Sleep Apnea and Muscle Twitching, Cramps, Fibromyalgia

[Sonnyboy]

I have not started cpap yet. I have a sleep study scheduled for 10/26 to confirm the sleep apnea. If the Cpap doesn't help, then it is off to mayo. Otherwise I have seen two different neuros.

Great. It is always possible you have more than one diagnosis going on. The sleep study will also test for restless leg syndrome and PLMD.

Get a copy of your sleep study results. There are a lot of smart people on this forum that can help you understand the results of the study.

[Pulpfriction01]

Thanks. I appreciate any and all help. My aunt has sma3 muscular dystrophy. The neuro said my symptoms match that of myotonic muscular dystrophy, which is different. He said that if I had familial muscular dystrophy, it would be SMA. He said without a doubt I do not have active SMA because it is early onset and there would be clear evidence showing it in exam and tests. He said the likelihood I have myotonic dystrophy would be that of the general population and also unlikely because it still usually shows up on exams years before it presents itself.

Told me statistically, due to Muscular dystrophy being autisomal dominant and my aunt being clinically diagnosed since her early teens, there is a 25% chance I carry the gene of SMA, but it is dormant and only shows under periods of high stress. We are going to do genetic testing to see if I am a carrier to prevent passing it on to the next generation because there is a 50% chance of passing on familial MD if one parent carries the gene. My mom has never been tested to see if she is a carrier, but does not have active sma. All of those reasons are why he considers sleep apnea, amphetamine use, and stress as the most likely culprit for now.

I will post an update if we later learn that it was all sleep apnea related or not for future reference if similar posts pop up.

[tiredandscared]

Hello all,

I'm new on here. I recently had a sleep study conducted and was initially told I had an AHI > 15. I was put on a CPAP- full facial mask only 2 hours into the study but couldn't sleep with it on. I'm waiting for the doctor to read the study and have me come back in to be fitted for a mask + machine.

I have none of the typical sleep apnea triggers: I'm young- 24 years old, athletic, non-drinker, fairly good diet. I've been told I only snore occasionally. Never have woken up short of breath/heart racing, no sleepiness during the day. Never have been told I struggle to breathe while sleeping. In fact the sleep study doc after listening to my symptoms told me and I quote, "You probably don't have sleep apnea but we'll run the test anyways..." It appears I may be one of those atypical cases.

The symptoms I do have: chronic fatigue, foggy head (especially in morning), irritable, depression, anxiety

also, and the reason why I'm posting...

I have a lot of neuro-muscular symptoms (for 2 years now) the predominant symptoms being: muscle twitching (every day- more often in the evening), muscle cramps and stiffness, muscle pain, achy joints (occasional), exercise intolerance (causes muscle twitches and cramps to increase), insomnia (this started around the same time as the muscle twitches), nerve sensations like numbness and tingling in feet & extremities, occasional nerve pain, and a host of smaller intermittant symptoms. Lately I've started getting a little chest pain right over my heart, and the sensation of difficulty breathing but this doesn't last and as soon as I get my mind off of it it goes away. Essentially I feel stiff and achy most of the day. I notice the muscle twitches and cramps increase with physical activity (unless I'm very careful and stretch extensively) and generally increase in the evening and when I'm lying down to sleep and when I wake up in the morning.

I have seen my primary care doctor for these symptoms probably over a dozen times. I've seen two rheumatologists, a neurologist (I'm going back to see another neuro doc in two weeks), endocrinologists. I've had tons of blood work done, nerve conduction test on lower legs for the muscle cramps, but each time everything comes back normal. I've simply been dealing with these sypmtoms for the last 2 years. I take 15mg of Elavil daily for pain and to help with the insomnia and flexeril to relax the muscles but these are really no more than band-aids as I feel very tired and awful every day.

After doing research on-and-off for the last two years I've narrowed down what I think could be causing the symptoms. Low Testosterone, Cervical injury/degradation, Sleep Apnea, Neurological Disease like ALS or Multiple Sclerosis, Gluten-Dairy/Food intolerance (Leaky Gut syndrome), or some combination of all the above.

I know now that I have sleep apnea- despite the fact I don't have a typical presentation of symptoms. I have found some medical articles identifying sleep apnea as potential trigger and cause for muscle twitching and cramps.

I also know that sleep disorders and fibromyalgia, benign fasiculation syndrome, cramp fasiculation syndrome all have a strong connection. So I wanted to present to the forum members here a question- (I apologize in advance if this has been asked/covered before on here)

Has anyone seen a positive improvement in their neuromuscluar/fibromyalgia symptoms (muscle twitching, muscle cramps, muscle pain, muscle stiffness, joint pain, exercise intolerance, peripheral neuropathy, weird nerve sensations, etc.) by treating Only their sleep apnea? What were your symptoms, how long did you have them, what treatments did you try before, and how has treating your sleep apnea helped with your symptoms? Have you seen a complete remission of symptoms, a 50% reduction of symptoms, etc? Lastly, how long did it take being on the CPAP to start seeing positive results?

Hopefully someone on here can help! I appreciate any feedback. I'm simply trying to find a correlation between sleep apnea and neuro-muscular symptoms for my own personal curiosity. If it helped you with your symptoms it might help me.

Thanks,

Yub Yub

I have pretty much all your symptoms, save for the fibromyalgia.

Benign fasciulations(Yup)
Depression(Yup)
Anxiety(Yup)
Brain-fog(Yup)
Irritable(Yup)


What does your sleep report look like.

