MS Twitches, Twinges, and Tingles, Oh My!

Twitches, Twinges, and Tingles, Oh My!

Are spasms and twinges a sign of worse to come?

Twitches, Twinges, and Tingles, Oh My!
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By
for Life With Multiple Sclerosis
Published on September 14, 2021
Everyday Health Blogs

Months before my diagnosing attack with multiple sclerosis (MS), my massage therapist noted that I had muscle spasms in my legs. I hadn't noticed them, nor could I feel them, and when I looked to see what she was pointing out, it seemed kind of funny and interesting.

Little did I know, right?

Just Annoying? Or a Sign of a Bigger Problem?

I have come to notice more of these telltale signs that something is going on inside my central nervous system, and I now know they may (or may not, in the case of so-called silent attacks) show themselves as greater symptoms and loss of ability in days or weeks to come.

Sometimes these little twitches are just annoying or sometimes interesting. What my massage therapist noted, I now call “popcorn legs” as it can look as if kernels are popping just under the skin of my leg. Just under the surface, muscle tissue bubbles and boils to the point I think of the old Ballpark Franks adverts where the sides of the cooking container bulge with expanding hot dogs. You remember: “They plump when you cook ’em.”

It happens in both legs, but only one at a time. It doesn’t hurt, and it’s never led to any major loss in mobility, so I just see the symptom as a curiosity.

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Pain in One Area May Signal Loss of Ability in Another

Sometimes muscle aches and knots are a warning sign that something is going awry because I am compensating for the subtle loss of one ability and feeling it in another part of the body. It’s important for me to pay attention to such things, but not spend too much time focusing on them. It’s all about balance.

My hip or lower back will let me know that something has changed in the way that I walk. A knot in my trapezius muscle (the big one that connects the shoulders, neck, and back) was a harbinger of a number of exacerbations in my earlier, relapsing-remitting MS days.

Now, however, cramps and knots like that usually mean I’m carrying myself differently due to accumulating symptoms.

A Twitchy Eye Appears; What Does It Mean?

Lately I’ve noticed a new one. My eye twitches. Just my left eye, and it’s the lower lid which does the twitching. I’m not the only one to notice either. My wife, Caryn, has seen it happen, as have a few friends.

Thankfully, no one has thought I’ve been awkwardly trying to flash a flirtatious wink across the room when the eyelid starts to flutter.

It’s like a nervous tic or reaction to something particularly annoying or frustrating. Though my MS has been both an annoyance of late and has left me frustrated at every turn, I’ve not had a twitchy eye in the past.

Is it just a new symptom? Or is it advance warning that a new pathway has been damaged, and the other shoe is soon to drop?

There really is no telling at this point, but we’ll keep an eye on it. (You see what I did there?)

Wishing you and your family the best of health.

Cheers,

Trevis

Important: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not Everyday Health.

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Trevis Gleason

Author

Trevis L. Gleason is an award-winning chef, writer, consultant, and instructor who was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in 2001. He is an active volunteer and ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and speaks to groups, both large and small, about living life fully with or without a chronic illness. He writes for a number of MS organizations, like The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland, and has been published in The Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Irish Independent, The Lancet, and The New England Journal of Medicine.

His memoir, Chef Interrupted, won the Prestige Award of the International Jury at the Gourmand International World Cookbook Awards, and his book, Dingle Dinners, represented Ireland in the 2018 World Cookbook Awards. Apart from being an ambassador MS Ireland and the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards, Gleason is a former U.S. Coast Guard navigator. Gleason lives in Seattle, Washington and County Kerry, Ireland with his wife, Caryn, and their two wheaten terriers, Sadie and Maggie.

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