Muscle spasms. [no spam]

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:39 am

What's the longest you ever had a single muscle or even groups in any part of your body erratically twitch on you? The heart, intestinal muscles, etc also included.

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:50 am

I would think that if your heart started to "erratically twitch" you would be in intensive care or dead pretty quickly.:laugh:

This has to be amongst the weirdest questions I've ever seen on SYM, and that's pretty far out there.

Okay, my right eyelid twitched for a full day once. I don't know what the term for it is in English, but it's pretty normal.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:00 am

Moonbiter wrote:This has to be amongst the weirdest questions I've ever seen on SYM, and that's pretty far out there.

Thanks, I try. But I do seriously want to know.

Aegir · Post by **Aegir** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:34 am

It depends what you mean, having been above the arctic circle and such i have had a shaking body for a few hours at a time.

other than that i just had a muscle in my right arm twitch 5-10 min

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:38 am

I once had the muscles in my foot/ankle area spasm for over an hour. It was excruciatingly painful, and the only thing that eventually stopped it was an icepack.

Jimwth · Post by **Jimwth** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:34 am

Moonbiter wrote: Okay, my right eyelid twitched for a full day once. I don't know what the term for it is in English, but it's pretty normal.

My eyelid (don't remember which one) twitched for a week once and maybe even longer. I wanted to tear it off, really... I'm not sure if it was twitching while I was asleep though.

Fiberfar · Post by **Fiberfar** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:51 am

Left eyelid for six hours.

@ Moonbiter: According to wiki, it's called fasciculation

C-K'R[PhoEniX] · Post by **C-K'R[PhoEniX]** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:52 am

Like many before me in this thread, I have also had problems with that nasty twitching eyelid. Other than that, seeing how I go to gym regularly I've pretty much experienced muscle spasms in almost every one of muscles, though most frequently in the thighs and chest, sometimes shoulders. I don't think it ever lasted more than a day.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 2:24 pm

I've experienced moderately twitchy muscles before after exercising or during the morning (or day) after I went on a drinking binge. Nothing remarkable. Around August I visited the Dutch Naval Museum in Den Helder and while inspecting the interiors of a '50 Destroyer, I hit my head against a low bulkhead roughly three centimeters above my right brow. The blow was hard and the area was small. I checked myself out for any signs of a mild concussion, but there were none. I remained attentive of my head for the remainder of that day, but nothing seemed to be wrong.

Two days later I noticed I a twitch around the area between my eyelid and my eyebrow, and slightly above the brow as well, but still centimeters from the point where I had hit my head. I didn't immediately connect it to the blow I suffered to my head and it ended up twitching continuously for five days straight. Then, very often for maybe two to three months. I had at that point already gone to my physician, but after testing the area for insensitiveness she determined that.. well, that she didn't know what was wrong, but she didn't think I had suffered damage to my brain. She actually told me to tell her if I should find some information in the ways of a treatment on the Internet, I kid you not. I replied that, in advance of the appointment, I had read about botox treatments to paralyze the muscles in certain cases of continuous muscle spasms, but none involved eye muscles. It seemed like a bad idea. She then told me that she would look into it herself, and that she would call me if she found anything. And I was to just wait it out and maybe come back around 2009 if nothing would change for the better.

So, a few more months pass and my 'condition' slightly improves. I've also grown kind of used to it in a strange way, I don't always notice it immediately. I tend to unconsciously rub the area where it twitches and I have to 'pick up' on the act. However, when it starts it usually sticks around for maybe half a day during which it becomes increasingly hard to focus on anything. I'd say this still happens two to three times a week. It's not painful or terribly annoying, it just breaks my concentration. I'd like to get it fixed, but I doubt my physician will be able to tell me anything new.

C-K'R[PhoEniX] · Post by **C-K'R[PhoEniX]** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:27 pm

Tricky wrote:I've experienced moderately twitchy muscles before after exercising or during the morning (or day) after I went on a drinking binge. Nothing remarkable. Around August I visited the Dutch Naval Museum in Den Helder and while inspecting the interiors of a '50 Destroyer, I hit my head against a low bulkhead roughly three centimeters above my right brow. The blow was hard and the area was small. I checked myself out for any signs of a mild concussion, but there were none. I remained attentive of my head for the remainder of that day, but nothing seemed to be wrong.

Two days later I noticed I a twitch around the area between my eyelid and my eyebrow, and slightly above the brow as well, but still centimeters from the point where I had hit my head. I didn't immediately connect it to the blow I suffered to my head and it ended up twitching continuously for five days straight. Then, very often for maybe two to three months. I had at that point already gone to my physician, but after testing the area for insensitiveness she determined that.. well, that she didn't know what was wrong, but she didn't think I had suffered damage to my brain. She actually told me to tell her if I should find some information in the ways of a treatment on the Internet, I kid you not. I replied that, in advance of the appointment, I had read about botox treatments to paralyze the muscles in certain cases of continuous muscle spasms, but none involved eye muscles. It seemed like a bad idea. She then told me that she would look into it herself, and that she would call me if she found anything. And I was to just wait it out and maybe come back around 2009 if nothing would change for the better.

