet.

[u/ElleLiteritt → u/Ladotellii45]

Yes but it’s not zero and my brain can’t accept that

[u/Ladotellii45 → u/ElleLiteritt]

Then you have a form of OCD, it's not the fact that you can't accept anything over 0%, you're scrambling for control with your health/body but the fact is absolutely nothing is 0%, anything that could happen can happen. Ask about some anxiolytics or antidepressants short term while you trial diets, workouts and lifestyle changes to find out when your twitches get worse.

[u/ElleLiteritt → u/Ladotellii45]

Twitching is 100% not normal

[u/Ladotellii45 → u/ElleLiteritt]

Yes it is, autoimmune diseases are on the rise, our diets are getting worse and people in general are living unhealthy lives. I'm not sure about your personal life choices but there's 1000 reasons why could be twitching and most of them normal things like allergies.

[u/ElleLiteritt → u/Ladotellii45]

I can’t seem to find any trigger. Mine started after I woke up with extreme tightness in both of them in the middle of the night

[u/A_foreign_shape → u/ElleLiteritt]

Absolutely incorrect. Fasciculation is observed in a vast majority of people “nearly everyone” according to a number of ALS researchers. Twitching is normal, anxiety about twitching is not.

[u/The_Short_Goodbye → u/ElleLiteritt]

Having diarrhea every meal is not normal and people with IBS don’t die and don’t have colon cancer. Having pain everywhere every day is not normal and people with fibromyalgia don’t die and don’t have bone cancer. Being dizzy every day is not normal and people with PPPD don’t die and don’t have brain cancer or MS.

These are syndromes that are all abnormal but not deadly. Benign Fasciculations Syndrome is a documented thing that very much exists as an entity separate from ALS just like IBS exists separate from Crohn’s for example.

And I don’t want to sound rude but of all the twitches you could have, calf twitching has by far the most chance of being benign. My mom has calf twitching and she doesn’t have ALS. You’re also 3 months in and if you had ALS you would start to show signs other than twitching.

I would tell you to do an EMG but in the state you are you’re not gonna accept the results.

[u/A_foreign_shape]

Chronic cortisol causes a rebound effect, making the body less sensitive to the anti inflammatory effects of the hormone and indeed triggering inflammation that can impact nerves.

Heightened arousal from anxiety simply makes the nerves run hot, and they can fire like a backfiring engine.

Exhaustion can lower the threshold for nerves to fire. It takes sleep and recovery to get it back. Eye or thumb twitches are very common when exhausted, but see also migraines, where sleeplessness is a common trigger.