Dear Mari

Another mineral whose deficiency can cause twitching is Zinc.

B6 is heavily implicated in nervous system function. But the B vits all work in "tandem" and require other vits too... do you take a full B complex, for starters?

Mag won't work on it's own either, btw. The B vits are simply necessary for correct nervous function, period.

stress and sleep deprivation (itself a stressor also) can augment nutrient requirements, for b vits especially. extra zinc is also helpful for periods of extra stress.

CAUTION: avoid megadoses - eg. 1000% RDA, especially of B6[/I] which can damage the nervous system[/B].

Considering you will get some portion of these nutrients from food, supplements that provide 100% RDA of the desired target nutrients might be helpful at best, and safe at worst. you can go up to 150% on the b's comfortably, as they do not accumulate. 15mg (100%) Zinc per day should be fine, even a little more (up 20ish ok). i would not exceed 30 mg so as not to upset copper balance.

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aside from what goes into the body... i would do anything that is doable for you to increase your sleep, and use any other relaxation methods you can.

• i wonder if you could re-try meditating... you've said t-doc wants you to but you can't or don't get yourself to... i also wonder if you have considered doing it lying down - even on the couch - as opposed to adopting a "formal sitting pose."
• even simply doing breath awareness (in any context), and/or daily deep/slow breathing could be helpful.
• could hubby give you a massage - or could you get a professional one? sometimes i massage my own shoulders and neck.
• also stretching can be helpful. can you do the salute to the sun? regular stretching is good... you can create your own stretchies... whatever feels good... work on areas that feel taut.
• eye movement exercises (i have no clue if this will work , but it occurs to me you could try it.) my thoughts:
  • slow rotation x5 clockwise, x5 anti-clockwise (alternating directions or all reps in one, then the other, whichever most comfortable)
  • up-down x5;
  • side to side x5.
  might help directly distend the little muscles around the eye.

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i've had eye twitches before. i sympathize. so very uncomfortable. got to the point once where i was purposely keeping my hair in my eyes so that others couldn't see the twitching... i was so self-conscious. it did go away though. i hope you feel better very soon.

~ waves ~

Hi, Waves,

I take some zinc some days but not the B's except for B12. I will carry some multi vits with me to eat at lunch today. (Almost everyday I take D3, Fish oil, Flax seed oil, and mag citrate)

I started doing the Mountain Breathing in Kabat-Zinn ( . . . be a mountain . . .)
I have done that for ten minutes at a time: close my eyes, put my hands on my Solar Plexus Chakra, and breath like a mountain. I have done that three times recently for 10 mins at a time.

M

Hey Mari !!!

Caffeine makes the twitching worse... so, avoid it completely (in case you are taking any coffe, tea, coke, chocolate, etc...)

Sleep and rest help but seriously, vitamin B always rescue me...

Hi, Majoand Waves,,

No coffee ever for me -- I drank it twice in my life. No coke for three years because I could not drink it when I had braces and stayed with the habit of not drinking it after the braces came off.
No chocolate lately
I have tea about twice a week. I had two cups of tea yesterday. Maybe that did not help.

I am taking two or three teaspoons a day of olive oil. I can switch fax seed oil to my regime.

Today I added
~my multi vit that has a bunch of the B vits
~50 mgs zinc
~100 mgs B6

M

that is too much zinc unless you are taking a copper supplement too.
I take optizinc has copper in it too. (no more than 30mg by itself).
bizi