Sleep Apnea and Muscle Twitching, Cramps, Fibromyalgia

Hello, World? wrote: ...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.

Hi. You might benefit from having your own thread, but since you are here, I'll respond here. Have you had any medical testing for deficiencies, particularly Magnesium, Vitamin D and some of the B vitamins? Research, or ask your doctor, and get tested for all those things for one needs to be nutritionally sound in support of good muscle and nerve health. Supplement as testing reveals is appropriate. I don't suggest just taking supplements willy-nilly because excessive amounts can be problematic too. I've got two family members who get facial twitches at times. I started boosting magnesium rich foods and gave one of them supplements. The movements pretty much resolved, just have minors episodes now and then. No way to know if this could help you but do ask your doctor to do appropriate testing and do not let them be dismissive. Even if your tests come back normal, you will have ruled that out. You mentioned your mood - do you take any medications that could be causing you symptoms? If so, do work closely with your doctor and don't make any changes without their direction and close supervision. Once your sleep apnea treatment is consistent over time, you may find your mood lifts, maybe even changing any medication needs. I think your future just might pleasantly surprise you. Hang in there.

I don't think your tics are caused by apnea and I'd see a neurologist to look into them - they're not normally a symptom and I'm surprised they haven't been investigated in all this time (or have they?).

Julie wrote:I don't think your tics are caused by apnea

I had facial tics. When I was starting CPAP, my GP told me after a couple of weeks of good sleep (rest), the tics should go away. He was right. It is not uncommon for people who are chronically fatigued and sleep deprived to develop tics which will go away with proper rest and sleep. It's been many years now, and my tics have not recurred.

Julie, you always have an answer, whether you know what you are talking about or not.

kteague wrote:

Hello, World? wrote: ...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.

Hi. You might benefit from having your own thread, but since you are here, I'll respond here. Have you had any medical testing for deficiencies, particularly Magnesium, Vitamin D and some of the B vitamins? Research, or ask your doctor, and get tested for all those things for one needs to be nutritionally sound in support of good muscle and nerve health. Supplement as testing reveals is appropriate. I don't suggest just taking supplements willy-nilly because excessive amounts can be problematic too. I've got two family members who get facial twitches at times. I started boosting magnesium rich foods and gave one of them supplements. The movements pretty much resolved, just have minors episodes now and then. No way to know if this could help you but do ask your doctor to do appropriate testing and do not let them be dismissive. Even if your tests come back normal, you will have ruled that out. You mentioned your mood - do you take any medications that could be causing you symptoms? If so, do work closely with your doctor and don't make any changes without their direction and close supervision. Once your sleep apnea treatment is consistent over time, you may find your mood lifts, maybe even changing any medication needs. I think your future just might pleasantly surprise you. Hang in there.

Yeah, I actually did get a test back saying I have a Vitamin D deficiency. Nothing extreme, but I've been taking supplements for a while to help with that. The only med I'm taking is Metformin for PCOS (a fairly common endocrine disorder in women). I've looked into it too, and PCOS/Metformin don't seem to cause any neurological or nervous system problems.

I haven't been tested for magnesium or B vitamins yet though, so I may do that at some point, just to be sure. I haven't been on the Vitamin D supplements or CPAP for that long, so hopefully I'll start to feel better soon.

Midnight Strangler wrote:

Julie wrote:I don't think your tics are caused by apnea

I had facial tics. When I was starting CPAP, my GP told me after a couple of weeks of good sleep (rest), the tics should go away. He was right. It is not uncommon for people who are chronically fatigued and sleep deprived to develop tics which will go away with proper rest and sleep. It's been many years now, and my tics have not recurred.

Julie, you always have an answer, whether you know what you are talking about or not.

Thank you, it's good to hear that I'm not the only one who's had that alongside sleep apnea! I've really felt like it was from that, since the tics get much worse the more tired I am. I think I've just been a bit impatient with waiting for it to resolve. I've been on CPAP for about two weeks and haven't seen much improvement, but I've also still been adjusting to it, and have been all over the place between college and work, so maybe it's just taking a bit longer for me to feel better.

From what I've looked into, it apparently takes about 3 months for a lot of the brain damage from sleep deprivation to heal, so maybe I'll post an update for that then.

I guess that the two hours you had the mask on were enough to make a setting determination.

I hope you can adjust to CPAP. Whatever else might be wrong with you, you will feel better if this is treated. Some patients report that it takes months to feel better, others (such as myself) report improvement the first week.

D.H. wrote:I guess that the two hours you had the mask on were enough to make a setting determination.

