Fasciculations: Different from BFS/ALS?

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ixxygarnesh

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anyone know if the fasics are diffrent from bfs and als?mine are very random.also a various, sometimes in one very local place for 1-5 sec, all over the body. more of theese after using mucles.sometimes like buzzing for a couple of minutes, mostly hands and feet.sometimes very local buzzing in one spot for days.sometimes like pulsing for hours in a muscle, not that local, more like hole arms, leg etc.all above are not visible.not often i have visible twitching local (not very local) for 3-7 sec. i also have a lot of other symptoms and know what i have can be anything, but my question is only about fasics/twithing/buzzing and if they are diffrent in bfs from als.thanks for inputs!Fredrik
 
Fredrick, Random twitches as you describe are POSTER TWITCHES For BFS! However, w/out scaring anyone you can have very localized twitches as some do here and still not have ALS. I myself do not really get hotspots for more than a few minutes. I can always cease the twitching by flexing or moving the muscle that is bothersome. Most of my twitches happen so fast I cant see them. However when I get the "Big Thumpers" in my big muscles such as biceps triceps etc..I do see the whole muscle jump.Not every twitch is a fasciculation and not every fasciculation is a twitch is what my neurologist told me. There is a difference. Some people describe ALS twitches as very fine wormy movements under the skin that usually are not felt but the neurologist points out after the patient comes in for weakness etc. HOWEVER, there are also BENIGN styles of those kind of twitches too. Best advice. See a Neuro, get a EMG, and believe your DX and doesnt matter- IF a new spot pops up. Still doesnt matter...Lovely
 
dee dee, how are you??? my fascics in the left foot are still there, 24/7. they are very subtle, almost not felt....so i wonder if this is a bad sign....?
 
Thanks Lovely,if i understand you BFS twitches/fasics/buzzing is most of the time felt, but ALS is not?Is BFS twitches/fasics/buzzing most of time seen as well?Mine are felt 99% of the time and not seen 95% of the time.Well, if there also is fasics wich are not seen or felt, i ofcause don't know.By the way, you already answered other questions i had before, very kind of you.Fredrik
 
Laurent, Your ok..I Promise. The foot and legs are the most common. Fredrick, As mentioned above you and I have the same twitches- Mine are BARELY Seen ever unless I get the big thumpers most of mine are so quick POPS by the time I get my leg or foot or arms up to see it their gone. MY neuro couldn't see them or get them to appear- she called me the poster child for BFS. However EVERYONE is different. I didnt have a HOT SPOT forever then I got one that lasted a few hours and one that lasted two days but again they were NO DIFFERENT then BFS and thats that. Your fine hon, Lovely
 
Fredrik, I am like you and Lovely...i seldom see my twitches, just feel them. And like Lovely, i can usually get mine to stop in a certain area by changing postions.Linda
 
I can see as well as feel mine. They're all over, but more frequently my legs. Oddly enough, when I have spent an idle morning mapping them (yes, isn't that weird?) I notice they are more evenly distributed in both legs than I thought. I can cause them to happen by exercise or even by vigorous massage. I also notice that twitching seems to come in spells, where I'll twitch in various places more frequently, then it will die down. This makes me think there is some central, transient cause like a fluctuating chemical or something.
 
Well, in my case, seeing or not seeing the twitches is purely anatomical issue. If small twitches occur in larger muscles (e.g. the thigh) I can't see them. If they occur in smaller muscle, especially in a place where the skin is thin and sort of more stretched over the muscle, or if it is a place where the muscle is directly under the skin with no other tissues in between, I can see them.There is however another issue about BFS and ALS fascics. I read on several German pages that ALS fascics can be triggered manually by giving the muscle a bump or expose it to cold object. I even saw a video, although I think that it's better no to link it. In that video, the doctor had a small, metal hammer with a rounded head and slightly knocked the ALS-patient's upper arm. After that, the biceps muscle was visibly fasciculating for about 5 seconds. Any relaxed muscle will of course move after being knocked simply as a result of the physical force (like poking a jello), but not ON ITS OWN for 5 seconds. I am however not sure whether any bump will do, or whether the doctor hits a very specific point with specific force and a specific angle to trigger the effect. I tried poking and bumping my twitch-affected muscles, but it didn't trigger any fascics.Have you ever heard of this test? Do you possibly know some details, e.g. whether it is reliable and significant?
 
Angst, that was not good post, since a lot of people here CAN trigger fasciculations by tapping on muscle. Me personally too, but not always of course. I was told that is typicall since motoneurons are irritated and try to handle the situation.About the cold - cold is one of cause of fasciculations absolutely unrelated to ALS, but of course with ALS it twitch more, because nerves are more irritable.
 
Hmm sorry, didn't want to scare anybody.Just to calm everybody down: I did read that ALS fascics can be triggered, okay, but the sites did NOT state that triggered fascics are evidence or a common symptom of ALS. So, if many people here can trigger their fascics, there's no need to worry about it or see it as a decisive factor, I think. By the way, the sites where I read this stuff about triggering are a minority, the majority of ALS-sites don't state anything about triggering fascics.
 
A few years ago when I wanted to show my doctor what I mean by twitching, I rubbed a place on my calf muscle and produced twitching. She was unconcerned.
 

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