Aleve rash

49F
5'10 about 360 currently...more on that
About 3/4 Native American, maybe a little higher but I'm adopted and I have limited information beyond both of my parents were born on Native American lands. How I ended up in a white home is a post for another forum.
This is complicated, but I will try to be as concise as I can. About 15 years ago I started experiencing what I call EH/LE days. Everything Hurts/Low Energy. Approximately 3-5 days a month I would feel like absolute poo. I always blamed it on my period even though I couldn't find any correlation between my cycle and EH/LE days.
Symptoms on these days include fever of less than one day, muscle and joint pain, EXTREME butterfly rash on my face, debilitating fatigue, and GI issues that range from constipation to diarrhea and both are unresponsive to anything OTC.
I also burst into flames if I spend more than 10 minutes in the sun. I blister and peel even if the sunburn is mild.
In November 2021 I stepped on a scale. I was 503 pounds. I decided to get healthy. By May of 2023, I had lost 160 pounds through diet, exercise, and a whole lot of stubbornness. I was working out 3-5 days a week, most weeks every day simply because it was so much fun! I felt better than I think I ever had as an adult.
Here is where it starts to get confusing.
On May 15 2023 I had unplanned gall bladder surgery. It wasn't an emergency, but I ended up in the ER and the recommendation was to YEET the bugger while I was there before my insurance could complicate things. The MRI they did found a very large fibroid and I was referred to a surgeon.
July 27, 2023, I get COVID for the third time. After my second COVID-19 case in October 2022, my blood pressure went absolutely through the roof. No prior history. I got it under control with meds, caught COVID a third time, and had the same thing happen again. It is currently controlled with even more meds.
On August 24, 2023 I had a hysterectomy. I woke up from surgery with a migraine headache. I did not get any kind of relief for 5 months. After BOTOX and Gabapentin, I am currently down to 5 days a week with a headache.
As soon as I was healed enough I was back working out, actually before I was fully healed because I was too bored sitting around and Beat Saber is an addiction. I was back to 5 days a week when I started skipping days because I was too tired. Even with a headache, I was working out. Now I am down to 1 or 2 days a month if I am lucky. And despite dieting, I have gained 25 pounds.
In the last year, I have been to a neurologist, an orthopedist for my knees and neck, and a GI, in addition to an OB/GYN for surgery. I have been in the ER 4 times with dangerously high BP, and twice with unexplained pain in my side. No diagnosis on the pain in my side and the last time I was treated like a lizard so I just ignore it now.
With the exception of Asthma and being overweight, I was moderately healthy despite the EH/LE days.
In the last 11 months I have been diagnosed and treated for:

• IBS, My doctor says it's mild but I say it's pretty miserable.
• High Blood Pressure, well-controlled.
• Joint degeneration in knees, neck, and lower back. My back doesn't hurt at all, but my neck and knees are a mess.
• Rosacea, I've had it for 15+ years but just thought it was acne and was treating it all wrong and making it worse.
• Bladder Spasms
• Depression and Anxiety. It's a process but I'll get there.

What hasn't been addressed or treated is the fatigue, brain fog, unexplained fevers, joint and muscle aches, joint and muscle stiffness, balance issues, shaking hands and muscle spasms in pretty much every muscle group, and burning eyes that water all the time.
Mesalamine, Gabapentin, Spirolactone, Pristiq, Valsartin, Trazadone at night, Buspar PRN, zofran PRN, albuterol PRN, and Doxycycine.
I take tylenol and ibuprofen and occasionally aleve for the pain and it doesn't do much.
Seldom drink, don't smoke. I have 4 or 5 THC gummies a month because they seem to help with the pain.
My biological mother has Lupus, but I don't really know much more than that.
I presented all of this today to my GP and she basically ignored me, even when I pressed her about the fatigue. She went back to typing and changed the subject, 3 times. She says my bloodwork is fine, but she did finally order a blood test for Rheumatoid markers. I'm still waiting on that.
She also made it a point to tell me twice that she couldn't prescribe me any pain meds. And I made it a point to tell her twice, that I was much more interested in answers than slapping a bandaid on a problem and calling it fixed.
I feel so bad all of the time. I am not functional as a human being and after this office visit, I feel like I am losing my mind. I can't do any of the things I love and can barely do the things I have to do. I work part-time in an office and It is more than I can do some days.
I have a degree in Medical Anthropology and have been a patient advocate for 20ish years, I know what to ask, but now I am questioning everything I thought I knew about myself. I only mention that because this has rattled me. This is what I do, and I can't seem to do it for myself. (And no, I'm not certified and MODS I am aware of the rule but I thought it was pertinent information about me and my interaction with my doctor today.)
The difference between me today and me one year ago is absolutely day and night.
I am so confused. I don't know what to do.
What am I missing? Am I missing anything?
If nothing else, thanks for listening.
~~~
Mildly edited for clarity and to fix a number.

45F, white, american of european descent, and red hair. currently ~157lbs and have been on exercise restriction for five months due to severe lower right quadrant pain. a year ago they thought it was my appendix, but found only a ~5cm right side ovarian endometrioma, and long history of suspected endo.
i went to the ER two days ago, seven weeks out from four-incision laparoscopic abdominal surgery: endometrioma and endometriosis exploration/excision, where they lost my right ovary due to hemorrhaging, did a cystectomy, a d&c with polyp removal (adenomyosis, fibroids), took a cervical clipping and inserted an IUD, and dug through everything in my abdomen looking for endo - which was thankfully not found on anything but reproductive organs, cul-de-sac, and bladder, although they saw several signs of "old endo." (also, i learned later that the right ovary is a tiny remnant, per my surgeon, and not a complete removal.) i have not yet had a period, although i have passed dark brown clots without any unclotted blood present.
i dont like narcotics so from day three i was on a pain regimen of 200mg gabapentin nightly, one aleve three times a day, 3-5mg of marijuana and 1.5mg of melatonin at night. a few weeks ago i tapered off the gabapentin and marijuana, and reduced to two aleve per day. i had one mildly infected incision, and at three weeks or so, i had a few days of "confusion" (i didnt know where my silverware was kept, or what year it was, etc). that freaked me out but my surgeon was MIA and it passed. i hit up urgent care for a UTI check and it was clean. i check my BP and my temp every day, just as a baseline and precaution, and while my usual temp is ~97.4, i have never had a temp above 99.2.
seven weeks out and im still in tons of pain - with new lower back pain and re-swollen belly despite three pound weight loss. torso pressure from anything, even from sitting, is awful. i feel like i am pregnant, and still have pain in lower right quadrant, both with and without obvious cause. (obvious causes being: leaning on a counter while doing the dishes, or involuntarily tightening up while driving in bad traffic, etc). my cervix and my bellybutton send 'zings' to each other. my appetite sucks and i get tons of nausea and burping, and i cant easily bend at the waist. i am pooping fine, if a bit soft. switching to a mostly liquid diet has helped my pain a bit. my surgeon did a pelvic exam and visualized nothing out of the ordinary, so ordered imaging which i was in a three-plus-week queue for. i subsequently went to the ER for fear of a complication, but also because i had an incident two weeks ago of severe pain below my sternum that made me lose consciousness. it was similar to the lap-gas pain (which is awful), but so, sooo much worse.
the ER guessed i had passed a gallstone, so they opted to ultrasound the right side organs, and this was the result:
"COMPARISON: CT abdomen and pelvis 10/25/2023.
FINDINGS:
Pancreas: The pancreas appears normal. Small area of heterogenicity noted in the body of the pancreas, measures 1.2 x 1.3 x 2.3 cm.
Liver: The liver appears homogeneous in echotexture. Increased echogenicity of the liver parenchyma. There is no intrahepatic biliary ductal dilatation. There are no masses. Common Bile Duct: (CBD): Unremarkable, measures 4 mm in diameter. Inferior Vena Cava (IVC): The intrahepatic inferior vena cava appears patent.
Gallbladder: The gallbladder is normally distended. Gallbladder stone is noted, measures 1 cm without evidence of gallbladder wall thickening or pericholecystic fluid. Gallbladder wall: 2 mm.
Right kidney: Normal in size. There is no mass, hydronephrosis, or perinephric fluid collections. No obstructing stone noted in the renal pelvis, measures 9 mm in diameter. LENGTH: 11.2 cm.
IMPRESSION:

1. Diffuse hepatic steatosis.
2. Gallbladder stone with no evidence of cholecystitis.
3. Nonobstructing right-sided renal stone.
4. Small area of heterogenicity noted in the body of the pancreas, not visualized on prior CT of the abdomen, evaluation with MRI with pancreatic mass protocol is recommended on nonemergent basis."

the subsequent CT didnt show any signs of air, fluid, or blood in my abdomen, which is awesome. it also didn't show any issue with my appendix, which is a relief. im having bowel movements, so we feel good about the current state of the intestinal blockage risk.
bloodwork was mostly fine, but included outliers below. (hospital result formatting means i cant get values or the range out easily, but i will pull them if it matters):
Eos % Auto - LOW
Immature Gran % - HIGH
Immature Grans # Auto - HIGH
AST - LOW
Lipase Lvl - HIGH
Ur Spec Grav - LOW
Diastolic Blood Pressure - HIGH
other stuff, in case it helps: my whole life, i have had very low blood pressure and a low heart rate, but both have been consistently high since my surgery - im assuming thats just due to the pain. i had been off my ADHD meds for five weeks for my own comfort (and to minimize my drug cocktail), but have resumed vyvanse at 10mg/day lately to get my brain working again. im prescribed at 30, but im trying not to YEET my anxiety and heart rate to the moon with everything i have going on.
i developed celiac disease in my mid-30s. i dont eat meat except chicken and salmon. i binge-drank like mostly people in my 20s, but i have hypoglycemia so i stopped drinking in my early 30s. i dont smoke, i have asthma that i only need inhalers for when sick or having an allergic response. (one doctor suggested i may have MCAS, given my nausea/diarrhea/breathing issue response to cigarette smoke and to mold.) im allergic to shellfish (anaphylaxis), and had a milk allergy (rashes) as a kid. i have eczema and am topically allergic to fucking everything so i spend more time with clobetasol than i would like. i reacted like crazy to every topical antiseptic they used for surgery, and while treating that i noticed a lot of new little spider veins on my legs, and swelling of my ankles that doesnt seem to be affected by compression socks. (admittedly, i can still barely bend to get pants on, so socks are a real challenge and are not being worn consistently.)
tl;dr on my big question: is this all typical for middle age? how concerning is this pancreas mass stuff? i have to self-refer to a specialist, so do i start with a GI, an Endocrinologist, or just go straight to an Oncologist to rule out the scary stuff first?
thank you <3

Hi all. I (F37) have V1 shingles on my right side. Not immunocompromised (as far as I know), although I had a pretty bad bilateral ear infection (supposedly from a virus) that took about a month to heal and then lingering bronchitis for about a week leading up to this, so maybe that stressed my immune system? Not particularly stressed out right now, although I have generalized anxiety (treated/managed) so I'm always kind of stressed, and the ear infection was sort of stressful. But didn't feel notably stressed leading up to this.
Tomorrow (Friday) I will be three weeks out from first symptoms. Tuesday night I started having zappy feelings on my left forehead near my hairline and then last night (Wednesday) my left eyebrow had zappy pains. Both were similar to how the pain started in my right side. I don't have any sores on the left side so I'm hoping it's just referred pain or something, but it's freaking me out! Seems like everything should be limited to one side. Has anyone had radiating pain while healing in the other side of the same dermatome, or gotten another outbreak soon after stopping antivirals?
Symptom history: Started on a Friday near the middle of my forehead/hairline and felt like one hair was being pulled every few minutes. Next day (Saturday) I had a rash there, which I thought was contact dermatitis (in the center but mostly to the right). Two days later (Monday) had serious pain in front on my right ear and zappy feeling when I touched the outer end of my right eyebrow. Went to urgent care and was diagnosed with shingles and given 1000 mg valtrex 2x a day for 7 days (just within 72 hours of first sore). Told to take Aleve and Tylenol for pain and Benadryl if itchy, and to use calamine or topical Benadryl on sores. Pain seemed to get better but sores continued to pop up on my face and scalp on the right V1 dermatome. Went to opthalmologist on thursday to check stuff out and he said my eye was ok but should go back to PCP and get higher dose of valtrex (1000 mg 3x daily) since I was still getting new sores. Went to doctor next day (Friday) and they upped my dosage and extended the course to 10 days, which I finished one week ago. As most of my scabs had started coming off by then I switched to topical lidocaine for the pain/zaps.
Throughout this I haven't felt horrible, mostly tired and zappy/itchy, with limited pain if I over did it. I have tried very hard to rest and relax and manage nerve symptoms so I don't get PHN. Work has been great, and basically let me WFH when I felt up to it. I worked about 2 hrs a day wk 1, half days wk 2, and most of the day m-w this week, but still sleeping 10-12 hrs a night. Two nights ago the zappy feeling on the left started on forehead and then last night on eyebrow... Today I'm very tired and the healing sore on the right feels zappy like they have been feeling and my left eyebrow feels kind of heavy/swollen, but not zappy and I don't have any sores on that side. Maybe I shouldn't have gone back to basically full time so fast? I don't see any sores on the left which makes me feel better, even though it feels off. Hoping this isn't too unusual?
Has anyone else had an experience like this? Should I go back to the doctor?
Thanks for the insight and support! This group convinced me that I probably had shingles and got me to go get the antivirals within 72 hours! I had no clue I could get shingles this young, and I totally would have waiting it out longer without the info I saw here!
TLDR: healing on right V1 dermatome after three weeks, but now having similar nerve zaps on left side V1 and wondering if this has happened to anyone else.

Sudden new symptoms, anyone experience this before?
Hey all! I was diagnosed with lupus and psoriatic arthritis in last 8 months. I was diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis in middle school and am currently 29F. I currently take 88mcg of Levothyroxine. I am supposed to be taking 200mg HCQ and monthly taltz injections. I’ve been piss poor at taking the Hcq as it makes me really nauseous, and insurance ran into an issue with the taltz so I have been without for 3 months and have just been managing symptoms with ibuprofen or Aleve. My symptoms have been mild. Joint pain and swelling is mild, fatigue can be severe but I am extremely active and otherwise very healthy, bmi of 21 and exercise daily and eat well.
Here’s what happened… Sunday, I suddenly came down with a high fever of 102.4, no symptoms other than severe joint pain, chills, generally feeling run down. Tested negative for influenza, COVID, RSV. No respiratory symptoms. I went in to the doctor because I was experiencing a clenching chest pain laying down. That did eventually get better. The next day I woke up and couldn’t recognize myself- full body head to toe rash that looked like a sunburn, my skin felt doughy, and I had an insane amount of facial swelling. Seriously- I was unrecognizable. I was and still am incredibly itchy, everywhere. I went to ER suspected allergy, which I have no allergies to anything and have changed nothing about my diet or products or routine. They gave me IV allergy cocktail of Pepcid, dexamethasone, and benadryl with only mild improvement. Since then, my facial swelling has gone down but still present. My skin is still red and INCREDIBLY itchy. I got into my rheumatologist because the ER thought it could be an autoimmune response. CRP 22.8. Protein 30mg in urine but that was considered contaminated due to just finishing menstruation the day before. Rheumatologist put me on a medrol dose pack.
I am crawling out of my skin. I look so strange, I am so itchy, has anyone experienced this? I feel lost on what exactly is going on and what my nexts steps are. I’ve gotten through two days of the dose pack and I’m getting squirrely! This is miserable. Why am I so puffy and itchy???
TIA
Edit:
I wanted to add that the full rash and itching started before the steroids- I have had steroids before and have never had itching as a side effect.

41 yo female. 5’5” around 150 lbs Synthroid and lisinopril prescriptions and aleve or excedrin otc High blood pressure, hypothyroidism, idiopathic intracranial hypertension (diagnosed through multiple spinal taps with high opening pressure)
I’ve struggled with bowel movements for a while, but never diagnosed with IBS, but my doc said “i suspect that”
I thought I was having IBS issues but beginning in 2022 I would get sudden extreme stomach cramps that would cause me to have diarrhea. My mouth tingles/gets prickly, my eyes go bloodshot, my face sweats and flushes, my vision goes blurry, my head hurts, my ears ring, my arms go limp, my heart races (over 200) and my blood pressure tanks (60/40 was last time) I sometimes will develop a rash and other times not (legit thought I was getting poison Ivy in the strangest places) the last time this occurred in November I passed out twice and my dad took me to the ER. They gave me 2 doses of epinephrine. My doctor has tested me for common food allergies and alpha gal =all negative and she had given me an epi pen, which I used when I passed out and er gave me 2 more. These episodes don’t occur with any rhyme or reason and I can go months without any reaction. I think it’s food related because it seems to hit me after I eat, but I don’t know what food causes it because sometimes I can eat whatever and other times I can’t. Typically this happens a few times a year. Does this sound like a GI anaphylaxis? If not, any clue to what could be causing this?

26F, TX, not a smoker or drinker
Took one naproxen tablet about an hour and a half ago for a headache and now my lips are extremely swollen with a red rash around them. I’ve taken aleve before with no issue but now having a bad reaction to naproxen.
How concerned should I be? I’m not having any issues breathing. I took a Benadryl to hopefully reduce the swelling but I’m not sure if this is worth an ER visit.
