Relapse, eye twitching and more! (MS fears)

[heatherpearl81]

Hi all,

Over Christmas (when I had two weeks off work!) I suddenly got an eye-twitch (left side) which I have never had before, at least not for days at a time. It is intermittent but I still have it now and some days it seems almost constant. I foolishly Googled a few times 'for reassurance' LOL! and eventually unearthed a link to my old friend MS. Yes, it is another neurological symptom for my list. Oh goody. Since then, and particularly since I have been back at work I have had a lot of the buzzing, tingling and numb patches of old. In fact, today I feel like I have run a marathon - exhausted, trembly and weak.

I know full well that this is going to scream 'classic anxiety' to you pros on here, but I suppose I am just hoping for a little reassurance. How long can I expect the eye twitch to last? Do you have 'quiet periods' and then relapses? Finally I have a weird tight/numb patch on my left leg which I have had for a long time on an off. This gets worse when I have a shower, which I find alarming as I know this is sometimes a sign of MS. Can anyone relate to this?

Thanks for your help.

[gcalex]

You don't mean your actual eye is twitching I assume, but a muscle either in the eyelid above, or right below the eye, yes?  If so yeah I would say classic anxiety.  I get them all the time, and don't pay attention to them any more.  They go away when they want to.

[heatherpearl81]

Hi gcalex,

Thanks for your response. I read through some of your posts and they were so helpful and in general I think I am back on track. My tingling, buzzing etc all gradually drained away after I got home and I was in any event aware I had been incredibly stressed at work today. Even my twitching eyelid has calmed down a bit. I got some books on managing stress/anxiety from the library on my way home, one of which has cbt techniques and I think I should probably re-join the gym as I never had any of these issues when I was exercising regularly. I am with you and I think self-help is the key for me.

On a slightly separate note, your post (currently numbered 50) is one of the most helpful I've read. Why on earth is it not a sticky?!

Heather

[ejmommy]

I can relate in a lot of ways. The fear of MS. I also make the mistake of googling every time I get a new symptom, and inevitably, ms comes up somewhere and the cycle continues. And things that come and go. One day I'm exhausted, next I'm having muscle pain, etc. They even change throughout the day like you! Example this morning I woke up to muscle twitches, went to work and onto shaky hands, then random almost slight jerks of my arms, and now that I'm home, that's all gone and my left arm is tingling! It's very frustrating because right when you feel you are doing better, something else pops up. However I have been tested for MS, and told I don't have it. It's a daily struggle for me but on days that I think to myself, this is anxiety, I do much better.

So not much advice, just trying to reassure you that I have had a lot of the same experiences and struggle with it as well , but it really does seem to be caused by anxiety.