BFS Survey

[Kris61]

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

1. 45
2. Female
3. Caucasion
4. 2 months
5. Maybe backsurgery 8 months earlier
6. No
7. Herniated disc L5/S1
8. YES
9. Right calf
10.Every NEW twitch is unusual

I TWITCH 24/7

[Ron Gerritsen]

1. Age, 53
2. Gender, male
3. Race , Caucasian
4. Length of time you have been twitching? 8 months
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection). Father died okt 2006 and very stressfull time on my job
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? yep, hypochondria and OCD traits
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? All the way including preparing for depart.
9. Body region most affected? arch right foot, right elbow and "the muscle of the week"(that always varies)
10. Most unusual area affected? Non specific, it can occur everywhere.

[crzylegs]

1. 34
2. Male
3. White
4. 3 months
5. I had a sinus infection and huge anxiety issues, doctor put me on Lexapro.
6. Anxiety, I think the Lexapro might have something to do with it
7. No
8. Still am even after a EMG and neuro visit.
9. Arch of my right foot and toe 24/7. Calves, thighs, arms, nose, hand, arm, fingers, you name it, it twitches.
10. Last two fingers on right hand.
My foot sole feels a bit numb, like the nerve is damage, no clinical weakness anywhere.

[Lefty Canuck]

1. 42
2.male
3.White
4.5.5 months
5. had a sinus infection that didnt clear up and ENT doctor perscribed me prednisone 40 mg daily for 7 days, and week after that it appeared.my sinus infection appeared after a trip to florida and I had no symtoms other than smell distorted, a CT scan showed the infection. Two bouts of penicillen did not clear it. I would call this a viral infection. It eventually cleared (i think or I am still fighting it) with nasonnex spray that another ENT doctor perscribed, I think the first ENT screwed up and the prednisone damaged my adrenal gland and this twiching could be from a messed up hormone production system. I wish I had more medical knowledge to chase this.
6. no
7. sinus infection?
8. big time als scare
9. started in calves but has been every man.eyelids has been the most consistant.
10. I don't like the eyelid thing.

11. Like Beer.

Thanks, Lefty C

[crazyelvis]

1. 27
2. Male
3. White
4. 1 Year
5. I started getting twitches around the time I got a flu shot.
6. I suffer from PTSD
7. Perhaps PTSD.. I was also burnt in a fire about 4 years ago.
8. Kinda, I was searching for what was making me twitch. I went to the Dr. He took blood and I passed out. So you can imagine this sturred up MY PTSD and also made the twitching worse.
9. Calves
10. Ear Drums and Lip

[mikey35]

So, who is gonna compile all this info??

1. 35
2. Male
3. While
4. 8.5 months
5. Strees of Mom's friend dying, strees of contactin oral thrush (no idea what was going on with my mouth) Daughter went missing for 4 hours.
6. Not unitl now - anxiety...
7. It would be a guesss.
8. Yes -- now a family friend dying from it, but did not do any searching until 3 weeks into sudden body wide twitiching
9. Waxes and wanes, calves, arches of feet, face, cheeks, arms, neck, hands.
10. Nothing is unusal anmore....

[rogeriopaguilar]

1. 25
2. Male
3. White
4. almost a year
5. Yes, some kind of viral infection
6. No
7. I had a thyroid surgery some months before the infection and
I took quinilone antibiotic for this infection and I think it is somehow
related with the onset of twitches
8. Yes, I still have this fear.
9. Feet, calves, nowadays hands, arms...
10. Tongue

Some things that appear to help:

take chelated magnesium (600 mg) daily and E Vitamim (1000 MG) every day

[Moose]

1. 15
2. Male
3. White (Northern European decent)
4. 1.5 months
5. Sinus infection + travel stress at the same time
6. Panic Disorder/Anxiety
7. symptoms developed while on antibiotics, but I don't know.
8. No- too young to be scared about ALS. I have been freaked out about MS/brain tumors though.
9. Thighs
10. Eyes? as in visual symptoms

Full symptom list:
- muscle fasciculations all over
- tingling/crawling skin sensations (on scalp especially)
- pins and needles in hands and feet in the morning
- occasional numbness
- hot/cold feeling spots
- hand tremor, internal tremor, head tremor
- muscle soreness and cramping
- perceived clumsiness and weakness
- headaches of various types including head tenderness
- occasional dizziness
- tinnitus
- faint visual snow + floaters and stars
- symptoms associated with panic disorder (such as heart palpitations)

I'm sure you can see why this worries me.