Photo in comments

(edit: I was diagnosed with celiac in 2016 in the US, consistently positive antibody levels despite a negative biopsy, my GI concluded that it was celiac and IBS)
About a month and a half ago I accidentally ate a rice bun, covered in non-GF soy sauce. The restaurant itself was amazing and accommodating, very careful with me, it was just my own mistake at the table.
I already wasn't feeling well because I had eaten at a buffet at a wedding I attended... but roughly 48 hours later things started to set in. I was exhausted, diarrhea (which eventually turns into constipation for me, which it did.. more on that in a sec) and this time it was accompanied by joint pain and swelling in my knuckles.
This is what prompted me to go to the doctor. I'm a US citizen, living in the UK for the past 4 years and haven't been getting my annual celiac antibody numbers checked since I moved (the UK isn't really into preventative care....)... so even though the joint pain was mild, I felt like it was a good time to check up on these things, and that I must have severely glutened myself to trigger this symptom.
Fortunately I was given a very proactive GP this time and he was eager to do a full blood panel, celiac antibodies, and was really adiment about testing for arthritis... which I was surprised by as I'm an otherwise healthy and active 27 y/o.. isn't that a disease of the elderly!? But I was happy to get everything looked at, I'm always for ruling everything out.
My actual blood draw appointment wasn't until the end of that month so the GP prescribed me some naproxen to help with the swelling in my hands and told me to document my syptoms, take photos, etc.
During this time my digestive issues progressed to constipation, bloating, and severe gas and feeling full after eating. I was feeling fatigued, experiencing brain fog, and just overall unwell - not 'virus sick', just sick, like my body was out of whack.
Then one day... I woke up with a crazy, symmetrical rash all over my hands, feet, arms, and butt. It wasn't hives, but was extremely itchy. This was accompanied by more intense swelling and aching in my hands and knuckles than before. I do have food allergies so I immediately took antihistamine.. which only helped a little but the rash and swelling remained. It was odd because my food allergy reactions present entirely differently to what was happening. I also hadn't eaten anything questionable or tried any new topical products. The only trigger that I could think of was that I was going through a really stressful week.
On day 2 of this rash I woke up with it about 10 times worse than the day prior. It was so itchy that and pressure on my hands or feet would make it itch and swell more. The rash wasn't raised at all, mostly red blotches. All I can describe it feeling like was torture. I called my GP and at first they weren't going to see me, but then managed to squeeze me in for a quick appointment because I was literally crying on the phone. The dr. who saw me said that it was uticaria (hives) and sent me home with a prescription antihistamine (basically Aleve). She said that the rash was presenting in some of the areas that a celiac rash might, but the rash its self didn't look like dermatitis.
Both the Aleve and Naproxen sort of took the edge off, but my hands remained splotchy and slightly swollen and slightly itchy for over a week. Every morning when the medication wore off the reaction would return. Eventually, on day 5, I decided to water fast for 24 hours and that was the point that I saw the reaction start to subside with each passing day.
My GP decided to add additional tests for connective tissue disease and lupus to my bloods.
When I got the results back I was freaked out. I had a weak positive dsDNA (indicative of lupus), iron was on the lowest range of normal, CDT on highest range of normal, and celiac was... 1 with a range of 0 to 5 being normal... but they didn't say what celiac test they did so there's literally no context as to what that even means.
At this point, my digestive issues of constipation, extreme gas and fullness after eating, and bloating had gotten so bad that I had switched to an entirely liquid diet, despite also taking miralax. I couldn't digest any solids whatsoever.
Desperate and confused I saw a private rheumatologist who said it likely wasn't lupus since the other associated pannels were normal.. however some of my symptoms could indicate it... especially a random photo that I showed him of a lace-like rash that I get on my legs which he said is called "livedo reticularis" but he recommended getting checked again in a few months... okay.
My digestive issues continued to worsen. I kept calling my GP, desperate for answers. They booked tests like ultrasound, which won't be conducted for several weeks... and an NHS GI referral will take even longer.
I was lucky enough to speak to a family friend in the US who is a GI and celiac specialist. Obviously, he couldn't see me face to face but he said that this all COULD be a celiac reaction and if I did in fact eat gluten at the end of August then it could take up to three months to clear this from my system and lower my body's reactivity. He was the only person who offered me any help or even an action plan, so I took his advice. Over the past week, while I'm still only able to tolerate liquids, I've incorporated L-Glutamine, collagen, bone broth (basically every meal), peppermint oil supplements, and prunes (in the form of babyfood). Honestly, I do feel like this has begun to help me, as I've been using these supplements for a week and feel better than I did before... but I'm still unable to tolerate solid food.
I did ask this GI if I should be worried about lupus.. he said not to worry yet, and, anecdotally, some of his patients with both celiac and lupus have managed to reduce the severity by getting their celiac completely under control (autoimmune conditions breed more autoimmune conditions)... so he said I was doing the right thing taking care of this first.
​
I'm just so confused because a lot of the symptoms I'm having are affecting my lower GI tract... while I do feel like the gas episodes originate in my small intestine, most of the cramping, constipation, and discomfort are in my large intestine. The GI said that bad celiac episodes can affect the whole GI tract and you can definitely get these lower intestinal symptoms.
Of course I still need to see a GI here in the UK... and get the proper tests to see what's actually going on with me.. but I really want to know if anyone else has had similar experiences to this... and if so, was it your celiac or did you find out that you had something else? I'm honestly really worried about things like lupus and ulcerative colitis... I know that no one here can tell me what's going on but it would be helpful to know if others have even experienced symptoms like this as a result of celiac because they seemed like they were coming out of left field to me.
Any advice or personal anecdotes would be appreciated
thank you

Got diagnosed with shingles on my scalp 4 days ago. I've been taking anti-virals, Tylenol and Aleve but I am still getting excruciating shooting pains in my head. I'm worried my brain is swollen. It feels like I am getting shocked on the left side of my head, the pain lasts a few seconds but this repeats all day and night. The rash itself is a bit itchy but doesn't seem to be blistering. Just wondering if others have experienced the same type of headaches and how long it took for them to stop.

I (24F, 155lbs, 5’4”) live in CA, USA. I have been going to doctors for the past two years trying to figure out what's wrong with me. It started out as just stomach problems -- lower GI discomfort, nausea/indigestion, constipation/diarrhea. I had hypotonia as a baby but no long-term issues or treatments with that since I was a toddler. I have had anxiety and depression since childhood. I had mononucleosis in December 2021. I also had COVID-19 in November 2022 (I am vaccinated and boosted).
I have health insurance, but am still thousands of dollars in debt due to all of these tests. I have reached a breaking point in terms of being told there's nothing wrong with me. I cry on a daily basis because of how defeated and unheard I feel. Please, please, if anyone can offer support or advice or even just validation that I'm not crazy, it would be greatly appreciated. I am tearing up just writing this.
I have been experiencing the following symptoms for the past two years:
- joint pain - hips, shoulders, knees, ankles, neck. I am active but susceptible to injuries whenever I try to increase exercise or try something new (i.e. I eased into running VERY slowly and after a few months, both ankles gave out on a random day during a run and have been hurting for over a year since). On a scale of 1-10, the joint pain typically ranges from a 4 to a 7.
- fatigue - I get 8-9 hours of sleep per night, I have good sleep hygiene. I don't feel like I NEED to nap/lay down to make it through the day, but I rarely feel energized and constantly feel at least a bit sleepy.
- even worse stomach problems - I've gone gluten and dairy free, I take daily fiber and pre/probiotic supplements, but still experience lower GI discomfort and indigestion on a daily basis. I poop like 3-5 times a day and it is bloody about 50% of the time. (see below - had a colonoscopy that found nothing)
- Pelvic pain - about 6 months ago, I started experiencing lower right quadrant pain when I had to pee. It worsened and increased over the course of several months. I had a pelvic ultrasound and CT urography that came back normal except for a small ovarian cyst. I also have an IUD.
- skin rashes/eczema - in the months immediately following mono, I experienced eczema-like rashes around my eyes, lips, on my arms, wrists, and hands. This went away once I changed around some of my makeup products and started topical steroids as needed (i have since stopped using these since i don't want to develop topical steroid withdrawal)
- Migraines, sensitivity to light and sound - this has kind of always been something I've dealt with. I am very overstimulated/uncomfortable around loud noises. I cannot go outside without sunglasses, and get migraines a few times a month that do not go away with Excedrine/advil/aleve.
- tender lymph nodes in my neck (not swollen like they were during mono, but sensitive to the touch)
- Heart palpitations (gotten worse in the past few months)
- Generally feeling sick -- body aches, random acute aches and pains, nausea, headaches. Kind of like I always feel like I'm about to get a cold.
I have seen the following specialties:
- Gastroenterology - said I was fine
- Rheumatology - said I could have chronic fatigue syndrome, but probably not.
- Functional/integrative medicine - started me on supplements for total-body inflammation and had me cut out gluten and dairy, but otherwise no diagnoses/treatments
- Psychiatry - currently in the process of moving over to Cymbalta instead of Zoloft, since Cymbalta is supposed to help with the pain issues.
I have had the following tests:
- comprehensive bloodwork - here are the abnormal results: positive ANA test - speckled homogenous. but negative for all of the more specific autoimmune tests i.e. Lupus tests, rheumatoid factor. I have high platelets and low MPV. High Beta 2 Glycoprotein IgG (14.0, normal range <7.0). Slightly elevated C-reactive protein, glucose.
- CT urography and pelvic ultrasound - normal
- Urine tests - positive RBC
- Echocardiogram and EKG - normal
- X-rays of ankles and hips - normal
- Colonoscopy - normal
I take the following medications/supplements:
- Wellbutrin, zoloft for anxiety/depression
- Turmeric powder and apple cider vinegar - I drink this mixture every morning on an empty stomach.
- Omega-3 supplement (EPA-DHA 300)
- American Ginseng
- D-Hist (allergy supplement)
- Claritin for seasonal allergies
- Inhaler for exercise-induced asthma as needed
- I also get acupuncture about twice a month.
I have a family history of:
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease, aortic aneurism, premature death due to sudden cardiac arrest
- Lung cancer due to smoking (I do not smoke)
If you've made it this far, thank you for even just listening. That's more than my doctors have been doing. My mom is a nurse and lots of family/friends are doctors, so I hope I'm not coming across as being anti-doctor. It's just that these specific doctors I've seen in the past two years have tarnished my trust in them and I'm completely defeated.

I have had "back end" issues and incontinence issues for as long as I can recall.
When I was in Northern England years ago, it was so bad that I was literally hobbling around like an old woman, with spells as short as 15 minutes between bathroom visits. I went to the emergency room in the middle of the night because I could not get up from the bathroom floor. I was given an iv with bags for dehydration, one for pain, and I don't remember what the 3rd bag was for.
I was in hospital for five days because of the severity of what I was enduring. There was talk of surgery. I had a heat rash, brought about from wearing thick layers of pads, I had fissures, and I had internal and external hemorrhoids. It was horrific. If not for the IV with pain medicine, the glucose iv, stool softener, and urine catheter, I do not know what I would have done.
My first bm was terrible. It was messy, and there was a lot of constipation. If you would have asked me, I would have told you that I drank more than enough water and fluids to keep me hydrated. I was extremely wrong. I over estimated my water consumption by more than 50 percent.
Here is the care regime for while I was in hospital and then at home for my hemorrhoids and fissures:
Do yoga every day. You won't feel like it. You will feel like this is making it worse, but according to the doctor I saw, this is because a lot of the muscles and tendons get atrophied from straining and lack of use. Basically, we don't use those muscles, and then we sit too long on the toilet, straining because we are not in shape. By doing yoga, we gently heal those muscles through gentle stretches and movements. Child pose is especially helpful.
Walk every day. Aim for a minimum of 6,000 steps. More is better, but you need to walk enough to keep up movement between your stomach and your rectum. Walking helps this by gently moving your internal organs.
Take a stool softener that does not have a laxative every day until you are having bowel movements that have the consistency of a banana.
Shower at least every other day. If you bathe instead of shower, get in a shower every week. This is to get rid of any bacteria as well as remove any unseen traces of feces and dead skin from the rectal area. Do not use a washcloth on your anus if it is inflamed, broken skin or swollen. Instead, get a pitcher, fill with water and pour that over the rectum. Do this until you are healed. Never clean your anus or genitals with a rough wash cloth. Either get a microfiber or chenille cloth. Washcloths can tear skin that has been weakened from injuries. Don't undo healing.
Don't wear thongs or underwear that has a close center seam. It places too much constant pressure on the rectum.
Clean your anus with a portable bottle bidet or install one. Never use toilet paper again. Instead, bidet first, and then pat, with a cotton round saturated with witch hazel. If you are currently inflamed, do this anyway to get rid of all fecal material. Toilet paper can literally reinjure you every time you use the bathroom. The witch hazel may sting or burn if you have raw skin. I know. It sucks. But, if you have feces there, it is acting to dry up the skin there, as well as not being hygienic. Take a breath, saturate the cotton pad, pat don't wipe and get it done, then drop it in the trash, not the toilet.
If you are bleeding, whether male or female, get a box of extra long panty liner and wear them until the bleeding subsides. Replace every time you go to the bathroom, whether or not it needs to be changed, because moisture can accumulate.
No matter how tempting it is, no matter how good it seems to feel, do not give into the itching feelings down there and scratch. You are literally scratching away the new skin being formed. Anti inflammation creams can bring relief, such as Benadryl.
Take Motrin as needed for aches and pains in your affected area. You want to keep the swelling down. Motrin helped better than anything else. I tried Tylenol, aspirin, Aleve and Motrin. It was the clear winner. I actually set an alarm the first week that I was home because I did not want those hemorrhoids to start swelling again.
Do NOT use a hemorrhoid/donut pillow. It makes them worse by placing extreme pressure/weight directly over the area.
Lidocaine can be purchased online and in stores specifically for hemorrhoids. This was a godsend to me.
Use Caldesene powder when the area is well, and especially if you have heat rash issues. I keep some in the house and it is a mighty worker. There are 2 versions, the original is pink and lightly scented and the baby formula is blue and unscented. I can't tell the difference, so I use the original formula. If I am having a hemorrhoid, I don't use it on my anus until I am well again.
Get a Squatty Potty or a footstool to help get your body in the natural position to have a bowel movement. It helps a lot.
Your first bowel movement.

1. Lubricate the anus inside and out with lidocaine cream.
2. Make it a point to cover the external hemorrhoids with the cream.
3. Allow five minutes for it to get to work.
4. Before you have the bowel movement, if you are able, get into a "doggy" position, and place your head down. Try to be in this position for about 2-3 minutes minimum. The reason is to move the feces away from the anus for enough time to allow the hemorrhoids to shrink slightly. This will make moving your bowels easier.
5. Get on the toilet, place your feet on the footstool or Squatty Potty and gently push.
6. If you have a hemorrhoid/hemorrhoids that are blocking the opening, go to the other side and gently pull the anal opening towards the thigh.
7. Gently push your bm out. Don't be forceful. Steady pushing as you breathe through the bowel movement.
8. Repeat until completion.
9. Clean up with the above method.
10. You may have to shower afterwards. That is okay. You are working towards healing yourself permanently.
11. Repeat this until you are healed.

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They gave me a "food for life regime" for when I was discharged. I have tried to stick to this as much as possible. Every time that I deviate from this regime, it is a matter of days or weeks until I am suffering again. I am sharing this with everyone here because I found it while moving things around the house, and it fully changed my life.
Water intake
Use an online calculator to determine the minimum amount of water that you should be consuming in a day. There are many, choose the one that works for you.
Eliminate, don't reduce the amount of carbonated and caffeinated beverages that you consume. These affect the way that the colon and intestines work, causing issues.
Add psyllium husk fiber to your diet 3x per day (1 tablespoon/5 grams). You should take capsules or whatever form of fiber you are taking with at least 30 minutes to one hour before you eat. That way there is food after the fiber to push the food through the body and out of the body.
Add beans, nuts, soups, and salads to your daily diet before lunch and supper. If you have dietary restrictions, observe them, of course. A salad is not only tomatoes and lettuce, but other vegetables as well.
Avoid cheese. I know. It is delicious. Avoid it, it stops the natural flow of the digestive process.
The water and fiber consumption are key. You want to have stool that is the consistency of a banana.
I hope that this helps someone out here who was suffering as badly as I was. Thank you for reading my post.
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I (21F) have been living with chest/back/side pain exclusively on my right side for a year now since i had an accident at work where a 50lbs bag of sugar fell 8ft into my arms/ onto my chest. none of my four x-rays spread out over the year show any breaks or dislocations, except the first one i had showed a slight (1cm) displacement of my 8th rib on the right side. it went back to normal but the pain never went away. Yesterday my doctor walked me through all the tests they’ve done and ruled out any heart, lung or liver problems. only thing that showed up on my bloodwork was evidence of long-term inflammation. “when you were injured it triggered some kind of chronic inflammation for one reason or another” 🤦🏽‍♀️ Basically there’s nothing else they can do. I have good days and i have bad days. I get flare ups where i can barely move and often experience nerve pain in my abdomen. sometimes i get rashes on my arms that are red and itchy but not raised most often around my tattoos. flare ups usually last for about three or four days. I take nortriptylene (?) nightly for the nerve pain and aleve/naproxen as needed for the inflammation. anyone dealing with similar problems, what are the next steps once they’ve “ruled out” any logical explanation for the pain? what should i do now and how do i get better? should i consider trying to get a referral to a rheumatologist? i feel like i’m just expected to carry on as normal when some days i am stuck in bed and my whole upper body is on fire? and i’m so young! with a 130lbs dog that needs walked and taken care of. i just don’t know how i’m supposed to keep living with this pain.

