In Reply to: My Neuro appt. re: muscle twitches posted by Rachel on October 26, 2000 at 14:29:30:

: hi everyone,
: i finally had my neuro appt regarding these awful muscle twitches. luckily i found a neuro who is extremely thorough and actually LISTENS. anyway, he didn't really find anything wrong with me except for my reflexes...the reflexes on my left side are a lot stronger than on my right side. i also have to have an MRI of my back because i also have scoliosis. he said that the curve in my back may be putting pressure on some nerves, which may be causing the twitching. i also have to have a whole bunch of blood work done and an EMG. i guess the EMG will show the presence of the twitches, which the neuro calls "fasciculations." he also said that i may just have this condition called "benign fasciculation syndrome" which is not serious, but causes the muscle twitching. he said this is usually treated with tegretol-like medication. i'm not too crazy about having to take medication (i'm 22) but i really cannot stand this anymore. i have the fasciculations all over my body now, not just in my legs.
: i'm really trying to find out what may have caused this, and the only thing i can think of is that i was on antibiotics for seven months, and the twitching started right after i stopped them. has anyone else had this experience? i have also read that a virus can cause this, and i wonder about that because i have been getting really bad cold sores for months now(which are caused by the herpes simplex virus)...who knows, but hopefully i will find out some more about it. if anyone has experienced any of these symptoms i would love to hear your story. i'll post about my progress...

Rachel and Lisa,
You are not alone. I have had these benign fasciculations for years. I would sure love to know more about them. I don't think
medical science has an answer. I hope that if you find out anything from your neuro, you post it here for the rest of us.