Fasciculations/Jeannie

[Guest guest]

Jeannie,

What have you been smoking? Fasciculations where there are no muscles?

Maybe you are off your medication and need to make a visit to the clinic.

Sorry, just having a little fun. I need some now and then to keep me

from losing what's left of my mind.

Your problem may be due to your muscles being overworked and tired. They

will then jerk. The jerking at the knee is most likely a tendon being

stretched by a muscle that is twitching. But I'm not a doctor,

physiologist, RN, PT, or massage therapist. I'm just guessing. I am

surprised that he didn't raise an eyebrow when you told him how

frequently you sometimes get them. That must be something of importance.

It certainly would be for me.

Before I actually had problems with PLS symptoms, maybe, I would

occasionally see the quadricep muscle on my right leg (That's one of the

quadricep muscles just above the knee.) twitch from my groin to my knee.

It felt funny and I could see it even if I were dressed. At that time I

was jogging 2-3 miles 4-5 days per week and was also lifting weights. I

was in the best physical condition of my life. I just shrugged it off,

but did mention to a Purdue Professor of Psychology who ran with me at

noon during our lunch hour. He worked at the State Hospital during the

summer and was an avid jogger. He had to slow down to stay with me, but

he had the missing heartbeat. Every so often his chest would " thump " and

it scared the bejeegers out of him. He went to his doctor, who ran some

tests, and told him it was normal for a serious runner to have that

problem. He was the only one I knew and I jogged with several very

serious runners. One of them flew over the country to run marathons.

None of them ever complained. However, at least two whom I remember had

the fasciculations in their quads, also. One had it in his right leg and

the other, his left. None of the others believed us until after 4 of us

had run in the Hospital's gym one winter and my leg started doing it

when I sat down. They couldn't believe it. Now, I wonder if it was a

harbinger of PLS because soon after that I began to slow down while

running and had to take breaks of a week or more before I could run

again. I stopped running in March 1987. In 1994, the symptoms of PLS

were getting noticeable, but I just assumed it was because I had put on

weight and was out of shape. That December, I realized I had problems,

but in January I was certain I had to see my doctor. I have not been

without a walker since February 1995, although I am able to walk around

the house without it and sometimes outside while doing some yard work. I

still have the fasciculations when I have overdone it and my muscles are

tired. They are not as pronounced as the first one, but they are

irritating little twitches. They usually start just about the time I

need to take my meds then stop about one half hour after I take them.

Well, I'm the wordy Mike, so I'll just leave it at this and wish you

good luck with controlling those irritating things.

Mike Gray