I'm a 30yo/f. For context during pregnancy with my 2nd child my skin on my face got bad (for me). I never had any issues with my health or my skin prior except for being diagnosed with Raynauds as a child. My face was red and bumpy mostly on my cheeks during and after the pregnancy. It was just two patches on my cheeks. I went to the dermatologist post pregnancy and they ran blood work to rule out autoimmune for the face "rash". In the end the claimed it was rosacea. My blood work however came back positive for sjogrens ss-a at 1.9 (slightly elevated?) and ss-b at <0.2 (which is normal?) Negative ANA and positive RF but that's likely bc I have raynauds too. My CRP was at 9.0. This was 2 years ago. Recent follow up shows my CRP at 4.9 but maybe I wasnt having a flare up at the time? I put all the question marks bc I'm not entirely sure.... I haven't really received exact answers. My symptoms are mostly chronic fatigue regardless of hours of sleep. Pain in my lower back/hips that started after my first pregnancy and I always attributed it to that. But knowing I have sjogrens antibodies it's making me think otherwise. My youngest child is 2.5 so to still have chronic back pain seems weird to me. Current Xrays show nothing wrong with my hips or pelvis. Another thing I never realized may be a symptom are these "headaches" I've gotten since I was at least a teen. They are in my temple, sharp and short lived. Like someone stabbed me in my temple for a few seconds and then it's over. It's extremely painful and debilitating... in the moment I can't move or think bc it's intense pain. In more recent years it has gotten worse and began to include an electric shock feeling that shoots from my temple to my bottom lip. Again...lasts like a few seconds but it's excruciating. This is not something I have ever mentioned to any doctor. It's so random and not often enough for me to feel like it was ever worth mentioning. However, research has lead me to trigeminal neuralgia which is a form of neuropathy which is common with sjogrens. To me the pieces are adding up. My Dr mentioned plaquenil but instead told me to take Tylenol or Aleve for the pain, lose weight and just continue with follow ups 1x year.
Idk I just wanted others opinions on from those who experience it. Any thoughts and tips are welcome. Should I seek a second opinion?

TLDR: I have a shockingly painful spot/area in my leg and can barely walk…despite being decently fit and active. All testing has been negative and shows that I am in good health.
I have been and continue to be under the care of doctors but have yet to receive a diagnosis. A possible clot, Superficial Thrombophleblitis, CIDP, self diagnosed CRPS have all been mentioned but I think all are ruled out at this point. Honestly, I really need help/ideas as I am in pain every day and more and more symptoms seem to be showing up.
45 male 5'8ish" 166 lbs caucasion, midwest state. I have been on various drugs since I was 20 for high blood pressure. Been taking 5 mg and 10 mg Lisinipril for over 10 years. It has seemed to mostly keep my blood pressure at around 120 over 80.
I have no known family history of Multiple Sclerosis.
Fully vaccinated...for everything including Covid.
I ran cross country and track in high school and college. My running continued into my late twenties...but I mostly switched to another sport (which involves a lot of running). Before all this happened, I considered myself to be active and agile and strong. I worked out regularly. I have worked occasionally as a gardener for the past several years.
My diet is probably higher than normal for dairy products and I probably eat a lot of flour as I like to make sourdough bread and other baking products often. The one thing that is high in my blood tests were my cholesterol numbers...probably because my family likes whole milk, cheese, and yogurt so much. My doctor was not concerned about that though.
I injured myself in early 2021 doing a box jump. Missed it. Landed on my shins. Gouged a chunk of skin out of my right shin. Still have a scar. On my left shin, I got a big deep bruise. I thought I healed up fine from this injury.
Got Covid on August 1st. About three days into that I woke up from a nap. Was about to get up when my left shin felt started having a burning searing, spasmy pain. I realized later that this was exactly across from my scar on my right leg. The pain is above a 7 when it starts...but usually settles down to an ache and then sometimes goes away. Sometimes it just aches and aches. So, went to urgent care clinic. They took an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot/DVT. They said they found some wall thickening. Diagnosed me with a chronic pain condition called Superficial Thromboplebitis. Prescribed me to take Paxlovid and an over the counter NSAID.
Things that set off the pain: If I got out of a cold shower into hot air or came from air conditioning into a hot car. That would really set it off. Also kneeling on my knee would set off the ache and if I was not careful, would probably set off the high level pain.
Anyways, I took the Paxlovid and one expired Aleve and the pain ceased pretty much immediately. I almost forgot about it.
On October 13th, I had just finished walking a half mile in the morning, when the pain/ache returned. I was a few days into a cold. I got another Ultrasound, showed nothing. Still no other symptoms. But after this appointment I noticed some tenderness down the inside of my right leg. I also had a poison ivy-like skin reaction to the gel that they used during the Ultrasound. As a gardener, I often get Poison Ivy, so I keep a Prednisone taper prescription on hand. I used it here. I believe it worked stopping my allergic reaction for the rash. I do not believe the rash was related to whatever else is bothering me, however, taking Prednisone may have affected it. Using this steroid may have been the reason why the pain settled down for awhile.
The pain mostly was manageable for awhile, but became high level again on about November 4th. This is when I finally got to see a better doctor. He ordered several blood tests and an EMG. Also referred me to see a specialist for Long Term Covid and also a spine doctor. Told me to start taking 1800 mg Ibuprofen a day. The blood tests showed that I was normal or negative for just about everything.
After that November 4th appointment, I had more symptoms appear. Basically I got a bunch of spots in my calves and shins and especially on the insides of my lower legs including my ankles that felt like the muscle was catching or pinching. Stretching did not help. This bothered me so much that I could barely walk. I believe the Ibuprofen dosage eventually allowed the symptoms to pass….almost completely.
I also got my last Covid booster shortly after this appointment.
So, with no symptoms, that is when I got the EMG, saw the covid and spine doctors. EMG said that my nerves were functioning appropriately. Covid specialist said that I did not check off enough of the Covid boxes to be considered having Long Term Covid. Spine doctor indicated that my pain did not radiate down the nerves from my back, so a cause coming from my back was unlikely. He did say that I should get an MRI…so I am working on that.
The Covid person told me to not take so much Ibuprofen. So, I started taking Aleve and Aleve PM instead. The Aleve PM kinda sort helps me sleep through the pain.
I am also requesting a test for Lyme Disease and Hypothyroidism…because they both can cause Peripheral Neuropathy.
Basically, my one painful spot comes and goes. And I have a variety of other symptoms. Mostly I just feel various spots in my body. They just feel weird. In my right calf and shin. And especially in my left forearm. My right forearm and wrist. In my left lower back. Other symptoms are that I woke up yesterday to the tips of my fingers being numb. I was able to shake them and get feeling back. I have had a slight head ache occasionally.
Because of my one painful spot, I can only limp around. I have rarely left my house in the last three weeks. It is really hard to work out when you can’t use one of your legs, so I have not worked out in quite a while.
One other symptom is that my temperature seems consistently low. 97.2 is common. Once, I measured 96.6 at the doctor’s office. And my feet and ankles are almost always cold to the touch of my hands. I have been wearing a ton of clothes and hat lately and being buried underneath blankets at night…way more than I used to. I know it is recently winter…but my body just does not seem to generate much heat. I used to wake up in the morning in a cocoon of heat…and now it seems like there is no heat when I wake up.
Feel free to ask me questions.

Hello! I would appreciate any advice on what direction my doctors and I should be looking in! My test results show that my immune system is reacting to something in a way that isn't typical of Hashimoto's. I have loads of inflammation and activity but no clue what is going on. I'm feeling lost and worried that this is something serious that needs treatment.
Age: 28
Sex/Gender: cisgender woman
Height and weight: 5’4”, for mental health reasons I don’t know my exact weight but I’m curvy.
Race/Ethnicity: White, non-Hispanic
Geographic location (eg. Canada): Minnesota, United States
Pre-existing medical issues (if any):

• current/ ongoing:
  • Hashimoto’s
  • fibromyalgia
  • Anemia
  • Chronic joint pain
  • Mild arthritis in the sacroiliac joint
  • PMDD
  • Hyper-mobility
  • Asthma
  • Carpal Tunnel
• Past
  • Bacterial Meningitis at age 5 (1999)
  • Strep throat almost every year
  • Pneumonia at age 15 (2009)

Current medications

• Levothyroxine: 112 mcg
• Wellbutrin: 300 mg XR
• Adderall: 25 mg XR and 15 mg in the afternoon of instant release
• Sertraline: 75mg
• Multivitamin: Ritual
• Probiotic: Ritual
• Omega 3 supplement
• Vitamin D supplement
• Sulfasalazine, stopped on the advice of my dr after developing a rash. Restarting this week on a lower dose but will stop if the rash returns.
• Aleve, 1 dose per day (as a treat)

Duration of complaint (how long has this been happening): these symptoms have been going on for years and have gotten worse over the past year.
Symptoms (be specific):

• Extreme fatigue
• Stiff joints
• Hyper-mobility
• Brain fog
• Depression
• Poor sleep
• Poor appetite
• Exercise intolerance
• Sore throat and swollen tonsils after kissing
  • (??? This one is really weird? This only happens the day after I’ve made out with someone?)
  • (I didn’t hook up with anyone due to the pandemic for two years so this is a more recent development)
• Bruise very easily
• General widespread flu-like body aches
• Tiny pin-prick red dots on face
• My heart skips a beat (like it's tripping on an uneven sidewalk)

Tests I’ve had in the last 6ish months:

• CRP ranging from 3.06-4.12 mg/dL
• compliment C3 at 162.44 mg/dL and C4 at 43.02 mg/dL
• ANA Pattern: dense fine speckled
• MCHC: 31.5 g/dL
• Neutrophils: 81.1%
• Absolute neutrophils: 10.4
• Antinuclear Antibody: positive, ANA titer 1: 1:320
• RA Factor: <7
• Sjogrens Syndrome B antibody: < 3
• White Blood Cell Count: 12.8 (up from its average of about 10.5 over the past 4 months)
• Strep, as of the last time my tonsils were angry about me getting my nut: negative

Self explanatory title…my boy picked it up at a birthday party last week, and it was pretty minor minus one night of a 103 fever. Didn’t really seem to phase him at all.
On Tuesday, I started having some severe pain swallowing. Wednesday, felt super feverish in the afternoon, but didn’t have a temp. By Thursday evening, the blisters on my feet had started.
My dudes, this is awful. If you haven’t dealt with it I hope you never have to. I can barely sleep because of how uncomfortable the rash and blisters on my feet are. It’s now starting on my hands.
To top it all off, my wife tested positive for Covid last week, so we’re anxious about making sure our boy doesn’t get it because he hasn’t been vaccinated yet. On top of trying to avoid Covid, I’m now dealing with this nonsense. (She’s mostly better by now)
Copious amounts of Tylenol and Aleve are the only things that provide a little bit of relief. I searched this group and it appears I’m not the only one to get this way worse than my kiddo.
Wife and I both work in education, so this is quite the way to start the school year. Fingers crossed this isn’t an omen of what’s to come the next 10 months…

Presenting medical problem: I (51F) am experiencing pain in my left hip/buttock continuously, which becomes excruciating when leg is fully extended, whether or not the leg is bearing weight (so also excruciating when lying down and fully extended). Also pretty agonizing while seated. Impacting sleep; severely impairing walking, sitting, ADLs, employment.
Qualitatively, pain does not seem to involve nerve impingement (no parathesias, no numbness, no shooting pains); pain seems very tied to mechanics of hip/leg motion, very correlated with movement of the muscles, and also sensations of pulling/pushing on the sore tissue suggestive of soft tissue moving unconventionally under the gluetus maximus in the general vicinity of the piriformis; evident swelling of the left thigh but no discoloration (irritated bicep femoris?); secondary pain in lower back from compensatory movement while walking, sitting; secondary pain in soft tissues attached to the IT band all down leg, apparently from the swelling. Also now secondary pain in right arm and neck from using a cane, and sleeping almost exclusively on my right side b/c pain.
Hx: pain initially began abruptly 10 years ago during a course of ciprofloxacin; since then has varied over time. Had begun to arrange PT for it three times but was interrupted by events (other medical problem, loss of insurance, and then a pandemic). Pain previously maxed at a 4 of 10. Rather abruptly and with no obvious physical insult 7 days ago injury gradually over a couple of hours while seated (reading Reddit, naturally) became much more acutely painful than previously (5 of 10). Woke the next day to 7 of 10 pain; pain so severe it made me nauseated. Has continued at around 6 of 10 since then, fluctuating with motion. I basically can't stand upright, even if the leg is bearing no weight, because the pain becomes so bad when I do.
I have a lengthy hx of mysterious soft tissue injuries, that mostly seem to be tendinoses. I do not have any known connective tissue d/o, but do have two other medical conditions which have been hypothesized to be as of yet undescribed connective tissue/collagen disorders (pompholyx, pelvic organ prolapse in nulligravida).
By complete coincidence, two weeks prior the sudden exacerbation, I had my annual physical, at which I brought up my hip pain which was not yet severe but still disrupting my sleep. My physician referred me to a Doctor of Osteopathy for manual manipulation, and also ordered x-rays, with the understanding they'd probably be clinically useless, but necessary for my insurance to authorize more useful imaging.
Also by coincidence, I presented at that appointment with a rash on my buttocks which my physician identified as a tinea infection, for which he prescribed me Clotrimazole and Betamethasone Dipropionate cream USP 1%/0.05%.
I have consulted with the DO but not presented for DO tx. I had the x-rays done and the radiologist, unsurprisingly, said there was no relevant findings.
My follow up appointment (virtual) with my physician is in five days.
My questions:

1. Given that this seems to be a soft tissue injury, how can I best care for it and not exacerbate it at home, between now and my next consultation? I gotta make it another five days before my physician can talk to me so I can ask him.
2. I am a little skeeved out that my physician recommended me to a DO for manipulative medicine. Should I not be? I understand here in the US DOs are usually pretty conventional doctors (unlike in Europe), but this one does the actual osteopathic manipulation treatment, and seems to specialize in it. The DO, when I consulted her, suggested that I consider treatment with her "complementary" to a conventional approach – which my physician, who referred me to her in the first place, doesn't seem to be taking. I did not like the DO's answers to my questions, which included whether there are any conditions for which her approach was not indicated (no). How woo is this DO? How freaked out, if at all, should I be that my PCP referred me to her?
3. What would the conventional approach to treating this be? I am worried that if I am not very specific in asking for what I need, my PCP will put me off with something other than standard of care, something it seems to me he has done before, including by directly minimizing my concerns and also referring me to a DO. (I don't think very highly of my PCP, which is why I'm asking Reddit for a second opinion, but I'm not in a position to change right now.) So what kind of medical professional should I be asking for a referral to? An orthopedist? A rheumatologist? A messeduphipologist?
4. Relatedly, at this juncture, not one physician has (ever) actually examined the site of the injury, much less palpated it. My current physician had me only partially disrobe to examine the rash, which is not the same part of me as the injury. Is this a thing I should expect? Even the DO said she works on fully clothed people, and would not have me disrobe for examination. I'm taken aback by the almost complete lack of physical examination. Not that I think it's likely, but I could have a tumor erupting out my ass for all anyone knows. That said, I've seen physicians on Meddit speculate that physical examination is now irrelevant or passé or some such. Should somebody actually put eyes on my injury? Is that something I should expect/request/demand? Or is that just not considered clinically indicated any more?
5. Pain management: I've been taking about 6 200mg ibuprofen HS (so 1200mg total) so I can sleep. It's been wearing off after about 6.5 hours to the point I wake then from pain, which is not enough sleep. Also, I think I'm beginning to develop heartburn from it. Someone suggested Aleve (naproxen) for a longer-lasting pain relief. Is this a good idea? Would I be able to take less of it? Recommendations? I am not using any pain medication during the day, because I don't want to over-use my leg, and am worried about too-effective pain relief just allowing me to make it worse. On the other hand, I have to sit for my job (I wfh at a computer) and it's pretty excruciating, and I have to do a certain basic amount of walking to go to the bathroom and the kitchen. Also, I don't know if I should or should not be taking an NSAID just for its anti-inflammatory properties. Is reducing the swelling a good thing or a bad thing? Please advise.
6. There was no obvious proximal cause of this exacerbation of this pre-existing injury. I was seated peacefully at my desk when it gradually came on me. It has occurred to me that one thing that has changed is the prescription I got for the antifungal + corticosteroid, which I had been on for seven days, very compliant, when this happened. It would not have occurred to me to wonder if this medication could be implicated in a soft tissue injury, had I not had this all start with a course of ciprofloxacin. So I asked google about tendon injuries and steroids, and apparently there is some suspicion that there could be a connection. Is there a chance the medication could be causing or worsening this? Should I d/c it? My physician instructed me to take it "two to three weeks", the package says "no more than two weeks", and I am on day 15 of taking it. I have no idea if the infection is resolved, because it is on my back side where I cannot really see it. There's still bumps, and dark spots, but the itch has been gone since the second day. What are the risks of d/c the anti-fungal, and what are the risks of continuing it? Especially since I seem to be very vulnerable to tendon injuries.