[Julie]

You've just matched up standard classic OSA symptoms, except for the fasciculations, which are neurological odditities, if not terribly serious. So what? We've all had those and more. Are you trying to make a point T&S?

[tiredandscared]

You've just matched up standard classic OSA symptoms, except for the fasciculations, which are neurological odditities, if not terribly serious. So what? We've all had those and more. Are you trying to make a point T&S?

No... i'm wondering about different sleep apnea profiles there are. His symptoms just sound very similar to mine(except i don't have the fibromyalgia). Maybe he has a similar level of apnea as I do.

[Julie]

And maybe we all do. Or don't. What's the point?

[Pulpfriction01]

I read a case study of newly diagnosed sleep apnea patients and nerve conduction. In the study, 17 out of 24 patients showed indication of neuropathy without sleep apnea treatment. I'm sure you guys are aware of the correlation though. I'm new to the site and found that interesting.

[tiredandscared]

And maybe we all do. Or don't. What's the point?

The question is why you seem to care at all. Why this inquistiveness over trivial questions?

[Julie]

If you know they're trivial, why waste everyone's time about them?

[tiredandscared]

If you know they're trivial, why waste everyone's time about them?

They're interesting to me, if not so important or crucial to others. Listen I appreciate the times you give me advice. But why do you always have this rude up-in-your face attitude and get involved in others buisness? If yub yub has a problem with me asking a question. He'll give his protest to me. I didn't ask you anything.

[SteveGold]

If you know they're trivial, why waste everyone's time about them?

Julie, you're out of line. His post was innocent enough, and not even addressed to you. You've now spent a few posts attacking him for it. Why? How does policing the posts of others help *anyone*? I've read through his post three times and can't for the life of me understand why it set you off.

[tiredandscared]

If you know they're trivial, why waste everyone's time about them?

Julie, you're out of line. His post was innocent enough, and not even addressed to you. You've now spent a few posts attacking him for it. Why? How does policing the posts of others help *anyone*? I've read through his post three times and can't for the life of me understand why it set you off.

She doesn't seem to adhere to any concept of boundaries or respect. She'll act like some sort of dismissive sectretary by her own accord, regardless of whether her presence is wanted or not. It just seems to be a part of her inherent character to be a dismissive agent. Her momma probably didn't smack the obnoxious behavior out of her as a child, otherwise she wouldn't be so annoying and subversive.

[Huh?]

There is no such concept of boundaries or respect on her part. She'll act like some sort of dismissive sectrary by her own accord, regardless of whether her presence is wanted or not. It just seems to be a part of her inherent character to be dismissive agent. Her momma probably didn't smack the obnoxious behavior out of her as a child.

She seems to be an old grouch, living alone, no social network and bored. Her behavior in this thread is typical of what she posts daily.

You can use the "Foe function" and then you will not see her posts.

If I spent any amount of time here, she is definitely one of the regulars whom I would "foe".

[MerelyMartha]

I've just been diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea and have the same symptoms when wearing the C-Pap. As I read your preliminary symptoms, I kept thinking you had Fibromyalgia and that maybe the rheumatologist didn't diagnose it because it's so rare in men. I saw one of the most renowned sleep specialists in the country because after 10 years of taking Elavil, it didn't help my sleep. I have the typical sleep patterns of someone such Fibromyalgia--I don't get REM sleep. There's more to it than that but that's the briefest description I can give. A neurologist put me on a C-Pap machine to see if it would help me but it didn't.

I'm trying to adjust to the C-Pap machine but I have cramping in my legs, the arches of my feet, my toes and my glutes. I'm miserable the next day and I still feel tired.

I would ask for an appointment with a rheumatologist and ask if anyone in the practice specializes in Fibro. I'm so sorry to hear about all these symptoms.

[Hello, World?]

Hey Yub Yub,

Wanted to say that I specifically searched the phrase "neurological improvement" into the forums to see if anyone else was experiencing some of the symptoms I've been dealing with. Most people seem to only reference their tiredness and brain fog, which I have, but I also started having facial tics (mostly my eye lids) when I was 18. I was finally diagnosed with sleep apnea 6 months ago, and looking back I realize that I had it my whole life. I always seemed to have a kind of hazy brain fog, but wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not. It also caused me to develop somewhat late socially (I was just a bit of a weird kid).

I didn't realize that I had anything because I also didn't present with typical symptoms like waking up at night, headaches in the morning, etc. Instead, I mainly had constant general tiredness (but not quite actual sleepiness), extreme difficulty focusing, and memory problems. But once the facial tics set in, I finally realized that something was really wrong and started to slowly try to figure out what was going on. I've only just been diagnosed at 22 with moderate sleep apnea, and got my cpap last week. So far, the brain fog has been slowly lifting, but I do still feel tired and I think it's too soon to expect improvement in any of my other symptoms.

From all that I've looked into about it since my diagnosis, I think that sleep deprivation can have a wide array of effects on the brain, and that it likely affects people differently, especially for people who have had it since childhood. Even personality changes are often listed as possibilities for people after treatment. I was really glad to see someone else dealing with muscular symptoms, as that's one of my biggest concerns that's been wreaking havoc on my daily life.

It's been over a year now, so I wonder where you're at now? How have you felt after treatment?

I ask because these facial tics have completely devastated my social life. Everyone now sees me as this weird, twitchy chick. I have been deeply, relentlessly unhappy for years and could really use some hope.