BFS Survey

[Tobes]

1. Age
38
2. Gender
male
3. Race
european
4. Length of time you have been twitching?
4 months
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection)
tick bite around time of onset, stress
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders?
yes, GAD, several anxiety episodes in past, fears with strong health focus
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS?
no
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum?
yes
9. Body region most affected?
legs ...so far, it's constantly progressing, occasional twitches and short-term (several hours) hotspots just about everywhere
10. Most unusual area affected?
mouth

[fabina57]

1. Age
32
2. Gender
male
3. Race
european
4. Length of time you have been twitching?
8 months
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection)
stress period, baby, buy an house, new job,
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders?
yes, several anxiety since fasciculations began
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS?
no
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum?
yes
9. Body region most affected?
calves ...so far, it's constantly progressing, everywhere (not tongue)
10. Most unusual area affected?
deltoid

[pdodge715]

1. Age 26
2. Gender Male
3. Race Caucasian
4. Length of time you have been twitching? Just over 4 months
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection) Loads of stress, but most directly - a strenuous workout
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? Generalized Anxiety
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? Nothing directly related, but I have had GERD for 10+ years
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? GOD YES
9. Body region most affected? Lower legs, from about 8 inches above the knee on down
10. Most unusual area affected? Face (lips, tongue, nose, etc.)

[antslee]

1. Age 32
2. Gender Male
3. Race White
4. Length of time you have been twitching? 6 years
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. I was working out at the gym pretty much everyday - I put this down to being the trigger,
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? Generalised Anxiety. Particularly around not getting enough sleep
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? Nothing directly related, although I do suffer from insomnia
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? No
9. Body region most affected? Calfs, which are constant
10. Most unusual area affected? Tongue, Face, Stomach

[twitchsenc]

1. Age 31
2. Gender Male
3. Race Caucasian
4. Length of time you have been twitching? At least a year
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection) Loads of stress and anxiety
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? Anxiety
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? Not that I know of
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? Yes and first I was afraid of MS but now ALS
9. Body region most affected? Legs, but really everywhere on my body
10. Most unusual area affected? My face

[BuzzGirl]

1. Age - 39

2. Gender - Female

3. Race - Caucasian / Scottish

4. Length of time you have been twitching? - About 2 years

5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection) - Cannot be sure, no obvious events or illness just prior to my nerves going haywire. In hindsight though I do think that increased stress was a trigger.

6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? - Think I might be more anxious that I like to admit.

7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? - Maybe, I've only linked these conditions through much lurking on this site. I think I may have some form of Herpes virus (previous wart on hand) and my Raynaud's is possibly linked too.

8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? - Nope, for me it was MS fear.

9. Body region most affected? - Feet

10. Most unusual area affected? - I've come to realise that, to the tune of Tom Jones "It's not unusual to feel buzzing anywhere, da na na na na na, It's not unusual to have tingling anywhere, da na na na!"

[shankzy28]

1. Age - 22
4. Length of time you have been twitching? 2 years
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. - Extreme Anxiety and Panic
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? - Lots of Anxiety
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? - I'm quite unhealthy (obese)
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? - Yes. A mild one at first. A massive one right now (2 years later)
9. Body region most affected? Arms, Legs, hands, feet, face.. you name it.
10. Most unusual area affected? Chin

[udflfbajb]

1. Age -- 32.
2. Gender -- Male.
3. Race -- White.
4. Length of time you have been twitching? -- 3 months.
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection) -- Yes, infectious mononucleosis.
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? -- No.
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? -- Vitiligo (an autoimmune disorder).
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? -- Not really. My first symptom was paresthesia, so I was checked for MS (clean MRI) and Guillain-Barré (considered unlikely given symptoms).
9. Body region most affected? -- Calves.
10. Most unusual area affected? -- Fasciculations: nose (possibly nasalis muscle. Feels like fasciculations, but not visible to the eye). Paresthesia: Upper throat, *beep*.