Thank you for any assistance you can render!

11/9/22 5 month update:
So in the past few months I've tried; gluten free diet, low histamine diet, antihistamines, low dairy diet, continued with magnesium glycinate, tried muscle relaxer and nothing seems to have changed it at all.
I went to see my final new doctor afaik at Mayo. Had my 3rd EMG. I think you all know the summary of all this. Doctors/science don't understand fasciculations, why people get them, what makes them happen in many cases. It's not a subject that is being researched for a cure or symptom relief. It's considered a non-symptom and just something to accept and live with as being a new normal. EMG showed various things but of no concern, old nerve injuries I've had which were also idiopathic. Doctor said all he could suggest was trying to accept them mentally. Completely unsurprising outcome but still pretty damn depressing. So at this point I'm not going to diet, or take any medication or supplements probably. Probably not seeing anymore doctors and not trying to treat it with anything. I've tried it all and nothing has changed it at all, better or for worse. Doctor's shoot from the hip guess was that it's a brain malfunction where it's incorrectly interpreting input from the body and incorrectly sending out muscle twitches at the wrong time, which is very general but he doesn't think it has anything to do with the muscles or nerves or blood chemistry. Likely just idiopathic brain damage, due to anything, covid, antibiotics, genetics, science doesn't know and won't know in our lifetime probably. It is a frustrating thing to comprehend when there's likely billions spent on hairloss research and how greatly twitching affects people. But, that's just the facts and where things are at. I'm pretty damn disappointed I haven't been a good news bearer but I'm still twitching 24/7, several per second in my calves and arms, day night forever. If I ever find anything that helps reduce them, or if they happen to reduce or evolve into anything else, I'll post again.
If anyone finds symptom improvement, DM me or post here. I've tried all the usual stuff and it hasn't changed the twitching at all so far.
10/12/22 4 month update:
I wish I had better news but no improvement. Still getting tons of tests, seeing lots of doctors. Going to Mayo next month for a 2nd opinion and more doctors and tests. So far they have no ideas. The guesses so far are long covid, autoimmune/viral flare up injuring the CNS somehow, and related to my brachial neuritis 2 years ago. It seems like my CNS is just vulnerable to irritation and hyperexcitability but no testing can really prove any of it. No treatments of course. They've mostly told me just to live with it and if it gets worse go back to doctors. So, I'll go to Mayo and do the additional tests there then probably just give up on medicine unless it gets much worse. Twitching is still pretty much the same as it was 4 months ago. No significant weakness.
New or worsening symptoms since last update:
Mental: Always irritable, jittery, short tempered, lacking joy and humor, nervous, anxious, angry, lack of concentration, frustration, don't want to think about anything especially problem solving.
Physical: Same twitching as always(24/7 constant calves, once per minute right forearm, 2-3 times per minute anywhere else in body). Buzzing sensation in back of my head and down my spine most of the time. Pulsing vibration in bottom right heel of foot and sometimes elsewhere. Bee sting pain/itches randomly but mostly in legs and arms. Tremor in right arm in mug-holding to sip type motion. Vibrating torso/arms during sleep. Insomnia and waking often. Had an episode during sleep where I had sciatic type jolts of pain down my leg every 4 seconds or so and simultaneously would spasm my leg as pain went down it. Itchiness of legs below knees at night that is below the skin. Lost a lot of weight, likely from trying exclusionary diets. I'll get twitches from stretching, flexing, yawning, you name it. Whenever a body part is still and relaxes it can start twitching but also when flexing and moving it's just not as noticeable.
I've had some hotspots and spasms go away.
My tests and scans have all come back mostly okay. No clear reason for any of it. Doesn't seem to get any better or worse day to day or in relation to how I feel or sleep or anything like that. It's very consistent.
I've tried gluten free for 2 months with zero change. Tried prolonged resting and lots of sleep, doesn't seem to change anything. Now starting low histamine diet, Zyrtek, and exercising lightly and regularly.
I pretty much just try to stay positive, ignore it, and live a healthy life. Doesn't seem to matter but I don't know what else to do so that's all I've got. Others have told me they did the same thing and over many months the twitching got milder so that's my plan and goal. I do get really frustrated and angry with medicine for not understanding what's going on. A simple muscle relaxer for fasciculations would be lifechanging for me and us I imagine. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out.
Some quirky things I noticed: If I press on my calves to mute/prevent them twitching I'm more likely to get a twitch somewhere else. Like my body has to get rid of that twitch energy, somewhere. Also, when I'm in a near-sleep state, not asleep but almost, I'll notice the twitches calm down a good bit, then as I become more conscious the energy rush and twitches come right back. It feels very chemical to me. Something about becoming conscious promotes a rush of "awake" energy chemicals and those chemicals are sending my CNS into over drive. I do think it's related in some way to my brachial neuritis from 2 years ago. I'm having some of the same pains occasionally and it would just be coincidental to have 2 extremely rare neurological disorders within 2 years.
Thoughts:
My nervous system just seems vulnerable to irritation, whether viral or autoimmune, or "anxiety" chemicals. I'm open to the idea of it all being anxiety. I just hate the term anxiety because I want to know exactly what chemicals that's describing and how my system is malfunctioning because of it. When I hear "anxiety" I just feel like I'm hearing the term "magic". If you can't measure it, don't know what it is or how it works and don't have a measurable way to fix it then it's just magic still at this point. I might start experimenting with medications after Mayo depending on their conclusion. I still think it's possible it'll get better and mostly go away at some point, but it might not. I would feel 90% better if it would at least improve. Like if I continued with my healthy living plan and noticed twitching went down 25% for a day or two I would feel so much more confident that this thing can change for the better even if it got worse again. The fact that it is extremely consistent is the most annoying part of all of it other than the lack of answers from science. I'm so jealous of people that say they only get like 50 twitches a day, or that they come and go. Mine are 100% constant. At any point I can just look down at my calves and they're squirming always, resting or flexed or after a walk or after resting, doesn't matter. I often just sit crossed legged now or with 1 leg resting on the other, or having calves pressed into something to white noise out the twitches temporarily. My body is like that movie Speed where if I become still and stop moving I blow up. It's so crazy. What a terrible and weird thing this is. All that being said, I'm pretty confident it's not a horrible disease that's going to get worse. I think the most likely scenario is it stays like this forever and I just have to accept this is the new normal as much as I hate that idea. When I first started twitching and found these and other forums, my biggest fear was that it was permanent and I'd have to just accept that as a new way of life, and that seems to be coming true. My life has totally changed now. Not a damn thing I can do about it I guess. I'm not a quitter though so I'll do what other's have said to just keep positive, live healthy, ignore it, and hope for the best.
I'm trying not to be a jerk, but I do hate the posts about atrophy and ALS. None of you have ALS. Stop focusing on that. Try and focus on why the CNS is overactive and making nerves hypersensitive. It's not a deadly disease it's basically the shittiest hiccups ever. It's really frustrating for someone like me to come to different forums and see lots of posts from teenagers who had a mild twitch in their eye for 2 weeks and posting tongue videos. *rant off*.
7/30 2 month update:
So after 2 months not much has changed. I was really hoping by this point I'd be able to say I was over this but nope.
New symptoms:
-Random itchy/nerve pain feelings randomly all over. These seem inconsistent. I haven't noticed much of a pattern. It might also just be my imagination/stress/irritated skin from so many hot baths/showers. The pain is mild and fleeting like I got a little scratch from a needle somewhere that lasts about 1-4 seconds then goes away. This has been inconsistent so I'm thinking it's temporary or just my imagination kinda.
-Sensitivity to cold. Just always feeling cold even in Florida heat. I think a lot of this is due to losing so much weight so fast.
-Weight loss. From stress and tried to eat too healthy and trying elimination diets. I'm back to eating healthy but normal food and weight has stabilized. Looking to stay around 233 lbs and put on some muscle. I think I ate so little for so long that I lost about 15 lbs in 2 months and a lot of it was muscle. That's what's making me feel kinda fatigued.
-Hypnic jerks, insomnia, energy rushes at night. This happened a lot but has gotten a little better. I'd jerk awake when trying to fall asleep. My sleep has gotten better mostly from me relaxing and not napping in the daytime so much. The energy rush just feels like someone injected me with adrenaline in my sleep. I wake up with rushes of nervous energy that feels crappy and makes me twitch even more. I do deep breathing and relaxation techniques when this happens and it helps. It's happening less often now. Proplanalol at night might help with this.
-Fatigue. Just feel tired and lazy all the time now. But I can still do anything I want to like long walks and climb stairs and muscles have the same strength in them. I think it's depression/weight loss fatigue and it'll improve.
-Right arm is irritated/weak/pre-crampy and twitchy. It has chronic nerve damage from the past so this doesn't surprise me. It's all pretty mild and still have good strength and dexterity. It will tremor occasionally as well like if I lean my arm on my desk and try to write with it. But it'll stop when I relieve the pressure. I've also seen it tremor when I was dieting too hard and was about to eat a meal. Low blood suganerve irritation tremors pretty much. My right forearm is a prime twitchy spot now. After the initial 5 days of 24/7 bicep twitching the 24/7 bicep twitch came back for 2 24-hour periods then went away again. I've got some chronic nerve damage here from the past so I've always had pain and irritation and weakness and nerve issues in this right arm. I think it just learned how to twitch recently also. After exercising my right arm it seems worse so I'm trying to give it a break and not stress it out and hope it calms down.
-Irritability and anxious energy. I find that I'm short tempered and irritable with people. I don't want to hear what they have to say and I get quickly annoyed at the smallest things. I catch myself doing this and it's like, why. I feel "tired and wired". I want to lay down on the ground in the shower and just stay that way for hours and hours and hours and I never want to get up. But, I also can't relax and fall asleep if I nap. I don't feel comfortable just sitting down or laying in bed. It feels most normal to walk at a good pace. I can't tell if this is a real symptom of just a side effect of stress/anxiety.
How I've been and where I'm going:
-Well I did all the tests and saw the doctors. Everything came back okay pretty much as expected. Docs suggested stress/anxiety, stress/anxiety, stress/anxiety with long COVID. But they were just taking a guess. They don't know and don't seem concerned so frankly I'm just agreeing with them. It seems benign and not getting worse and likely nothing I can do will change it so I'm trying to just ignore it and sort of move on.
-Next up for me is seeing an Endocrinologist, chiro and an eastern medicine doc. I'm going to run some supplement ideas by both of them and see if I can get a plan together. I've been taking some off and on with no results. I've been exercising lightly off and on with no changes either. But I want a solid, consistent, supplement and exercise program for at least a month to see if it does anything.
-I don't Google much anymore. I didn't find it all that helpful. The best stuff I got from it was stories of people who recovered or improved and what worked for them. In most cases twitching is from a specific thing like a medication or caffeine or a panic attack or long COVID. Those cases tended to resolve more easily than idiopathic occurrences like mine. I will go into my theory later. I'm always taking new tests and seeing new folks and I'll google some out of whack results here and there or whatever the docs suggest.
-After I see the Endo and eastern doc and Chiro I'll have a supplement and exercise and lifestyle plan that I'll incorporate into my typical healthy eat/sleep/relax routine and just see where that takes me for a month or so.
My thoughts:
-I think muscle twitching can be from a million different things so I don't think it's all that helpful to check symptoms or ask other folks about symptoms and what helped. One person can get it from over exercising and another from a panic attack. So I think it's probably not good to obsess over symptoms or ask other folks about symptoms. If it's bad go see the doc and do whatever they say and just move on.
-My docs don't seem concerned. Had all the tests and saw specialists. So I'm going with their opinion that it's probably not serious and probably not going to get worse and I'll just continue with conservative therapies and see if time heals.
-I have noticed that I seem to have fewer twitches, in fewer places with less intensity that in the past. It's not hugely different but it seems to be ever so slightly milder that it makes me think it'll continue to improve. I haven't noticed that anything makes them particularly better or worse except for a few things that might just be in my head. Laying in bed before going to sleep and after waking up seems to be the most twitchy especially in my calves. Laying on the hard floor seems to reduce twitches. I can trigger a twitch sometimes by pressing on a muscle or putting my arm behind my head or rolling over in bed. So it seems like the body is always pushing out *twitch signals* and if any muscle in the body is vulnerable or irritated and relaxed it'll pick up those signals. And those signals can be interrupted with movement and firmly pressing on the muscle. So I don't think it's a problem with the muscles or nerves, neurologist agreed. It's an irritation of the central nervous system likely by some irritation/chemical component like chronic stress hormones or something.
-What do I think caused all this? A combination of many things, none of which really matter or can be treated specifically but here's my theory. I had mild/moderate chronic stress for at least 6 months leading up, I had COVID and the vaccines, I was playing on the computer too much and clicking way too much in the week leading up to the bicep twitch, I have chronic nerve irritation in the right arm that started twitching. I think all those things could have combined in any number of ways to make my bicep twitch. When the bicep started twitching I became worried, had insomnia, and that combination is what "taught" my body to start twitching everywhere. Now that my body has learned twitching as an automatic behavior it doesn't want to unlearn it. It's like breathing or heart beat now, it just thinks this is normal. It's like a closed door in my CNS has been opened by stress chemicals/viral flare up and now that spot in my CNS is vulnerable to any irritation and just keeps pumping out twitch chemicals and signals. I think my worrying, insomnia, poor diet, and hyper awareness just made everything worse over the past couple of months. I should have probably just put a strong compression sleeve on my bicep from the start and check it twice a day until it goes away, ignore it, and not google or think about it. It probably would have just gone away like it did without teaching the rest of my body to twitch.
-After all the forums and reddit posts and information I've found. Here's what I think makes it better for people like me who are idiopathic and likely caused the twitching through stress/long covid. Live a healthy routine life with food/exercise/stress reduction/good sleep, ignore the twitching and don't ruminate at all, don't keep googling and searching and comparing symptoms, give it a long time of honesty to adhere to the other items. I'm finding my symptoms are a tad milder than they were a few weeks ago and that's because I've calmed down and my fear is far less. I have full strength and coordination and everything works fine other than twitching and fatigue. The fatigue is likely from a medication here and there, recent weight loss, not drinking caffeine anymore and not remembering what it felt like to not be caffeinated in the morning. I think I'll either just get more used to it, or they will get milder in the next month or so. I'm pretty confident it won't get any worse at this point. It's a mild twitch every 5-45 seconds or so depending. It's mostly in my calves and right forearm now. It seems like the insomnia and stress brought on all the other symptoms, and maybe even the twitching in the first place. My sleep is getting better and my stress is improving a little too. Work will be stressful for me for at least another month so I'm mentally prepared to still feel crappy for at least a month. Still optimistic overall.
-Related to all the stuff I've found out there people tended to either get better and post, get better and disappear, or stay the same/get worse and post a ton. I find that most folks are just getting over it. Either recovering or symptoms got milder and they don't pay attention anymore. But I've seen dozens of posts all over the net of the people who came back and said yea, I was stressed and my little twitch turned bodywide, I got scared for a few months, I calmed down and they mostly went away after 3-4-5-6-12-18 months. There are a few who never have improved symptoms but just get used to it. It seems like runners/cyclists often get chronic calf twitches and they never improve but get used to it. The long covid folks often say it got better after 4-6-8-12 months or so. So I do think there's plenty of hope out there for twitchers. My docs all told me they had seen twitching either in their personal lives, or as students, or patients, and they either all got better or got milder to where people got used to it. Hypersensitive and aware people like me just focus on it a lot more than the average person. That not only makes it worse, but more noticeable and longer lasting. The average person probably would have had the bicep twitch for a few days then it go away and they move on. That's my belief at least. So I'm going to try and dress for the part and just pretend it's fine, because it probably is, and just go on with life.
Tips:
-Don't mess with tons of medications and supplements unless your doctor really really thinks it'll help. It just makes you keep searching for a solution, and more disappointed and scared when your Mystical Blue Powder zx19 doesn't work. Yes, I'll try a supplement regimen because I was slightly low and high in some areas and my docs recommended it. But, I'll be going low dose, and not expecting much from it, especially quickly.
-Stop googling duh. Don't compare symptoms and stay away from websites and forums and things. I've seen everything on the internet now and nothing was helpful. The only thing that was helpful was seeing stories from people who seemed reliable and recovered but not those, "I took a magic potion and got better immediately" posts. Almost everyone I saw that seemed genuine and got better said they just lived a healthy life, ate exercised and slept well, and over time it just got better.
-Trust docs, go with the most obvious answers, and just move on. If your tests seem fine and docs aren't worried then you're good. That's where I'm at now and it feels way better. Stress way down to just have clear tests, unconcerned docs, and no serious symptoms. Nothing I have, or you have probably, is an indicator of something serious. You'll never measure muscle wasting or any of that crap. Don't do testing and that stuff.