So, a few more months pass and my 'condition' slightly improves. I've also grown kind of used to it in a strange way, I don't always notice it immediately. I tend to unconsciously rub the area where it twitches and I have to 'pick up' on the act. However, when it starts it usually sticks around for maybe half a day during which it becomes increasingly hard to focus on anything. I'd say this still happens two to three times a week. It's not painful or terribly annoying, it just breaks my concentration. I'd like to get it fixed, but I doubt my physician will be able to tell me anything new.

Well that explains why you brought up this weird question in the first place. It must have been very annoying to be going through that for what, half a year?

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 5:04 pm

Coming in to it, yes. If there was some kind of nerve damage, it would surely have healed by now and be gone. I'm not looking forward to a another five months, even if the spasms lessen in intensity or frequency. But what can you do. At any rate, I'm done being the one doing all of the searching. I have health insurance for that or something. This thread was one, final shot in the dark. I'll make the appointment for January.

Fiberfar · Post by **Fiberfar** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 6:59 pm

Speaking of twitching, my left eyelid (it's always that one that gets me) has been twitching for two days now.

Moonbiter · Post by **Moonbiter** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:37 am

I work out a bit, and I frequently get "the shakes" after that one. My routine is that I work out early in the morning, walk to work, have a bit of breakfast, and then something will start to twitch. Back in the day when I was trainig to be "world champion" on the piano, I practiced for 3-5 hours a day. After that my hands would sometimes start to shake violently, to the extent that my parents thought I was seriously ill. CE can probably give you the exact explanation for why this happens, but I would guess it's perfectly normal. In short: Don't worry. Some people (like my mom) are "teeth-grinders," meaning that they grind their teeth in their sleep, and has to sleep with a tooth-guard pretty much like the one boxers use, to avoid serious damage. I have no idea why this happens, but I'm pretty sure it's a psychological thing.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:28 pm

Well that may be, but in my case the muscles involved are incredibly specific. I could draw a large picture of just one eyelid and point out three spots that will move involuntarily in separate directions. I couldn't do that consciously if I went to school for it.

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:21 pm

Tricky, I doubt you sustained any 'brain damage'. Benign fasciculations are basically caused by some part of muscle fibers being irritated (in your case, it could be that bump but I am just speculating here); the 'activation' spreads to the adjacent neurons (motor neurons) and the twitching occurs.
It can be provoked by smoking, alcohol, coffee, exercise, fatigue etc. Also, it could be a side effect of some medication (e.g. lithium) or electrolyte imbalance (Na and Mg deficiency).
Just get enough rest, fresh air and some supplements.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:51 pm

That sort of implies I have been consistently doing something wrong over the last five months, which may be true for all I know. It is true that I don't for sure connect the blow to my head to the twitching in my eye. But I didn't do a lot of other things and they were awfully closely connected.

My exercising has increased a lot since September/October, when the opportunity arose for evening runs. Sleep has always been a bit of an issue, but I think I managed to resolve that a little while ago. Food has always been so-so because I have to cook for one these days, but I take care not to eat certain unhealthy things. No, I might as well give up that whole line of thought. It is impractical to narrow that one down to certainty. It's also not something I haven't heard before, to an extend. It's not trite, but I might have been the reason why I initially neglected to write down my reason for asking this question.

What did they say in the Dark Tower, 'there will be water if God wills it'? Submission to the facts of life, if you will. Eyepatches are cool.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 6:32 am

Tricky wrote:What did they say in the Dark Tower, 'there will be water if God wills it'? Submission to the facts of life, if you will. Eyepatches are cool.

Christ, I was drunker than I thought last night. Consider the subject closed.

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:22 am

Tricky wrote:That sort of implies I have been consistently doing something wrong over the last five months, which may be true for all I know.

Christ, I was drunker than I thought last night.

SUBMIT TO THE FACTS OF LIFE.

I rest my case.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:36 am

You know, I actually got funny-drunk last night on a fake-old, pseudo-Irish whiskey, that was also 'rare' only because it isn't sold outside of Holland. And I very much doubt it was even imported. Yeah, I guess you had to be there. Funny way to end the day.

I did not mean for that to rhyme.

Lady Dragonfly · Post by **Lady Dragonfly** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:48 am

Tricky wrote: Funny way to end the day.

An' gettin' frisky after ev'ry shot o' whiskey.