[TattooedMommy]

1. Age - 28
2. Gender - female
3. Race - White
4. Length of time you have been twitching? Twitched one episode a year ago. Then maybe 7 months ago, then 3 weeks ago!
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection) Thats a toss up- had lexapro withdrawal then walking pneumonia @ same time.
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? YES and YES
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? Maybe Mitral Valve Prolapse
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? Yes I did.
9. Body region most affected? Buttox and legs.
10. Most unusual area affected? Private parts.
Feel free to add more - i have them head to toe, but seems that the legs have the most!

1. 31
2. Male
3. White
4. 11 months
5. It started right after I had the flu.
6. Anxiety Disorder
7. Mitral valve prolapse has been linked to anxiety. Maybe it is an aggrivating factor.
8. Most definitely
9. Calves
10. EardrumGuest

[joannela]

1. Age - 37
2. Gender - F
3. Race - Caucasian
4. Length of time you have been twitching? - 2 months (major twitching) - random twitches - as long as I can remember.
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection) - not that I know of
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? GAD
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? - benign vertigo maybe, none other that I'm aware of
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? Hell yeah
9. Body region most affected? legs and arms, but they appear allover
10. Most unusual area affected? lower abdomen
Feel free to add more

[Totto]

1. Age - 24
2. Gender - M
3. Race - Caucasian
4. Length of time you have been twitching? - 4-5 Months
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching. (i.e. viral infection)?
-It might have been due to not working out for a long time, when i used to work out heavily 4-5 times a week some months before the twitching started.
- Other possible factors might include lack of sleep, change in eating habits, more stressful days due job.
- I also went off nexium as a try-to-see-if-this helps-drug , due to long time throat issues, possible silent GERD.
- Got some sudden fever a couple months before twitching started, and noticed I was trembling not long after this fever. I think the twitching started after searching up trembling, and weird stiff-leg feeling and finding some info on ALS, i.e., reading about twitches.
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? Haven't been diagnosed with anything. I have had some weird stuff going on the last years that have made me anxious after searching on the Internet, i.e.throat -> throat cancer scare, molluscum-> HIV scare, and now this. I probably have a not-so-healthy case of health anxiety.
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS? None that i am aware of
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum? Absolutely, I am still quite scared of ALS and other non-benign causes of the twitching
9. Body region most affected? Mostly left arm/shoulder in the beginning, although lately my right arm, feet, legs, hands, stomach etc have become more common than before so not really sure any more.
10. Most unusual area affected? Throat and lip.

[BOSTER]

AGE-28
GENER-M
RACE-CAUCASION
LENGTH OF TIME TWITCHING-6 MONTHS
ALOT OF THINGS, STRESS,BAD DIET, TRAVEL, AND A VIRAL INFECTION
NO
NO
YOU BET, STILL DO, BUT NEARLY AS BAD
HERE AND THERE AND EVERYWHERE, EVERYDAY IS A NEW ADVENTURE
LIPS

[twitchydude]

AGE- 39
Gender - Male
Race - Caucasion
Length of Time Twitching - Just over two years
Was There Anything That Appeared To Trigger The Twitching - Not that I can pinpoint - They did start just
after spending a year in Iraq! Stress maybe?
Do You Have Any Anxiety Or OCD Disorders - I do now!
Any Other Medical Conditions That May Be Connected To BFS I have been diagnosed with PTSD
Did You Go Through The Typical ALS Scare So Common On This Forum - What do you did I? Still am!
Most unusual area affected - I have them everywhere, except my tongue

[Bart1]

1.AGE: 29
2.GENDER: MALE
3.RACE: caucasian
4.Length of time twitching: 5 months and 1 week
5.Trigger: no
6.now I have anxiety
7. nope
8 YES BIG TIME -STILL AM FREAKING OUT (between 1 week twitching and 1.5 months: 4 clean EMG, MRI brain and MRI spine. And still scared
9: calves 24/7 (70%), legs, feet, arms, chest
10: arms

[kobayashi]

1. 40
2. Male
3. Caucasian
4. Approximately 2 to 3 weeks.
5. Was there anything that appeared to trigger the twitching? Can't think of anything.
6. Do you have any Anxiety or OCD disorders? Anxiety is an understatement. Generalized all my life, but in 2000 in nearly cost me everything. Since then, it comes and goes. I am very lucky to have a loving and understanding GF.
7. Any other medical conditions that may be connected to BFS: Worst case of flu I ever experienced 7 weeks prior and a stomach virus 3 weeks after the flu.
8. Did you go through the typical ALS scare so common on this forum: Are you kidding?? Not a complete "come-apart", but definitely a partial one. Lucky that I am seeing a Neuro pretty quickly. But, reading through this tread makes me feel better. Wow! There are a LOT of people out there experiencing the same thing!

I have been in the dark hole of anxiety before and it can be excruciating. However, the more often you experience these events, your skills at coping become better.

9. Body region most affected? At first it was my left middle finger, but now mainly the calves on both legs
10. Most unusual area affected? buttocks, back of neck.