-Twitching is an automatic behavior your CNS/brain learns. It learned it can relieve stress/use up stress chemicals/hormone imbalance etc but continually throwing out twitchy signals all over your body. And your vulnerable areas at rest are happy to receive them, usually calves for people. When your muscles are busy or distracted they ignore those signals. It's likely as simple as that for most folks with idiopathic/stress/viral flare up type twitches. The way to get better is for your subconscious to unlearn that behavior. I don't think this is mystical it's just sort of common sense from my experience. How does your subconscious unlearn this stress-relieving behavior? Yep, you gotta get rid of the stress for a very long time and just hope it's enough. It might never unlearn that behavior but that's okay because it's just annoying and not truly harmful. As repetitive and annoying as it sounds you gotta eliminate all stress that means physical stress from caffeine and alcohol/junk food/poor sleep, to mood changes. As hard as it sounds you gotta dress for success. Think positive, ignore the symptoms, actually pretend they don't exist. You almost gotta be crazy to trick your brain. Pretend the symptoms don't exist and don't think about them at all, then your subconscious will forget about them and you'll have normal stress responses rather than twitching. It's super hard to do because the symptoms are very physical but that's the challenge I think.
-Sort of to reiterate. I believe the twitching is just a benign behavior that comes from a combination of real physical stress like a viral flare up or a temporary injury and chronic/acute stress/anxiety and that combo-wombo is what teaches your brain and CNS to twitch at rest. I think when this is the case it creates a loop where the stress feeds symptoms and the symptoms feed stress. I think many people are like me and are searching for a cure, something to get rid of their symptoms, but there isn't such a thing in science yet. Because the twitches are an automatic subconscious behavior it's not something a chemical or vitamin can fix. You have to unlearn the subconscious behavior and that's super difficult because it doesn't make logical sense. Logically you want to reduce twitching so you can relax and feel better. But that won't happen usually in cases like mine/ours. You actually have to teach your brain that the twitches don't exist so the brain forgets about it and finds new "problems" to solve. This is so hard because it means telling yourself and other people that you're fine, and that you don't have symptoms or a condition. Think of it this way, instead of that guy over there twitching 10 times a day and not noticing you twitch 1000 times a day and need to learn to not notice it. It sounds so unfair because it is unfair. You have to actually downplay your own feelings to make yourself feel better. Most of us want everyone else and ourselves to know how bad we feel. I saw advice similar to this on a popular anxiety youtuber video and I think it's probably pretty good advice. Fake it til you make it. Tell yourself, and everyone else, and your doctors, that you feel fine. Yes, you can tell your doctors or friends if they ask that you do have twitching or whatever is 100% real and not just a maybe-symptom. But if they don't ask, don't tell. Pretend you're 100% normal, because in reality, you probably are. Your brain is stupid, you can convince it you have any symptom under the sun but you can also probably convince it that you don't have anything wrong with you. Luckily in our case, there almost certainly isn't anything wrong with us. Journaling helped me with this. When I wrote, same symptoms everyday, slept okay, good appetite, symptoms seem mildly better with good sleep etc. I realized I was basically fine and just hyper focused on a pretty minor bodily behavior. Instead of telling doctors and friends you feel miserable, that you twitch all the time, that you're exhausted and can't move, just tell them you're feeling okay and think you'll get better with time. Your brain literally is hearing and understanding those words whether it wants to or not. Can you cure a broken bone with positive behavior, not really. But you can definitely learn and unlearn subconscious behaviors with the power of suggestion. So, that's my advice for trying to get better mentally. Write down everyday how you're doing, not how bad you're doing, but write down how normal your life and functions actually are. Writing and reading that makes it feel more normal and how silly it is to worry about it. I know how hard this is because all you want to do is tell doctors and friends that it's so horrible in hopes they can somehow comfort you and make you feel better, or try extra hard to find a cure for you. But, likely reality is that yes there's a physical component to why it started and how you're feeling, but the only likely cure is attitude and time. That being said, that's assuming you're physical life is in proper order. Eat, sleep, relax, exercise in a very routine and rational way. Don't take tons of supplements and medications that strain your body even more. Just the minimum, if your doctor really recommends it, and low doses.
If anything significant changes I'll make another update. I'd love to hear from other folks who are recovering and seeing improvement. I think rational people who are seeing improvements are a big booster.
See my original post below.
Hi All,
I'm a new Twitcher and joined just to tell others about my journey and to seek out others like me who have had success stories. I'd love to hear about people like me that got over this. It would make me feel better to hear from folks who have a similar situation as me who could give me some reassurance that theirs improved. I've seen many stories of people recovering but they were due to obvious things like medication changes or caffeine and weren't really like me where that weren't any obvious causes.
Quick background:
38/m USA, very normal life, healthy well balanced diet, slightly overweight, drank 1 cup of coffee or tea per day usually, no medications or drugs, don't drink or smoke. Never had twitching before.
Normal diet: Apple or Banana + mixed nuts for breakfast, Quinoa/Brown rice with various beans, veggies and cheese for lunch, Dinner is typical American dinner food (meat, a veggie, and a carb). So I've eaten a very well balanced diet I think. Lots of fresh fruit and veggies, nuts and beans. No weird eating habits and no special diets.
Medical background (probably unrelated but I figured I'd put it out there):
I had brachial neuritis a couple of years ago. Increasing pain in neck and shoulder for about a month. Then pain went 75% away quickly. Then I had extreme weakness in that shoulder. After about a year I regained most of the strength and mobility. Had MRI, had mild stenosis, bone spurs. That was a really difficult experience but when I started seeing improvement in my strength and mobility I knew it was getting better and didn't feel so bad. It's possible what caused this is also causing my new issues. Or maybe the stenosis is causing it. I'm pretty good about spine health and posture since my incident.
Had the Moderna COVID vaccine and then booster in December. Caught COVID in January. Had some extended bronchitis symptoms for almost a month and recovered in early February.
March-May were moderately stressful months. I've had really anxious times in the past for various things. They were real fears and stressful times not really random anxiety. And the anxiousness I felt in March-May is what I'd consider mild compared to anxious times I've had in the past. I know anxiety is a big contributor to BFS. I'm pretty good about having a normal work life routine. I take relaxation breaks and take care of myself. I wasn't experiencing anything super anxious in the time leading up to my symptoms.
I don't take any medications or supplements regularly. I'd take an Excedrin if I were having a headache here and there. No food allergies or anything obvious like that.
Symptoms and current situation:
About 7 days ago Sunday June 5th I noticed my bicep would twitch at rest and never really stopped while at rest. I found that it was much more noticeable when my elbow was bent so I started straightening my arm and opening my hand palm up while resting to calm the twitches. After 3 days of that it started bothering me quite a bit and found it hard to sleep. I normally sleep very well and have a regular sleep schedule 11pm-7am everyday pretty much. So it was abnormal for me to not sleep well. Then the twitches started happening all over my body. They only happen when the muscle is at rest. So if my legs are engaged like standing but my arms are relaxed then my arms will twitch. If I'm holding my phone with 2 hands and they're engaged but my legs are relaxed while sitting or laying down, the legs will twitch. I've felt them in my abdomen and back a little bit. Mostly in my calves, thighs, forearm, triceps, feet. They are typical fasciculations. It does seem like if one happens it creates another one somewhere else quickly after. They never get better or worse really. If I'm laying down relaxed it's a very consistent twitch every 5 seconds or so somewhere, maybe most commonly in my leg/calf but definitely everywhere else sometimes. I haven't noticed any twitches in my mouth of face area per se. They don't seem any better or worse with deep relaxation like a hot bath, or if I'm really worrying a lot and laying still. It's very consistent. No loss of strength or coordination. No other issues I've noticed in particular. I have jerked my leg once in my sleep but it was kind of mild. I will twitch awake sometimes when I'm just about to enter deep sleep from a rested state. Right when I'm entering sleep it'll sort of jolt me back to consciousness which is really annoying. Because my symptoms are extremely consistent(rest the muscle, it twitches) I figure it'll be easy for me to notice any change in symptoms. Ironically my bicep is one of the areas it twitches the least now. My hope is it started in my bicep and took 5 days to work itself out, and now it'll take 5 or so days to work itself out of the rest of my system(hopeful). No pain at all. No weakness at all. No other symptoms really that I can tell. Just resting twitches all over.
So after 5 days of it and it going from my bicep to the rest of my body I started Googling and found out a lot about BFS. I'm pretty sure that's what's going on but I do think there's a viral/autoimmune/neck injury element to it. I started by cutting out caffeine completely, cut out gluten just incase(wasn't eating much caffeine or gluten to begin with), started doing more light exercising, started trying to relax even more than before with long walks and positive attitude as well as just telling myself this is common and probably not serious and will probably heal just like my other brachial neuritis episode.
I also started taking supplements and sleep aides out of desperation like many folks. I figured it probably couldn't hurt much and yea desperation to see some improvement. I've got that "solve this fast" mentality. But it does seem like it's one of those issues where you gotta just calm down and ignore it and let the body heal over a long period of time. I'd be okay with that if I saw some improvement. Even a tiny bit of improvement would give me confidence that this will clear up eventually. It's weird that it was in my bicep for 5 days and now everywhere, but rarely in my bicep now. I keep telling myself it's just working its way through my system. Very strange for it to start in that one spot then transfer everywhere else. But I've read these twitches are unpredictable. They will start anywhere, spread anywhere, hot spots, body wide you name it. No pins and needles, no heat, no rash, no itching, no pain, no weakness, no trouble swallowing or any other symptom other than it seems to trigger a twitch right as my brain is falling asleep. It's like how my muscles only twitch when they're relaxed, my brain will twitch when it finally relaxes.
Taking:
In the morning, B12, Calcium, Vitamin D.
In the evening, Magnesium, Zinc, Ibuprofen/Aleve PM to help with sleep. I've been taking the Pain relief PM stuff in hopes I can just get a good night's sleep and wake up with these twitches gone. I've read diphenhydramine can be a cause of twitching. I did get the twitches and they did change before I started taking any of this so I don't think it's a cause per se. But I do want to stop taking them and try something else to help me sleep. It's really the twitching and not anxiety keeping me awake. I'll be dead tired and be happy to sleep and just twitching will keep me awake. The Aleve PM just sort of knocked me out for 7 hours or so. I will wake up from a deep sleep on the medication from twitches. It's a total bummer waking up to them. I kept thinking if I just got some deep sleep they'd go away.
I got some sleep aid supplement that's a combination of Melatonin, L Theanine and GABA. I'll try that to see if I can get off of having to use diphenhydramine to get to sleep. I don't think the anti inflammatory element of the Aleve has had much effect. Overall it just knocked me out to sleep then made me feel pretty drowsy the next morning. I was thankful for the sleep each time.
Other food/supplements I've started: Coconut water, Vitamin Water, Gatorade Rapid Rehydrate, green smoothies, Still eating my regular diet although my appetite has gone down, likely to health anxiety and lack of sleep more than an actual symptom. Still lots of beans, nuts, gluten free foods, No caffeine.
Exercise: Normally I'd exercise very lightly. I mostly just walked several times a day for a total of 2-3 miles a day. It was enough to get the heart rate up a tiny bit and feel good. But I'd still consider it low amount of exercise. Since the symptoms started I've added very light weight lifting, a little more stretching and cardio and Yoga. I'd still consider it a light/moderate exercise routine. Not pushing myself at all really just adding a little bit more. Drinking tons of water but I always have drank lots of water in the past.
So I'm hoping someone like me or someone who knows someone like me could chime in and reassure me that they got over it or it improved with time. I've only read stories of people with chronic anxiety or other health/drug issues but not many stories about sort of regular healthy people like me recovering from BFS.
Because I don't have any problems speaking, swallowing, balance issues, strength issues, or anything else really I don't think it's super serious other than it being extremely annoying, particularly when I try to sleep. Most of the day I can tolerate it and don't notice it at all while walking and being physically active. But as soon as I sit down or lay down, whatever is at rest just starts twitching randomly. I've tried to count and it's normally 1 twitch every 5-10 seconds in a random location and the twitch is instant.
Mentally, I'm okay. I wasn't really anxious before this happened, or even now. I'm mostly anxious that I don't know how long it'll last. But I am confident it'll go away eventually. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it's related to whatever caused my brachial neuritis a couple of years ago. A virus or auto immune response in my nervous system just getting irritated again randomly. Or maybe Long Covid. Or maybe due to my cervical spine issues(maybe I just tweaked it enough to not notice and it's irritating the twitching bits of the spine connection but not pain), or maybe it really was due to just subconscious anxiety from the past months just building up in me until this was the result. I'm open to what the professionals tell me and not really scared of anything serious.

Ok so about a month ago it first started. I had a small red bumpy rash all over my body in patches. Severe itch, incredible pain, nausea and my eyes felt like they were gonna melt out of my skull. It was mainly my face, under one breast, my back, chest, neck and hands. My temperature was 100.2 and never went past 101. I was outside for maybe 45 minutes and I had NO sunburn or even a previous sunburn.
Since then the bumps went away. I have horrible body aches. My temperature has never went back to it's normal 96.7. it stays between 98 to 100. Everytime I go outside even for a small amount of time, I get really nauseated. My skin turns red and starts to itch and that sunburnt feeling comes back. I've also noticed when I sweat, It starts up and my sweat smells metallicy. My lymph nodes also swell and/or ache.
I'm going through a spell right now and I can't take this much more. I went to the gas station and I started to feel really sick in the car. Stomach turns into a sick knot and I start to feel that sun burnt feeling all over my body again. For a month I've been suffering like this. I've tried benadryl, doesn't help. I've taken Aleve, doesn't bring down my temperature.
I've never been allergic to anything. I haven't changed any types of product I use on my body or while washing clothes. I'm not taking any new medicine or anything.
What in the holy fuck is happening to me and how so I make this stop?

Hi All,
I'm a new Twitcher and joined just to tell others about my journey and to seek out others like me who have had success stories. I'd love to hear about people like me that got over this. It would make me feel better to hear from folks who have a similar situation as me who could give me some reassurance that theirs improved. I've seen many stories of people recovering but they were due to obvious things like medication changes or caffeine and weren't really like me where that weren't any obvious causes.
Quick background:
38/m USA, very normal life, healthy well balanced diet, slightly overweight, drank 1 cup of coffee or tea per day usually, no medications or drugs, don't drink or smoke. Never had twitching before.
Normal diet: Apple or Banana + mixed nuts for breakfast, Quinoa/Brown rice with various beans, veggies and cheese for lunch, Dinner is typical American dinner food (meat, a veggie, and a carb). So I've eaten a very well balanced diet I think. Lots of fresh fruit and veggies, nuts and beans. No weird eating habits and no special diets.
Medical background (probably unrelated but I figured I'd put it out there):
I had brachial neuritis a couple of years ago. Increasing pain in neck and shoulder for about a month. Then pain went 75% away quickly. Then I had extreme weakness in that shoulder. After about a year I regained most of the strength and mobility. Had MRI, had mild stenosis, bone spurs. That was a really difficult experience but when I started seeing improvement in my strength and mobility I knew it was getting better and didn't feel so bad. It's possible what caused this is also causing my new issues. Or maybe the stenosis is causing it. I'm pretty good about spine health and posture since my incident.
Had the Moderna COVID vaccine and then booster in December. Caught COVID in January. Had some extended bronchitis symptoms for almost a month and recovered in early February.
March-May were moderately stressful months. I've had really anxious times in the past for various things. They were real fears and stressful times not really random anxiety. And the anxiousness I felt in March-May is what I'd consider mild compared to anxious times I've had in the past. I know anxiety is a big contributor to BFS. I'm pretty good about having a normal work life routine. I take relaxation breaks and take care of myself. I wasn't experiencing anything super anxious in the time leading up to my symptoms.
I don't take any medications or supplements regularly. I'd take an Excedrin if I were having a headache here and there. No food allergies or anything obvious like that.
Symptoms and current situation:
About 7 days ago Sunday June 5th I noticed my bicep would twitch at rest and never really stopped while at rest. I found that it was much more noticeable when my elbow was bent so I started straightening my arm and opening my hand palm up while resting to calm the twitches. After 3 days of that it started bothering me quite a bit and found it hard to sleep. I normally sleep very well and have a regular sleep schedule 11pm-7am everyday pretty much. So it was abnormal for me to not sleep well. Then the twitches started happening all over my body. They only happen when the muscle is at rest. So if my legs are engaged like standing but my arms are relaxed then my arms will twitch. If I'm holding my phone with 2 hands and they're engaged but my legs are relaxed while sitting or laying down, the legs will twitch. I've felt them in my abdomen and back a little bit. Mostly in my calves, thighs, forearm, triceps, feet. They are typical fasciculations. It does seem like if one happens it creates another one somewhere else quickly after. They never get better or worse really. If I'm laying down relaxed it's a very consistent twitch every 5 seconds or so somewhere, maybe most commonly in my leg/calf but definitely everywhere else sometimes. I haven't noticed any twitches in my mouth of face area per se. They don't seem any better or worse with deep relaxation like a hot bath, or if I'm really worrying a lot and laying still. It's very consistent. No loss of strength or coordination. No other issues I've noticed in particular. I have jerked my leg once in my sleep but it was kind of mild. I will twitch awake sometimes when I'm just about to enter deep sleep from a rested state. Right when I'm entering sleep it'll sort of jolt me back to consciousness which is really annoying. Because my symptoms are extremely consistent(rest the muscle, it twitches) I figure it'll be easy for me to notice any change in symptoms. Ironically my bicep is one of the areas it twitches the least now. My hope is it started in my bicep and took 5 days to work itself out, and now it'll take 5 or so days to work itself out of the rest of my system(hopeful). No pain at all. No weakness at all. No other symptoms really that I can tell. Just resting twitches all over.
