Fasciculations and muscle cramps
 

Under massive emotional and physical stress...

Having leg cramps in the night and worst of all was having fasciculations (not tics) for past few weeks. Fascics started first. Not just the eyelid ones as I get from time to time when stressed, these are all over the place, inside and out... stomach internally (right upper quadrant), left knee, right knee, back, upper arm, ankle, side of knee. :eek:

Guess I'm needing more magnesium, but what else?

Thanks,
Lara

Sorry to hear...
 

Sorry you are under so much stress:hug::hug:... all that adrenaline will speed up nerve transmissions etc. Too much caffeine also is a problem.

My son is having nice results from l-theanine supplements 100mg twice a day. (for the anxiety stress stuff)

For twitching... avoid MSG in all forms. It is neuroexcititory.
Also avoid aspartame (aspartic acid is also neuroexcititory).

Yes, magnesium, either from food or chelated form. Soaking in a bath of epsom salts helps. (be careful -- it makes the tub slippery to get out of).

And you will laugh, but putting a bar of soap like Ivory under your bottom sheet will help. I think this urban legend, which could not be refuted on Snopes, is because of acidic volatile hydrocarbons that the body gives off during sleep. The basic soap absorbs them. Ivory types are the best. Detergent ones less so.

We have a long thread somewhere on Social forum I think about this.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ght=soap+sheet

Also good for muscle function is acetyl carnitine. Adequate potassium intake. Good hydration.

Some medications may cause this.. SSRIs, SNRIs, etc.

Drugs toxic to nerves may be a cause:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread122889.html

I'd start with the magnesium. It works most of the time.

gosh, that was quick. :D What a gem you are. lol

Little caffeine. 2 cups of coffee (wake up around 4/5am) before 8am. No more caffeine for rest of the day. No msg. No aspartame. I check and am careful. Won't touch an anti-depressant although I probably have become clinically depressed from all the trauma and stress lately. eek Hard to leave the safety of my once safe home.

It's really hot and humid here too, so I bought some tonic water to drink instead of water. I like to boil the water due to the flooding and water treatment situations and sometimes run out as I need so much... is quinine in the tonic water ok to drink? I don't usually drink fizzy drinks, so maybe whatever they put in the tonic water outweighs the usefulness of the quinine?

I heard about the soap trick. I do have RLS, but these things are not like RLS. Putting two and two together it's stress related I'm sure.

OK, so more mag. Used to take a great calcium/magnesium mixed powder, but it was prescribed. Can't afford that so will look for something else.

Thanks so much. :hug:

3oz of unsalted almonds have 270mg of magnesium.

Beans have alot too. You can do it with food. I do that mostly, and only use supplements secondarily.

I am always on line early in the morning. (except on vacation in summer).

I am sorry to hear you have so much on your plate. The heat and humidity make cramping worse IMO.

Epsom salts to soak in are inexpensive. You can do compresses if you don't have a bathtub. Make the solution more concentrated for that. Small tub 4 oz (compresses). Bathtub 6oz or so.

Also in regards to the quinine water... There is very little in it...so most likely won't have much effect. But some people claim it does, anyway.

Well they do make a drug called qnexa or something like that, used to treat pseudobulbar affect. where people laugh uncontrollably inappropriately. it has quinidine and dextromethorphan in it. so i guess if you're looking for quinidine ask your doctor about this drug, and the offlabel applications for it.

I actually quit soda altogether, i only drink water now, and believe me it feels great. it's not the actual caffeine that is in the water i think, it's just the way it stimulates your body, it is a sensation explosion in your mouth. the sugar the carbonation, it all just adds up to messing with your body, and yes also the aspartame. now it tastes pretty disgusting to me. after not drinking it for awhile. It takes awhile to kick the habit though. for awhile it is routine to drink it, it becomes a part of you almost. so to kick it, drinking water has to become a part of your personality, almost like this is what you do now.

I do have a guilty pleasure of a monster energy drink, or a redbull once in awhile, maybe mostly for the taurine or other stuff they put in it, but it kicks me focus into gear.

the soap idea sounds awesome, i struggle with RLS, or just feel the need to tighten or flex my leg muscles at night off and on, for some reason, it makes me comfortable after awhile. I dont think these are tics, they are located in one area, my legs. and when i confronted my pdoc about it, he said that it was fine. that i did not need treatment for them. this was when he was convinced that i did well on an ssri, when i really didnt. and also antipsychotic like seroquel.

i try deliberately to not flex my muscles, but then my body gets cold.

this may be due to ssri use(i dont use them anymore) or may be due to gabapentin(not sure.) I still take the gabapentin. because without it, i feel like im going to die for some reason.

Possible Help for Severe Cramps
 

I have had constants cramps EVERYWHERE for the last 10+ years. I also had a problem with constant, recurring mouth sores (like canker sores, ouch!). Drs. were no help -- just "exercise more" -- yeah, was already very active when all these started.

I starting taking 800 mcg of Folic Acid -- 2x/day (a.m./p.m.) and cannot believe the "miraculous cure" of my symptoms. I've tested it out by "forgetting" to take it for a couple of days and they start back in almost within 24 hours, then as soon as I start taking the Folic Acid again the cramps/spasms quit. For the last two months, I have been able to sleep ALL night long for the first time in years, literally. Also, any mouth sores that have started to develop have done nothing more than "start", they never actually develop. My mom also has problems with cramps/spasms all over body and she has started taking it and they have stopped for her! How much simpler can I get for a "cure" to what's been a HUGE issue for me!?

While not sure if this will help you, it definitely can't hurt you to try and see if it won't help your cramps and muscle spasms.

Good luck!

Terry

Thanks everyone!
Doing fine now. I was in stress overload with the floods here and then it looked as if I would have to move out when the home I live in was sold, and my neighbour's mother died after terribly long illness (and chosing not to take treatment) and I took over some caring of my neighbour because her husband was away and none of her friends or other family seemed to realize how awful it was for her to go this terrible time. :confused:

etc. etc. etc.

Pure stress overload. I look back on all those months and realize how much better I feel now.

I did increase all my B vits and added some calc/mag., and now that I am less stressed the fasciculations and cramps have stopped.

p.s. I don't drink softdrink/soda at all. The tonic water I bought because the temperature was in the 90s and the humidity was in the 90s - plus, it was a very long, wet, hot, humid summer here in Australia where I live.

I am glad you are feeling better Lara.

Those hot humid temps are hard to cope with too.

Someone on our PN forum recommended a topical lotion with Magnesium in it. It is new from US drugstore chain, CVS..
Called Epsom lotion. I was intrigued and bought some and find it very nice. An alternative to soaking in epsom salts.

I don't know if there is something like this where you are?
This is what the product looks like:
http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/sh...new_crumb=true