[nrun90]

1. 22
2. Male
3. Caucasian
4. About one year
5. Not that I can recall
6. Anxiety
7. Hypothyroid/Low Vit. D
8. Yes, I have been on the ALS kick for about 2 months now
9. Left leg
10. Ear drum

[Adamk]

1. Age 31
2. Gender Male
3. Race White
4. Length of time you have been twitching? 6 weeks
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (lack of sleep, stress, possibly exercise)
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? YES! OCD ADD AND ANXIETY
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? NO
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? NO
9. Body region most affected? Left side of the body, mostly back and forarm
10. Most unusual area affected? stomach
Medications I am currently taking;
Ambien 8mg nightly, Trazodone, 50-100mg nightly, zoloft, 25mg daily.
Twitching is not constant and comes and goes depending on the day.

[cecsix]

First off, I'm new to the board, this is my first post after about a month of lurking and reading, literally, hours of information here. I really appreciate all of the people who contribute and help those of us who are freaking over these symptoms. Anyway, here are my answers:

1. Age.....38
2. Gender.....M
3. Race......Caucasian
4. Length of time you have been twitching?....... Roughly 5-6 months, at least that's when I first noticed the cell phone vibrating in my left foot, then it spread to twitching and fascics everywhere, especially after I ruled out MS and cancer and landed on you-know-what
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection).......... stress maybe, lots of life changes. moved to a new state, new job, new job and new school for my wife and kids, etc.
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders?....... I've suffered from HA in the past
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS?.......Not that I'm aware. Have had a ton of blood tests, brain MRI, cT scans, all normal. Also, normal neuro clincal exam, EMG is Thursday (wish me luck)
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum?......Yes, a few weeks ago I told my wife we should start planning for dealing with ALS and my impending death. She laughed and told me that she'd like to wait until I'm diagnosed. This board has made me feel a ton better. I still want to get the EMG, and I'm still worried, but at least I can eat and sleep at night, unlike a few weeks ago.
9. Body region most affected?---feet and calf muscles seem fairly constant. But I've had twitches bounce around just about everywhere you can imagine
10. Most unusual area affected? private parts and nose

Looking forward to (hopefully) a clean EMG Thursday so I can go back to living. I'm normally the life of the (middle aged married white guy with kids) party. My wife says she wants the old me back. And so do I.

[Itsimplymelc]

[quote="Guest"]Hi fellow BFSers,
I was thinking it might be interesting to start a survey about our individual experiences with BFS. It's totally unscientific, but maybe we can create a valuable pool of information for new BFS sufferers.
Please answer any of the following questions you feel are important.

1. Age 23
2. Gender f
3. Race caucasion
4. Length of time you have been twitching? 3 months
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection) tingling happened first six months ago
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? Yes
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? Fibromyalgia tmj
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? Yes
9. Body region most affected? Left side of body
10. Most unusual area affected? Scalp

[oncehossam]

1. 23
2. male
3. white
4. 3 months
5. I got an unknown viral infection before it all started
6. health anxiety but only occasionally (when i get any symptoms)
7. no
8. Yes
9. legs and anal
10. ears
Feel free to add more

[Josmo]

1. 26
2. Female
3. Caucasian
4. 2 months !
5.Hmmm I started getting panic attacks every day since march ( after I went off birth Control)low estrogens but now back on pills and still twitching ... 2 weeks before onset I went to acupuncture few times.....
6. Yes anxiety/ PA/stress
7. Had Shingles at age 12
8. Yes just starting.
9. All over first twitch was on my right foot ..... after a week all over
10. my hypothenar going crazy now when I stretch it and tongue too

[Tiber2011]

1. Age.....28
2. Gender.....M
3. Race......Caucasian
4. Length of time you have been twitching?....... 5-6 months HEAVILY. fasics in shoulder/arm area as far back as December
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection).......... possible infection, plus a terrible job change. Ugly stressful time.
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders?.......Depression, GAD
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS?.......Hypermobility
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum?......Yes, and MS. Still tossing those thoughts around, too.
9. Body region most affected?---originally it was the back and arms. Now it's the legs
10. Most unusual area affected? Groin area, face, fingers

3 blood work-ups, 3-part back MRI, 1 brain MRI, 2 EMGs, and a lot of lost sleep.