So after 5 days of it and it going from my bicep to the rest of my body I started Googling and found out a lot about BFS. I'm pretty sure that's what's going on but I do think there's a viral/autoimmune/neck injury element to it. I started by cutting out caffeine completely, cut out gluten just incase(wasn't eating much caffeine or gluten to begin with), started doing more light exercising, started trying to relax even more than before with long walks and positive attitude as well as just telling myself this is common and probably not serious and will probably heal just like my other brachial neuritis episode.
I'll see my general practitioner Tuesday and I'm expecting he will order blood work then that slow process of elimination and tests and specialists. I wish I could speed up the timeline but I do suspect it'll take months to get any answers. Fingers crossed I'm just really low on Iron or something goofy simple thing.
I also started taking supplements and sleep aides out of desperation like many folks. I figured it probably couldn't hurt much and yea desperation to see some improvement. I've got that "solve this fast" mentality. But it does seem like it's one of those issues where you gotta just calm down and ignore it and let the body heal over a long period of time. I'd be okay with that if I saw some improvement. Even a tiny bit of improvement would give me confidence that this will clear up eventually. It's weird that it was in my bicep for 5 days and now everywhere, but rarely in my bicep now. I keep telling myself it's just working its way through my system. Very strange for it to start in that one spot then transfer everywhere else. But I've read these twitches are unpredictable. They will start anywhere, spread anywhere, hot spots, body wide you name it. No pins and needles, no heat, no rash, no itching, no pain, no weakness, no trouble swallowing or any other symptom other than it seems to trigger a twitch right as my brain is falling asleep. It's like how my muscles only twitch when they're relaxed, my brain will twitch when it finally relaxes.
Taking:
In the morning, B12, Calcium, Vitamin D.
In the evening, Magnesium, Zinc, Ibuprofen/Aleve PM to help with sleep. I've been taking the Pain relief PM stuff in hopes I can just get a good night's sleep and wake up with these twitches gone. I've read diphenhydramine can be a cause of twitching. I did get the twitches and they did change before I started taking any of this so I don't think it's a cause per se. But I do want to stop taking them and try something else to help me sleep. It's really the twitching and not anxiety keeping me awake. I'll be dead tired and be happy to sleep and just twitching will keep me awake. The Aleve PM just sort of knocked me out for 7 hours or so. I will wake up from a deep sleep on the medication from twitches. It's a total bummer waking up to them. I kept thinking if I just got some deep sleep they'd go away.
I got some sleep aid supplement that's a combination of Melatonin, L Theanine and GABA. I'll try that to see if I can get off of having to use diphenhydramine to get to sleep. I don't think the anti inflammatory element of the Aleve has had much effect. Overall it just knocked me out to sleep then made me feel pretty drowsy the next morning. I was thankful for the sleep each time.
Other food/supplements I've started: Coconut water, Vitamin Water, Gatorade Rapid Rehydrate, green smoothies, Still eating my regular diet although my appetite has gone down, likely to health anxiety and lack of sleep more than an actual symptom. Still lots of beans, nuts, gluten free foods, No caffeine.
Exercise: Normally I'd exercise very lightly. I mostly just walked several times a day for a total of 2-3 miles a day. It was enough to get the heart rate up a tiny bit and feel good. But I'd still consider it low amount of exercise. Since the symptoms started I've added very light weight lifting, a little more stretching and cardio and Yoga. I'd still consider it a light/moderate exercise routine. Not pushing myself at all really just adding a little bit more. Drinking tons of water but I always have drank lots of water in the past.
So I'm hoping someone like me or someone who knows someone like me could chime in and reassure me that they got over it or it improved with time. I've only read stories of people with chronic anxiety or other health/drug issues but not many stories about sort of regular healthy people like me recovering from BFS.
Because I don't have any problems speaking, swallowing, balance issues, strength issues, or anything else really I don't think it's super serious other than it being extremely annoying, particularly when I try to sleep. Most of the day I can tolerate it and don't notice it at all while walking and being physically active. But as soon as I sit down or lay down, whatever is at rest just starts twitching randomly. I've tried to count and it's normally 1 twitch every 5-10 seconds in a random location and the twitch is instant.
I'll check back here with updates. My hope is it just goes away in another week and I can have a happy ending that other sufferers can find when they start getting these symptoms. Please no negative posts or asking me for help with your symptoms as I don't know anything. I'm confident it's harmless and temporary and don't need spooky folks posting stuff.
Mentally, I'm okay. I wasn't really anxious before this happened, or even now. I'm mostly anxious that I don't know how long it'll last. But I am confident it'll go away eventually. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it's related to whatever caused my brachial neuritis a couple of years ago. A virus or auto immune response in my nervous system just getting irritated again randomly. Or maybe Long Covid. Or maybe due to my cervical spine issues(maybe I just tweaked it enough to not notice and it's irritating the twitching bits of the spine connection but not pain), or maybe it really was due to just subconscious anxiety from the past months just building up in me until this was the result. I'm open to what the professionals tell me and not really scared of anything serious. I've actually been gaining strength and coordination which is funny.
Welp, that's my story. Look forward to hearing from those who've improved or recuperated!
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Thanks for reading.

11/9/22 5 month update:
So in the past few months I've tried; gluten free diet, low histamine diet, antihistamines, low dairy diet, continued with magnesium glycinate, tried muscle relaxer and nothing seems to have changed it at all.
I went to see my final new doctor afaik at Mayo. Had my 3rd EMG. I think you all know the summary of all this. Doctors/science don't understand fasciculations, why people get them, what makes them happen in many cases. It's not a subject that is being researched for a cure or symptom relief. It's considered a non-symptom and just something to accept and live with as being a new normal. EMG showed various things but of no concern, old nerve injuries I've had which were also idiopathic. Doctor said all he could suggest was trying to accept them mentally. Completely unsurprising outcome but still pretty damn depressing. So at this point I'm not going to diet, or take any medication or supplements probably. Probably not seeing anymore doctors and not trying to treat it with anything. I've tried it all and nothing has changed it at all, better or for worse. Doctor's shoot from the hip guess was that it's a brain malfunction where it's incorrectly interpreting input from the body and incorrectly sending out muscle twitches at the wrong time, which is very general but he doesn't think it has anything to do with the muscles or nerves or blood chemistry. Likely just idiopathic brain damage, due to anything, covid, antibiotics, genetics, science doesn't know and won't know in our lifetime probably. It is a frustrating thing to comprehend when there's likely billions spent on hairloss research and how greatly twitching affects people. But, that's just the facts and where things are at. I'm pretty damn disappointed I haven't been a good news bearer but I'm still twitching 24/7, several per second in my calves and arms, day night forever. If I ever find anything that helps reduce them, or if they happen to reduce or evolve into anything else, I'll post again.
If anyone finds symptom improvement, DM me or post here. I've tried all the usual stuff and it hasn't changed the twitching at all so far.
10/12/22 4 month update:
I wish I had better news but no improvement. Still getting tons of tests, seeing lots of doctors. Going to Mayo next month for a 2nd opinion and more doctors and tests. So far they have no ideas. The guesses so far are long covid, autoimmune/viral flare up injuring the CNS somehow, and related to my brachial neuritis 2 years ago. It seems like my CNS is just vulnerable to irritation and hyperexcitability but no testing can really prove any of it. No treatments of course. They've mostly told me just to live with it and if it gets worse go back to doctors. So, I'll go to Mayo and do the additional tests there then probably just give up on medicine unless it gets much worse. Twitching is still pretty much the same as it was 4 months ago. No significant weakness.
New or worsening symptoms since last update:
Mental: Always irritable, jittery, short tempered, lacking joy and humor, nervous, anxious, angry, lack of concentration, frustration, don't want to think about anything especially problem solving.
Physical: Same twitching as always(24/7 constant calves, once per minute right forearm, 2-3 times per minute anywhere else in body). Buzzing sensation in back of my head and down my spine most of the time. Pulsing vibration in bottom right heel of foot and sometimes elsewhere. Bee sting pain/itches randomly but mostly in legs and arms. Tremor in right arm in mug-holding to sip type motion. Vibrating torso/arms during sleep. Insomnia and waking often. Had an episode during sleep where I had sciatic type jolts of pain down my leg every 4 seconds or so and simultaneously would spasm my leg as pain went down it. Itchiness of legs below knees at night that is below the skin. Lost a lot of weight, likely from trying exclusionary diets. I'll get twitches from stretching, flexing, yawning, you name it. Whenever a body part is still and relaxes it can start twitching but also when flexing and moving it's just not as noticeable.
I've had some hotspots and spasms go away.
My tests and scans have all come back mostly okay. No clear reason for any of it. Doesn't seem to get any better or worse day to day or in relation to how I feel or sleep or anything like that. It's very consistent.
I've tried gluten free for 2 months with zero change. Tried prolonged resting and lots of sleep, doesn't seem to change anything. Now starting low histamine diet, Zyrtek, and exercising lightly and regularly.
I pretty much just try to stay positive, ignore it, and live a healthy life. Doesn't seem to matter but I don't know what else to do so that's all I've got. Others have told me they did the same thing and over many months the twitching got milder so that's my plan and goal. I do get really frustrated and angry with medicine for not understanding what's going on. A simple muscle relaxer for fasciculations would be lifechanging for me and us I imagine. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out.
Some quirky things I noticed: If I press on my calves to mute/prevent them twitching I'm more likely to get a twitch somewhere else. Like my body has to get rid of that twitch energy, somewhere. Also, when I'm in a near-sleep state, not asleep but almost, I'll notice the twitches calm down a good bit, then as I become more conscious the energy rush and twitches come right back. It feels very chemical to me. Something about becoming conscious promotes a rush of "awake" energy chemicals and those chemicals are sending my CNS into over drive. I do think it's related in some way to my brachial neuritis from 2 years ago. I'm having some of the same pains occasionally and it would just be coincidental to have 2 extremely rare neurological disorders within 2 years.
Thoughts:
My nervous system just seems vulnerable to irritation, whether viral or autoimmune, or "anxiety" chemicals. I'm open to the idea of it all being anxiety. I just hate the term anxiety because I want to know exactly what chemicals that's describing and how my system is malfunctioning because of it. When I hear "anxiety" I just feel like I'm hearing the term "magic". If you can't measure it, don't know what it is or how it works and don't have a measurable way to fix it then it's just magic still at this point. I might start experimenting with medications after Mayo depending on their conclusion. I still think it's possible it'll get better and mostly go away at some point, but it might not. I would feel 90% better if it would at least improve. Like if I continued with my healthy living plan and noticed twitching went down 25% for a day or two I would feel so much more confident that this thing can change for the better even if it got worse again. The fact that it is extremely consistent is the most annoying part of all of it other than the lack of answers from science. I'm so jealous of people that say they only get like 50 twitches a day, or that they come and go. Mine are 100% constant. At any point I can just look down at my calves and they're squirming always, resting or flexed or after a walk or after resting, doesn't matter. I often just sit crossed legged now or with 1 leg resting on the other, or having calves pressed into something to white noise out the twitches temporarily. My body is like that movie Speed where if I become still and stop moving I blow up. It's so crazy. What a terrible and weird thing this is. All that being said, I'm pretty confident it's not a horrible disease that's going to get worse. I think the most likely scenario is it stays like this forever and I just have to accept this is the new normal as much as I hate that idea. When I first started twitching and found these and other forums, my biggest fear was that it was permanent and I'd have to just accept that as a new way of life, and that seems to be coming true. My life has totally changed now. Not a damn thing I can do about it I guess. I'm not a quitter though so I'll do what other's have said to just keep positive, live healthy, ignore it, and hope for the best.
I'm trying not to be a jerk, but I do hate the posts about atrophy and ALS. None of you have ALS. Stop focusing on that. Try and focus on why the CNS is overactive and making nerves hypersensitive. It's not a deadly disease it's basically the shittiest hiccups ever. It's really frustrating for someone like me to come to different forums and see lots of posts from teenagers who had a mild twitch in their eye for 2 weeks and posting tongue videos. *rant off*.
7/30 2 month update:
So after 2 months not much has changed. I was really hoping by this point I'd be able to say I was over this but nope.
New symptoms:
-Random itchy/nerve pain feelings randomly all over. These seem inconsistent. I haven't noticed much of a pattern. It might also just be my imagination/stress/irritated skin from so many hot baths/showers. The pain is mild and fleeting like I got a little scratch from a needle somewhere that lasts about 1-4 seconds then goes away. This has been inconsistent so I'm thinking it's temporary or just my imagination kinda.
-Sensitivity to cold. Just always feeling cold even in Florida heat. I think a lot of this is due to losing so much weight so fast.
-Weight loss. From stress and tried to eat too healthy and trying elimination diets. I'm back to eating healthy but normal food and weight has stabilized. Looking to stay around 233 lbs and put on some muscle. I think I ate so little for so long that I lost about 15 lbs in 2 months and a lot of it was muscle. That's what's making me feel kinda fatigued.
-Hypnic jerks, insomnia, energy rushes at night. This happened a lot but has gotten a little better. I'd jerk awake when trying to fall asleep. My sleep has gotten better mostly from me relaxing and not napping in the daytime so much. The energy rush just feels like someone injected me with adrenaline in my sleep. I wake up with rushes of nervous energy that feels crappy and makes me twitch even more. I do deep breathing and relaxation techniques when this happens and it helps. It's happening less often now. Proplanalol at night might help with this.
-Fatigue. Just feel tired and lazy all the time now. But I can still do anything I want to like long walks and climb stairs and muscles have the same strength in them. I think it's depression/weight loss fatigue and it'll improve.
-Right arm is irritated/weak/pre-crampy and twitchy. It has chronic nerve damage from the past so this doesn't surprise me. It's all pretty mild and still have good strength and dexterity. It will tremor occasionally as well like if I lean my arm on my desk and try to write with it. But it'll stop when I relieve the pressure. I've also seen it tremor when I was dieting too hard and was about to eat a meal. Low blood suganerve irritation tremors pretty much. My right forearm is a prime twitchy spot now. After the initial 5 days of 24/7 bicep twitching the 24/7 bicep twitch came back for 2 24-hour periods then went away again. I've got some chronic nerve damage here from the past so I've always had pain and irritation and weakness and nerve issues in this right arm. I think it just learned how to twitch recently also. After exercising my right arm it seems worse so I'm trying to give it a break and not stress it out and hope it calms down.
-Irritability and anxious energy. I find that I'm short tempered and irritable with people. I don't want to hear what they have to say and I get quickly annoyed at the smallest things. I catch myself doing this and it's like, why. I feel "tired and wired". I want to lay down on the ground in the shower and just stay that way for hours and hours and hours and I never want to get up. But, I also can't relax and fall asleep if I nap. I don't feel comfortable just sitting down or laying in bed. It feels most normal to walk at a good pace. I can't tell if this is a real symptom of just a side effect of stress/anxiety.
How I've been and where I'm going:
-Well I did all the tests and saw the doctors. Everything came back okay pretty much as expected. Docs suggested stress/anxiety, stress/anxiety, stress/anxiety with long COVID. But they were just taking a guess. They don't know and don't seem concerned so frankly I'm just agreeing with them. It seems benign and not getting worse and likely nothing I can do will change it so I'm trying to just ignore it and sort of move on.
-Next up for me is seeing an Endocrinologist, chiro and an eastern medicine doc. I'm going to run some supplement ideas by both of them and see if I can get a plan together. I've been taking some off and on with no results. I've been exercising lightly off and on with no changes either. But I want a solid, consistent, supplement and exercise program for at least a month to see if it does anything.
-I don't Google much anymore. I didn't find it all that helpful. The best stuff I got from it was stories of people who recovered or improved and what worked for them. In most cases twitching is from a specific thing like a medication or caffeine or a panic attack or long COVID. Those cases tended to resolve more easily than idiopathic occurrences like mine. I will go into my theory later. I'm always taking new tests and seeing new folks and I'll google some out of whack results here and there or whatever the docs suggest.
-After I see the Endo and eastern doc and Chiro I'll have a supplement and exercise and lifestyle plan that I'll incorporate into my typical healthy eat/sleep/relax routine and just see where that takes me for a month or so.
My thoughts:
-I think muscle twitching can be from a million different things so I don't think it's all that helpful to check symptoms or ask other folks about symptoms and what helped. One person can get it from over exercising and another from a panic attack. So I think it's probably not good to obsess over symptoms or ask other folks about symptoms. If it's bad go see the doc and do whatever they say and just move on.
-My docs don't seem concerned. Had all the tests and saw specialists. So I'm going with their opinion that it's probably not serious and probably not going to get worse and I'll just continue with conservative therapies and see if time heals.
-I have noticed that I seem to have fewer twitches, in fewer places with less intensity that in the past. It's not hugely different but it seems to be ever so slightly milder that it makes me think it'll continue to improve. I haven't noticed that anything makes them particularly better or worse except for a few things that might just be in my head. Laying in bed before going to sleep and after waking up seems to be the most twitchy especially in my calves. Laying on the hard floor seems to reduce twitches. I can trigger a twitch sometimes by pressing on a muscle or putting my arm behind my head or rolling over in bed. So it seems like the body is always pushing out *twitch signals* and if any muscle in the body is vulnerable or irritated and relaxed it'll pick up those signals. And those signals can be interrupted with movement and firmly pressing on the muscle. So I don't think it's a problem with the muscles or nerves, neurologist agreed. It's an irritation of the central nervous system likely by some irritation/chemical component like chronic stress hormones or something.