I hope you can adjust to CPAP. Whatever else might be wrong with you, you will feel better if this is treated. Some patients report that it takes months to feel better, others (such as myself) report improvement the first week.

Figuring out the settings is something I'm in the process of trying to even start doing. My parents don't quite have the money to buy a state of the art machine, so I ended up with a pretty dated, basic machine that doesn't record any data from a nonprofit. I've just had it on the settings recommended based on my sleep study, and I feel like it's fine since I've felt more well rested in the mornings, but I'm not sure what methods I can use to troubleshoot that without a better machine.

Hello, World? wrote:

D.H. wrote:I guess that the two hours you had the mask on were enough to make a setting determination.

I hope you can adjust to CPAP. Whatever else might be wrong with you, you will feel better if this is treated. Some patients report that it takes months to feel better, others (such as myself) report improvement the first week.

Figuring out the settings is something I'm in the process of trying to even start doing. My parents don't quite have the money to buy a state of the art machine, so I ended up with a pretty dated, basic machine that doesn't record any data from a nonprofit. I've just had it on the settings recommended based on my sleep study, and I feel like it's fine since I've felt more well rested in the mornings, but I'm not sure what methods I can use to troubleshoot that without a better machine.

dh is an idiot, best to put him on your foe list.

Hello, World? wrote:
Figuring out the settings is something I'm in the process of trying to even start doing. My parents don't quite have the money to buy a state of the art machine, so I ended up with a pretty dated, basic machine that doesn't record any data from a nonprofit. I've just had it on the settings recommended based on my sleep study, and I feel like it's fine since I've felt more well rested in the mornings, but I'm not sure what methods I can use to troubleshoot that without a better machine.

When my seven year-old machine broke, I was using my eleven year-old machine until the new one came. Despite the age of it, it was fine. Of course, neither of my older ones recorded any data except the number of hours it was turned on (sort of like an odometer). The new one does record data, but I did fine with date recording for seventeen years.

Hello, World? wrote:Figuring out the settings is something I'm in the process of trying to even start doing. My parents don't quite have the money to buy a state of the art machine, so I ended up with a pretty dated, basic machine that doesn't record any data from a nonprofit. I've just had it on the settings recommended based on my sleep study, and I feel like it's fine since I've felt more well rested in the mornings, but I'm not sure what methods I can use to troubleshoot that without a better machine.

there's no way to tell whether the machine is working right for you without data. unless the settings are way off, you'll feel better, but there's no way to tell how well it's working, or even, what to do, without data.

every time someone says something like 'have the money to buy a state of the art machine' I wonder what kind of prices they're thinking of.. what it costs to buy a new machine at a DME, or an online place, or a good used machine off of craigslist or from someone here on the forum... $$$$, $$$, $, respectively.

send a PM to grayghost4 and see what he can do for you, his hobby is checking out craigslist and finding machines. he knows what's good, and he's scrupulously honest.

D.H. wrote: The new one does record data, but I did fine with date recording for seventeen years.

you're doing the equivalent of telling someone new to drive to work while blindfolded.

palerider wrote:

D.H. wrote: The new one does record data, but I did fine with date recording for seventeen years.

you're doing the equivalent of telling someone new to drive to work while blindfolded.

It might be a good idea to ban idiots like D.H. from posting. Let them read and ask questions, but no posting of comments or advice.

- CL's Husband

palerider wrote:

Hello, World? wrote:Figuring out the settings is something I'm in the process of trying to even start doing. My parents don't quite have the money to buy a state of the art machine, so I ended up with a pretty dated, basic machine that doesn't record any data from a nonprofit. I've just had it on the settings recommended based on my sleep study, and I feel like it's fine since I've felt more well rested in the mornings, but I'm not sure what methods I can use to troubleshoot that without a better machine.

there's no way to tell whether the machine is working right for you without data. unless the settings are way off, you'll feel better, but there's no way to tell how well it's working, or even, what to do, without data.

every time someone says something like 'have the money to buy a state of the art machine' I wonder what kind of prices they're thinking of.. what it costs to buy a new machine at a DME, or an online place, or a good used machine off of craigslist or from someone here on the forum... $$$$, $$$, $, respectively.

send a PM to grayghost4 and see what he can do for you, his hobby is checking out craigslist and finding machines. he knows what's good, and he's scrupulously honest.

This was so helpful, thank you. I'll do just that

Did you ever figure out what the root of the issue was??
I have basically every symptom you’ve listed and I’m thinking I have low oxygen due to undiagnosed sleep apnea.



Thanks, Sam

You are posting to a DEAD thread, I doubt if the person is around to read it. Jim