-What do I think caused all this? A combination of many things, none of which really matter or can be treated specifically but here's my theory. I had mild/moderate chronic stress for at least 6 months leading up, I had COVID and the vaccines, I was playing on the computer too much and clicking way too much in the week leading up to the bicep twitch, I have chronic nerve irritation in the right arm that started twitching. I think all those things could have combined in any number of ways to make my bicep twitch. When the bicep started twitching I became worried, had insomnia, and that combination is what "taught" my body to start twitching everywhere. Now that my body has learned twitching as an automatic behavior it doesn't want to unlearn it. It's like breathing or heart beat now, it just thinks this is normal. It's like a closed door in my CNS has been opened by stress chemicals/viral flare up and now that spot in my CNS is vulnerable to any irritation and just keeps pumping out twitch chemicals and signals. I think my worrying, insomnia, poor diet, and hyper awareness just made everything worse over the past couple of months. I should have probably just put a strong compression sleeve on my bicep from the start and check it twice a day until it goes away, ignore it, and not google or think about it. It probably would have just gone away like it did without teaching the rest of my body to twitch.
-After all the forums and reddit posts and information I've found. Here's what I think makes it better for people like me who are idiopathic and likely caused the twitching through stress/long covid. Live a healthy routine life with food/exercise/stress reduction/good sleep, ignore the twitching and don't ruminate at all, don't keep googling and searching and comparing symptoms, give it a long time of honesty to adhere to the other items. I'm finding my symptoms are a tad milder than they were a few weeks ago and that's because I've calmed down and my fear is far less. I have full strength and coordination and everything works fine other than twitching and fatigue. The fatigue is likely from a medication here and there, recent weight loss, not drinking caffeine anymore and not remembering what it felt like to not be caffeinated in the morning. I think I'll either just get more used to it, or they will get milder in the next month or so. I'm pretty confident it won't get any worse at this point. It's a mild twitch every 5-45 seconds or so depending. It's mostly in my calves and right forearm now. It seems like the insomnia and stress brought on all the other symptoms, and maybe even the twitching in the first place. My sleep is getting better and my stress is improving a little too. Work will be stressful for me for at least another month so I'm mentally prepared to still feel crappy for at least a month. Still optimistic overall.
-Related to all the stuff I've found out there people tended to either get better and post, get better and disappear, or stay the same/get worse and post a ton. I find that most folks are just getting over it. Either recovering or symptoms got milder and they don't pay attention anymore. But I've seen dozens of posts all over the net of the people who came back and said yea, I was stressed and my little twitch turned bodywide, I got scared for a few months, I calmed down and they mostly went away after 3-4-5-6-12-18 months. There are a few who never have improved symptoms but just get used to it. It seems like runners/cyclists often get chronic calf twitches and they never improve but get used to it. The long covid folks often say it got better after 4-6-8-12 months or so. So I do think there's plenty of hope out there for twitchers. My docs all told me they had seen twitching either in their personal lives, or as students, or patients, and they either all got better or got milder to where people got used to it. Hypersensitive and aware people like me just focus on it a lot more than the average person. That not only makes it worse, but more noticeable and longer lasting. The average person probably would have had the bicep twitch for a few days then it go away and they move on. That's my belief at least. So I'm going to try and dress for the part and just pretend it's fine, because it probably is, and just go on with life.
Tips:
-Don't mess with tons of medications and supplements unless your doctor really really thinks it'll help. It just makes you keep searching for a solution, and more disappointed and scared when your Mystical Blue Powder zx19 doesn't work. Yes, I'll try a supplement regimen because I was slightly low and high in some areas and my docs recommended it. But, I'll be going low dose, and not expecting much from it, especially quickly.
-Stop googling duh. Don't compare symptoms and stay away from websites and forums and things. I've seen everything on the internet now and nothing was helpful. The only thing that was helpful was seeing stories from people who seemed reliable and recovered but not those, "I took a magic potion and got better immediately" posts. Almost everyone I saw that seemed genuine and got better said they just lived a healthy life, ate exercised and slept well, and over time it just got better.
-Trust docs, go with the most obvious answers, and just move on. If your tests seem fine and docs aren't worried then you're good. That's where I'm at now and it feels way better. Stress way down to just have clear tests, unconcerned docs, and no serious symptoms. Nothing I have, or you have probably, is an indicator of something serious. You'll never measure muscle wasting or any of that crap. Don't do testing and that stuff.
-Twitching is an automatic behavior your CNS/brain learns. It learned it can relieve stress/use up stress chemicals/hormone imbalance etc but continually throwing out twitchy signals all over your body. And your vulnerable areas at rest are happy to receive them, usually calves for people. When your muscles are busy or distracted they ignore those signals. It's likely as simple as that for most folks with idiopathic/stress/viral flare up type twitches. The way to get better is for your subconscious to unlearn that behavior. I don't think this is mystical it's just sort of common sense from my experience. How does your subconscious unlearn this stress-relieving behavior? Yep, you gotta get rid of the stress for a very long time and just hope it's enough. It might never unlearn that behavior but that's okay because it's just annoying and not truly harmful. As repetitive and annoying as it sounds you gotta eliminate all stress that means physical stress from caffeine and alcohol/junk food/poor sleep, to mood changes. As hard as it sounds you gotta dress for success. Think positive, ignore the symptoms, actually pretend they don't exist. You almost gotta be crazy to trick your brain. Pretend the symptoms don't exist and don't think about them at all, then your subconscious will forget about them and you'll have normal stress responses rather than twitching. It's super hard to do because the symptoms are very physical but that's the challenge I think.
-Sort of to reiterate. I believe the twitching is just a benign behavior that comes from a combination of real physical stress like a viral flare up or a temporary injury and chronic/acute stress/anxiety and that combo-wombo is what teaches your brain and CNS to twitch at rest. I think when this is the case it creates a loop where the stress feeds symptoms and the symptoms feed stress. I think many people are like me and are searching for a cure, something to get rid of their symptoms, but there isn't such a thing in science yet. Because the twitches are an automatic subconscious behavior it's not something a chemical or vitamin can fix. You have to unlearn the subconscious behavior and that's super difficult because it doesn't make logical sense. Logically you want to reduce twitching so you can relax and feel better. But that won't happen usually in cases like mine/ours. You actually have to teach your brain that the twitches don't exist so the brain forgets about it and finds new "problems" to solve. This is so hard because it means telling yourself and other people that you're fine, and that you don't have symptoms or a condition. Think of it this way, instead of that guy over there twitching 10 times a day and not noticing you twitch 1000 times a day and need to learn to not notice it. It sounds so unfair because it is unfair. You have to actually downplay your own feelings to make yourself feel better. Most of us want everyone else and ourselves to know how bad we feel. I saw advice similar to this on a popular anxiety youtuber video and I think it's probably pretty good advice. Fake it til you make it. Tell yourself, and everyone else, and your doctors, that you feel fine. Yes, you can tell your doctors or friends if they ask that you do have twitching or whatever is 100% real and not just a maybe-symptom. But if they don't ask, don't tell. Pretend you're 100% normal, because in reality, you probably are. Your brain is stupid, you can convince it you have any symptom under the sun but you can also probably convince it that you don't have anything wrong with you. Luckily in our case, there almost certainly isn't anything wrong with us. Journaling helped me with this. When I wrote, same symptoms everyday, slept okay, good appetite, symptoms seem mildly better with good sleep etc. I realized I was basically fine and just hyper focused on a pretty minor bodily behavior. Instead of telling doctors and friends you feel miserable, that you twitch all the time, that you're exhausted and can't move, just tell them you're feeling okay and think you'll get better with time. Your brain literally is hearing and understanding those words whether it wants to or not. Can you cure a broken bone with positive behavior, not really. But you can definitely learn and unlearn subconscious behaviors with the power of suggestion. So, that's my advice for trying to get better mentally. Write down everyday how you're doing, not how bad you're doing, but write down how normal your life and functions actually are. Writing and reading that makes it feel more normal and how silly it is to worry about it. I know how hard this is because all you want to do is tell doctors and friends that it's so horrible in hopes they can somehow comfort you and make you feel better, or try extra hard to find a cure for you. But, likely reality is that yes there's a physical component to why it started and how you're feeling, but the only likely cure is attitude and time. That being said, that's assuming you're physical life is in proper order. Eat, sleep, relax, exercise in a very routine and rational way. Don't take tons of supplements and medications that strain your body even more. Just the minimum, if your doctor really recommends it, and low doses.
If anything significant changes I'll make another update. I'd love to hear from other folks who are recovering and seeing improvement. I think rational people who are seeing improvements are a big booster.
See my original post below.
Hi All,
I'm a new Twitcher and joined just to tell others about my journey and to seek out others like me who have had success stories. I'd love to hear about people like me that got over this. It would make me feel better to hear from folks who have a similar situation as me who could give me some reassurance that theirs improved. I've seen many stories of people recovering but they were due to obvious things like medication changes or caffeine and weren't really like me where that weren't any obvious causes.
Quick background:
38/m USA, very normal life, healthy well balanced diet, slightly overweight, drank 1 cup of coffee or tea per day usually, no medications or drugs, don't drink or smoke. Never had twitching before.
Normal diet: Apple or Banana + mixed nuts for breakfast, Quinoa/Brown rice with various beans, veggies and cheese for lunch, Dinner is typical American dinner food (meat, a veggie, and a carb). So I've eaten a very well balanced diet I think. Lots of fresh fruit and veggies, nuts and beans. No weird eating habits and no special diets.
Medical background (probably unrelated but I figured I'd put it out there):
I had brachial neuritis a couple of years ago. Increasing pain in neck and shoulder for about a month. Then pain went 75% away quickly. Then I had extreme weakness in that shoulder. After about a year I regained most of the strength and mobility. Had MRI, had mild stenosis, bone spurs. That was a really difficult experience but when I started seeing improvement in my strength and mobility I knew it was getting better and didn't feel so bad. It's possible what caused this is also causing my new issues. Or maybe the stenosis is causing it. I'm pretty good about spine health and posture since my incident.
Had the Moderna COVID vaccine and then booster in December. Caught COVID in January. Had some extended bronchitis symptoms for almost a month and recovered in early February.
March-May were moderately stressful months. I've had really anxious times in the past for various things. They were real fears and stressful times not really random anxiety. And the anxiousness I felt in March-May is what I'd consider mild compared to anxious times I've had in the past. I know anxiety is a big contributor to BFS. I'm pretty good about having a normal work life routine. I take relaxation breaks and take care of myself. I wasn't experiencing anything super anxious in the time leading up to my symptoms.
I don't take any medications or supplements regularly. I'd take an Excedrin if I were having a headache here and there. No food allergies or anything obvious like that.
Symptoms and current situation:
About 7 days ago Sunday June 5th I noticed my bicep would twitch at rest and never really stopped while at rest. I found that it was much more noticeable when my elbow was bent so I started straightening my arm and opening my hand palm up while resting to calm the twitches. After 3 days of that it started bothering me quite a bit and found it hard to sleep. I normally sleep very well and have a regular sleep schedule 11pm-7am everyday pretty much. So it was abnormal for me to not sleep well. Then the twitches started happening all over my body. They only happen when the muscle is at rest. So if my legs are engaged like standing but my arms are relaxed then my arms will twitch. If I'm holding my phone with 2 hands and they're engaged but my legs are relaxed while sitting or laying down, the legs will twitch. I've felt them in my abdomen and back a little bit. Mostly in my calves, thighs, forearm, triceps, feet. They are typical fasciculations. It does seem like if one happens it creates another one somewhere else quickly after. They never get better or worse really. If I'm laying down relaxed it's a very consistent twitch every 5 seconds or so somewhere, maybe most commonly in my leg/calf but definitely everywhere else sometimes. I haven't noticed any twitches in my mouth of face area per se. They don't seem any better or worse with deep relaxation like a hot bath, or if I'm really worrying a lot and laying still. It's very consistent. No loss of strength or coordination. No other issues I've noticed in particular. I have jerked my leg once in my sleep but it was kind of mild. I will twitch awake sometimes when I'm just about to enter deep sleep from a rested state. Right when I'm entering sleep it'll sort of jolt me back to consciousness which is really annoying. Because my symptoms are extremely consistent(rest the muscle, it twitches) I figure it'll be easy for me to notice any change in symptoms. Ironically my bicep is one of the areas it twitches the least now. My hope is it started in my bicep and took 5 days to work itself out, and now it'll take 5 or so days to work itself out of the rest of my system(hopeful). No pain at all. No weakness at all. No other symptoms really that I can tell. Just resting twitches all over.
So after 5 days of it and it going from my bicep to the rest of my body I started Googling and found out a lot about BFS. I'm pretty sure that's what's going on but I do think there's a viral/autoimmune/neck injury element to it. I started by cutting out caffeine completely, cut out gluten just incase(wasn't eating much caffeine or gluten to begin with), started doing more light exercising, started trying to relax even more than before with long walks and positive attitude as well as just telling myself this is common and probably not serious and will probably heal just like my other brachial neuritis episode.
I also started taking supplements and sleep aides out of desperation like many folks. I figured it probably couldn't hurt much and yea desperation to see some improvement. I've got that "solve this fast" mentality. But it does seem like it's one of those issues where you gotta just calm down and ignore it and let the body heal over a long period of time. I'd be okay with that if I saw some improvement. Even a tiny bit of improvement would give me confidence that this will clear up eventually. It's weird that it was in my bicep for 5 days and now everywhere, but rarely in my bicep now. I keep telling myself it's just working its way through my system. Very strange for it to start in that one spot then transfer everywhere else. But I've read these twitches are unpredictable. They will start anywhere, spread anywhere, hot spots, body wide you name it. No pins and needles, no heat, no rash, no itching, no pain, no weakness, no trouble swallowing or any other symptom other than it seems to trigger a twitch right as my brain is falling asleep. It's like how my muscles only twitch when they're relaxed, my brain will twitch when it finally relaxes.
Taking:
In the morning, B12, Calcium, Vitamin D.
In the evening, Magnesium, Zinc, Ibuprofen/Aleve PM to help with sleep. I've been taking the Pain relief PM stuff in hopes I can just get a good night's sleep and wake up with these twitches gone. I've read diphenhydramine can be a cause of twitching. I did get the twitches and they did change before I started taking any of this so I don't think it's a cause per se. But I do want to stop taking them and try something else to help me sleep. It's really the twitching and not anxiety keeping me awake. I'll be dead tired and be happy to sleep and just twitching will keep me awake. The Aleve PM just sort of knocked me out for 7 hours or so. I will wake up from a deep sleep on the medication from twitches. It's a total bummer waking up to them. I kept thinking if I just got some deep sleep they'd go away.
I got some sleep aid supplement that's a combination of Melatonin, L Theanine and GABA. I'll try that to see if I can get off of having to use diphenhydramine to get to sleep. I don't think the anti inflammatory element of the Aleve has had much effect. Overall it just knocked me out to sleep then made me feel pretty drowsy the next morning. I was thankful for the sleep each time.
Other food/supplements I've started: Coconut water, Vitamin Water, Gatorade Rapid Rehydrate, green smoothies, Still eating my regular diet although my appetite has gone down, likely to health anxiety and lack of sleep more than an actual symptom. Still lots of beans, nuts, gluten free foods, No caffeine.
Exercise: Normally I'd exercise very lightly. I mostly just walked several times a day for a total of 2-3 miles a day. It was enough to get the heart rate up a tiny bit and feel good. But I'd still consider it low amount of exercise. Since the symptoms started I've added very light weight lifting, a little more stretching and cardio and Yoga. I'd still consider it a light/moderate exercise routine. Not pushing myself at all really just adding a little bit more. Drinking tons of water but I always have drank lots of water in the past.
So I'm hoping someone like me or someone who knows someone like me could chime in and reassure me that they got over it or it improved with time. I've only read stories of people with chronic anxiety or other health/drug issues but not many stories about sort of regular healthy people like me recovering from BFS.
Because I don't have any problems speaking, swallowing, balance issues, strength issues, or anything else really I don't think it's super serious other than it being extremely annoying, particularly when I try to sleep. Most of the day I can tolerate it and don't notice it at all while walking and being physically active. But as soon as I sit down or lay down, whatever is at rest just starts twitching randomly. I've tried to count and it's normally 1 twitch every 5-10 seconds in a random location and the twitch is instant.
Mentally, I'm okay. I wasn't really anxious before this happened, or even now. I'm mostly anxious that I don't know how long it'll last. But I am confident it'll go away eventually. If I had to take a guess, I'd say it's related to whatever caused my brachial neuritis a couple of years ago. A virus or auto immune response in my nervous system just getting irritated again randomly. Or maybe Long Covid. Or maybe due to my cervical spine issues(maybe I just tweaked it enough to not notice and it's irritating the twitching bits of the spine connection but not pain), or maybe it really was due to just subconscious anxiety from the past months just building up in me until this was the result. I'm open to what the professionals tell me and not really scared of anything serious.

What's ciprofloxacin ?
Ciprofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone (flor-o-kwin-o-lone) antibiotic, it is used to treat unique kinds of bacterial infections. It's also used to treat humans who have been uncovered to anthrax or certain varieties of plague. Ciprofloxacin extended-launch is most effective accredited to be used in adults.
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics can motive severe or disabling facet consequences that might not be reversible.
Ciprofloxacin ought to be used only for infections that can not be treated with a more secure antibiotic.
Warnings
Ciprofloxacin can cause serious aspect results, which includes tendon troubles, nerve damage, extreme temper or conduct modifications, or low blood sugar.
Prevent the use of ciprofloxacin and phone your medical doctor at once if you have: headache, hunger, irritability, numbness, tingling, burning ache, confusion, agitation, paranoia, problems with reminiscence or awareness, thoughts of suicide, or sudden pain or motion problems in any of your joints.
In uncommon instances, ciprofloxacin may additionally reason damage in your aorta, that could cause dangerous bleeding or dying. Get emergency medical help if you have intense and steady pain on your chest, belly, or lower back.
You may no longer be able to use this medicinal drug if you have a muscle ailment. Tell your medical doctor if you have a history of myasthenia gravis.
Earlier than taking this remedy
You must not use ciprofloxacin if you are allergic to it, or if:
You also take tizanidine; or
You are allergic to other fluoroquinolones (levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin).
Ciprofloxacin may also motive swelling or tearing of a tendon (the fiber that connects bones to muscle tissues within the frame), specially in the achilles' tendon of the heel. This will occur during treatment or several months when you stop taking ciprofloxacin. Tendon problems can be much more likely in youngsters and older adults, or folks that use steroid medicine or have had an organ transplant.
To make sure ciprofloxacin is safe for you, inform your medical doctor when you have ever had:
Arthritis or problems with your tendons, bones or joints (specially in children);
Diabetes, low blood sugar;
Nerve troubles;
An aneurysm or blood flow problems;
Coronary heart problems, or a coronary heart attack;
Muscle weak point, myasthenia gravis;
Liver or kidney disorder;
A seizure, head injury, or brain tumor;
Problem swallowing tablets;
Lengthy qt syndrome (in you or a family member); or
Low stages of potassium in your blood (hypokalemia).
Do not deliver this remedy to a child without clinical recommendation.
It isn't always known whether or not this medicine will harm an unborn child. Inform your health practitioner in case you are pregnant.
You must now not breastfeed even as taking ciprofloxacin and for 2 days after your ultimate dose. Ask your physician approximately breastfeeding if you take this remedy for anthrax exposure.
How should i take ciprofloxacin?
Take ciprofloxacin exactly as prescribed by way of your physician. Follow all instructions on your prescription label and study all medicine publications or coaching sheets.
Take ciprofloxacin on the same time every day, without or with food.
Shake the oral suspension (liquid) for 15 seconds before you measure a dose. Use the dosing syringe furnished, or use a medicinal drug dose-measuring device (not a kitchen spoon). Do not provide ciprofloxacin oral suspension thru a feeding tube.
Swallow the prolonged-launch pill entire and do no longer weigh down, chew, or wreck it.
Drink masses of drinks even as you are taking this medicine.
Use ciprofloxacin for the full prescribed duration of time, even in case your signs and symptoms speedy improve. Skipping doses can growth your threat of infection that is resistant to medication. Ciprofloxacin will not treat a viral infection which includes the flu or a commonplace cold.
Do now not share this remedy with any other person.
Store at room temperature away from moisture and heat. Do now not permit the liquid remedy to freeze. Throw away any unused liquid after 14 days.
What to avoid
Do now not take ciprofloxacin with dairy products which include milk or yogurt, or with calcium-fortified juice. You could consume or drink those merchandise along with your food, however do not use them by myself while taking this medicinal drug.
Antibiotic drugs can reason diarrhea, which can be a sign of a new infection. When you have diarrhea that is watery or bloody, call your health practitioner before the usage of anti-diarrhea medicine.
Ciprofloxacin may want to make you sunburn extra without difficulty. Keep away from sunlight or tanning beds. Put on shielding apparel and use sunscreen (spf 30 or better) while you are exterior. Inform your physician when you have severe burning, redness, itching, rash, or swelling after being inside the solar.
Keep away from using or unsafe interest till you know how ciprofloxacin will have an effect on you. Your reactions may be impaired.
Ciprofloxacin facet outcomes
Get emergency clinical help when you have signs of an hypersensitive reaction to ciprofloxacin (hives, difficult respiratory, swelling to your face or throat) or a excessive skin response (fever, sore throat, burning to your eyes, skin pain, red or crimson pores and skin rash that spreads and reasons blistering and peeling).
Ciprofloxacin can motive severe aspect results, which includes tendon troubles, harm for your nerves (which may be permanent), serious mood or conduct adjustments (after simply one dose), or low blood sugar (that can cause coma).
Stop taking this remedy and make contact with your health practitioner at once if you have:
Low blood sugar - headache, starvation, irritability, dizziness, nausea, rapid heart charge, or feeling shaky;
Nerve damage signs and symptoms - numbness, tingling, burning pain on your fingers, hands, legs, or ft:
Extreme temper or conduct adjustments - anxiousness, confusion, agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, reminiscence troubles, problem concentrating, thoughts of suicide; or
Symptoms of tendon rupture - surprising ache, swelling, bruising, tenderness, stiffness, movement problems, or a snapping or popping sound in any of your joints (rest the joint until you receive hospital therapy or commands).
In uncommon instances, ciprofloxacin may additionally purpose damage for your aorta, the main blood artery of the frame. This will result in dangerous bleeding or demise. Get emergency scientific help if you have excessive and constant pain on your chest, belly, or returned.
Additionally, prevent using this medication and speak to your health practitioner immediately when you have:
Severe belly ache, diarrhea this is watery or bloody;
Rapid or pounding heartbeats, fluttering for your chest, shortness of breath, and unexpected dizziness (like you would possibly pass out);
Any skin rash, regardless of how mild;
Muscle weak spot, respiration issues;
Little or no urination;
Jaundice (yellowing of the pores and skin or eyes); or
Multiplied pressure within the skull - extreme complications, ringing on your ears, dizziness, nausea, imaginative and prescient troubles, ache at the back of your eyes.
Commonplace ciprofloxacin facet consequences may include:
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ache;
Headache; or
Extraordinary liver characteristic tests.
Remedies
Bladder infection
Ciprofloxacin
Print
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Ciprofloxacin
Widely wide-spread name: ciprofloxacin (oral) [ SIP-roe-FLOX-a-sin ]
Brand names: cipro, proquin xr
Drug elegance: quinolones
Medically reviewed through kaci durbin, md. Closing updated on sep 30, 2021.
Makes use of
Warnings
Earlier than taking
Aspect consequences
Interactions
Dosage
Faq
What's ciprofloxacin?
Ciprofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone (flor-o-kwin-o-lone) antibiotic, it's far used to deal with one-of-a-kind varieties of bacterial infections. It's also used to treat humans who've been exposed to anthrax or positive varieties of plague. Ciprofloxacin prolonged-launch is simplest permitted to be used in adults.
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics can reason critical or disabling side outcomes that might not be reversible.
Ciprofloxacin ought to be used only for infections that can not be dealt with with a more secure antibiotic.
Warnings
Ciprofloxacin can purpose critical facet consequences, which includes tendon issues, nerve damage, serious temper or behavior changes, or low blood sugar.
Stop the usage of ciprofloxacin and get in touch with your physician at once if you have: headache, starvation, irritability, numbness, tingling, burning pain, confusion, agitation, paranoia, troubles with memory or attention, thoughts of suicide, or surprising pain or motion troubles in any of your joints.
In uncommon instances, ciprofloxacin may additionally reason damage on your aorta, that may result in dangerous bleeding or loss of life. Get emergency medical help when you have severe and steady pain on your chest, stomach, or again.
You can now not be able to use this remedy when you have a muscle disorder. Inform your doctor when you have a history of myasthenia gravis.
Earlier than taking this medication
You have to no longer use ciprofloxacin in case you are allergic to it, or if:
You furthermore mght take tizanidine; or
You're allergic to different fluoroquinolones (levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, norfloxacin, ofloxacin).
Ciprofloxacin may also reason swelling or tearing of a tendon (the fiber that connects bones to muscle tissues inside the frame), particularly within the achilles' tendon of the heel. This will manifest in the course of remedy or numerous months after you prevent taking ciprofloxacin. Tendon problems can be more likely in youngsters and older adults, or people who use steroid medicine or have had an organ transplant.
To make sure ciprofloxacin is safe for you, tell your health practitioner if you have ever had:
Arthritis or problems with your tendons, bones or joints (specifically in youngsters);
Diabetes, low blood sugar;
Nerve troubles;
An aneurysm or blood circulate problems;
Heart troubles, or a heart assault;
Muscle weak point, myasthenia gravis;
Liver or kidney ailment;
A seizure, head harm, or brain tumor;
Problem swallowing capsules;
Lengthy qt syndrome (in you or a member of the family); or
Low ranges of potassium in your blood (hypokalemia).
Do now not deliver this remedy to a baby with out medical advice.
It is not regarded whether this medicinal drug will harm an unborn baby. Tell your medical doctor in case you are pregnant.
You have to not breastfeed at the same time as taking ciprofloxacin and for 2 days after your final dose. Ask your physician approximately breastfeeding if you take this medicinal drug for anthrax publicity.
How need to i take ciprofloxacin?
Take ciprofloxacin precisely as prescribed through your health practitioner. Comply with all guidelines for your prescription label and examine all medicinal drug courses or education sheets.
Take ciprofloxacin at the equal time every day, without or with meals.
Shake the oral suspension (liquid) for 15 seconds before you measure a dose. Use the dosing syringe furnished, or use a medication dose-measuring device (no longer a kitchen spoon). Do not deliver ciprofloxacin oral suspension through a feeding tube.
Swallow the prolonged-release pill entire and do no longer crush, chunk, or break it.
Drink plenty of beverages while you're taking this medication.
Use ciprofloxacin for the whole prescribed length of time, even in case your signs and symptoms speedy improve. Skipping doses can boom your chance of contamination this is immune to medicine. Ciprofloxacin will not deal with a viral infection together with the flu or a commonplace cold.
Do not percentage this remedy with some other individual.
Store at room temperature far from moisture and heat. Do now not permit the liquid medicinal drug to freeze. Throw away any unused liquid after 14 days.
Exact ciprofloxacin dosage records
What happens if i leave out a dose?
If you take regular drugs or oral suspension: take the drugs as soon as you could, however bypass the ignored dose if your subsequent dose is due in less than 6 hours.
If you take extended-launch capsules: take the medication as quickly as you can, but skip the missed dose in case your next dose is due in much less than 8 hours.
Do no longer take doses at one time.
What occurs if i overdose?
Are looking for emergency medical interest or name the poison assist line at 1-800-222-1222.
What to keep away from
Do now not take ciprofloxacin with dairy merchandise inclusive of milk or yogurt, or with calcium-fortified juice. You can devour or drink these products together with your meals, however do no longer use them by myself when taking this medicine.
Antibiotic drugs can cause diarrhea, which may be a sign of a new contamination. When you have diarrhea that is watery or bloody, call your physician earlier than the usage of anti-diarrhea medicinal drug.
Ciprofloxacin could make you sunburn greater easily. Keep away from daylight or tanning beds. Put on protective apparel and use sunscreen (spf 30 or better) while you are outside. Inform your health practitioner when you have excessive burning, redness, itching, rash, or swelling after being in the solar.
Keep away from using or hazardous interest until you understand how ciprofloxacin will affect you. Your reactions could be impaired.
Ciprofloxacin aspect effects
Get emergency medical help when you have symptoms of an hypersensitive reaction to ciprofloxacin (hives, tough respiration, swelling for your face or throat) or a extreme skin response (fever, sore throat, burning on your eyes, pores and skin ache, pink or crimson pores and skin rash that spreads and causes blistering and peeling).
Ciprofloxacin can cause serious facet outcomes, inclusive of tendon troubles, damage for your nerves (which can be everlasting), severe mood or conduct adjustments (after just one dose), or low blood sugar (that may result in coma).
Stop taking this medication and call your physician immediately if you have:
Low blood sugar - headache, starvation, irritability, dizziness, nausea, speedy heart charge, or feeling shaky;
Nerve damage signs and symptoms - numbness, tingling, burning pain to your arms, palms, legs, or ft:
Serious temper or behavior modifications - anxiousness, confusion, agitation, paranoia, hallucinations, memory issues, problem concentrating, mind of suicide; or
Signs of tendon rupture - surprising pain, swelling, bruising, tenderness, stiffness, movement problems, or a snapping or popping sound in any of your joints (relaxation the joint till you receive medical care or instructions).
In rare instances, ciprofloxacin may additionally purpose harm on your aorta, the principle blood artery of the body. This will lead to risky bleeding or death. Get emergency clinical help if you have severe and constant ache to your chest, belly, or returned.
Additionally, prevent the usage of this medicine and get in touch with your physician right away when you have:
Intense stomach ache, diarrhea this is watery or bloody;
Speedy or pounding heartbeats, fluttering to your chest, shortness of breath, and sudden dizziness (like you would possibly skip out);
Any pores and skin rash, regardless of how moderate;
Muscle weak point, respiratory troubles;
Little or no urination;
Jaundice (yellowing of the pores and skin or eyes); or
Expanded stress in the cranium - extreme headaches, ringing to your ears, dizziness, nausea, imaginative and prescient troubles, ache behind your eyes.
Not unusual ciprofloxacin facet effects may additionally include:
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, belly pain;
Headache; or
Strange liver function checks.
This isn't a entire list of side outcomes and others may additionally occur. Name your doctor for medical advice about aspect outcomes. You could document side outcomes to fda at 1-800-fda-1088.
Ciprofloxacin side outcomes (more detail)
What other tablets will affect ciprofloxacin?
A few drug treatments can make ciprofloxacin a lot much less effective when taken at the identical time. If you take any of the subsequent medicines, take your ciprofloxacin dose 2 hours earlier than or 6 hours after you take the opposite medicinal drug.
The ulcer medicine sucralfate, or antacids that contain calcium, magnesium, or aluminum (along with maalox, milk of magnesia, mylanta, pepcid entire, rolaids, tums, and others);
Didanosine (videx) powder or chewable tablets;
Diet or mineral supplements that incorporate calcium, iron, magnesium, or zinc.
Tell your health practitioner about all your different drugs, particularly:
Clozapine, cyclosporine, methotrexate, phenytoin, probenecid, ropinirole, sildenafil, or theophylline;
A blood thinner (warfarin, coumadin, jantoven);
Heart remedy or a diuretic or "water pill";
Oral diabetes medicinal drug;
Merchandise that comprise caffeine;
Remedy to treat melancholy or mental infection;
Steroid remedy (such as prednisone); o
Nsaids (nonsteroidal anti inflammatory tablets) - aspirin, ibuprofen (advil, motrin), naproxen (aleve), celecoxib, diclofenac, indomethacin, meloxicam, and others;
https://www.arshinepharma.com/info/uses-side-effects-and-precautions-for-taking-71254389.html

Im on wait list to see a pulmonologist to see if they think I need to be referred into long COVID clinic. I had COVID in March of 2020 which was confirmed in May 2020 by antibody test. Two years later i have lingering symptoms. I also have adhd and bipolar and sleep apnea so it can be hard to tell sometimes whats flaring and kicking off the others. But the shortness of breath, fatigue, and heart problems are going beyond being out of shape at this point.
My grandmother and great aunt both are diagnosed with fibro. Ive talked to them about some of their symptoms and they have some similarities with mine.
Ive noticed if I push myself too hard with exercise or work overtime or stress that I get what I call a flare up. Its the best way I can describe it. Even before COVID id have some symptoms since college and always though it was just bipolar depression. They’re way worse since COVID.
It’ll start as an event setting it off which I usually only realize once im in full flare period. Two weeks ago it was stress and poor sleep from overtime and a work deadline. Ill start to feel rundown each day no matter how much sleep I get. Finally within a few days to two weeks it’ll peak and I’ll have to take time off like I did today.
Wake up achey and sore all over. Mostly my neck, shoulder blades, lower back, and thighs. Feels kinda like the flu and Aleve, heating pads, Bengay, etc wont touch it. Not fully. Extreme brain fog. Exhausted. Sometimes my cheeks will redden and I’ll get a mild low grade fever. It looks like the lupus rash but I don’t feel like I relate to lupus symptoms. Was tested in college and it came back negative. I pushed myself too hard on a hike a month and a half ago and within two days I had this to an extreme level. Felt so bad I wanted to cry. If my bf massages my pressure points it can feel good. Sometimes tender but I don’t hurt to be touched. Just feel like a bruised peach all over. Ill get arthritis like pain in my wrists that will radiate up the bones to my elbow and shoulder. In my mid to low back it feels muscular. In my hands, knuckles, wrists, shoulders, ankle, hip it feels like joint and bone.
I feel like I don’t gave extreme pain like some of you here. My aunt says hers is constant and so bad she wants to cry. Mine isnt that bad and not constant. It flares for 3-5 days and then stops. Guess I just wanted to share and see if anyone relates with milder symptoms or has any advice. I feel like seeing a doctor is a waste of time since there’s no real treatment from my understanding. I bought some CBD/thc topical today and that was a godsend. Hate that im starting to miss work more though as these flare ups are happening more often.