Internal Tremors - a question - Atrial Fibrillati...

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Internal Tremors - a question

CDreamer profile image
12 Replies

As many of you know, I have had a somewhat chequered journey with my AF and treatments but currently am happy with my status quo ie: Pacemaker which seems to help control AF and certainly lessens episodes, unless I have an infection.

Very recently, I have developed what I can only describe as internal earthquakes, dystonia - especially at night and after exercise, muscle spasms, especially in my feet and legs. Now I have attributed my symptoms to the neurological condition I have - Myasthenia gravis as this phenomena is widely reported on Mg patient forums and thought to be a side effect of one the drugs we take which stops the breakdown of Acetycholine. However, the escalation of symptoms whilst my dosage remains stable is making me rethink.

Dystonia is commonly recognised as a symptom of Parkinson’s Disease and MS but not so far associated with other conditions.

I recently came across this paper which lists similar symptoms in EDS patients - symbiosisonlinepublishing.c...

Symptom List

Involuntary muscular contractions without movement such as fasciculation on the face, blepharospasm mainly, on the thigh, reminding of a mobile phone vibration in a trouser pocket,

Sudden movements such as a fit of the wrist, the shoulders, the legs or wide movements which results in hitting objects or people or throwing off balance the patient for whom they occur in the lower limbs

- Trembling, jerking, hesitant hand movements

- Trembling fingers or thumbs in motion or at rest

- Muscular contractions often described as hardening of muscles, rigidity, constraining movement, or as cramps

- Lasting contractions in forced flexion of the thumb or fingers, in flexion and adduction of the feet,

- Writer's cramp when writing after variable amounts of time,

- Incessant, repetitive movement in flexion or extension of the foot and knee when sitting with feet on the ground,

- Repetitive movement of the trunk alternating between flexion and extension at the hip

- Diffuse tonic crises at the lower limbs with alternating, violent movements worsened by tenting to immobilize them

- Short contractions of the lower limbs leading to a fall

- Partial or generalized tonic-clonic movements and the possibility of hematomas facilitated by the fine skin and the fragility of the vessels. These can be confused with seizure activity but the EEG remains normal

- Restless leg syndrome at night, which sometimes evolves into very violent jerks

- Bruxism, (grinding teeth) which we often encounter in EDS patients could be related to dystonia

Now my question is - I have seen many posts reporting an inner shaking prior to or during an AF episode. If you have ever experienced this phenomena please could you reply with a brief description and whether you knowingly have another condition such as Dsytonia.

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12 Replies
Desanthony profile image
Desanthony

My Mum had Parkinson’s and it is quite difficult to diagnose - or it was. My neighbour has been diagnosed with “essential tremor” a few years ago and this is brilliantly controlled with medication. Maybe best to consult with a specialist. Thing is as we get older we get more things go wrong, can go

wrong and medicate for the conditions we have and then medicate for the side effect of the medications too. Quite often when I go to the Doc with a problem there are quite a few reasons why I might have it from a number of actual ailments I actually suffer from to side effects of medication - but it always could be something new that needs looking at - I pity my poor GP. 🤣

wilsond profile image
wilsond

Hi CDI do not have any other conditions as far as I know but I do recognise the quaking feeling you describe. Thus was often a precursor to Flutter episodes but not so much for AFib.

It's best described as like when I had flu,sort of general internal shivering if that makes sense.

?

Good luck xxx

CDreamer profile image
CDreamer in reply towilsond

Yes it does make sense. The reading I’ve been doing recently is that it is now being recognised as a condition in itself without any known associated neurological condition. As you know I’ve been looking at Autonomic dysfunction for quite a while now.

It’s a very strange feeling and hard to find words to describe and entirely new to me but I have had the muscle spasms for a while. It’s as though all my insides are vibrating and I go very spacey.

wilsond profile image
wilsond in reply toCDreamer

That resonates exactly. Mr W and one son ( particularly attuned with me) could almost predict events based on my ' dreamy' attitude.Once I set a tea towel on fire on the hob during a dream/wobbly time. My attitude was relaxed to say the least .

I then sat down and felt very queer internally.

Best wishes for your ' enquiries' CD xx

Kingst profile image
Kingst in reply toCDreamer

I find this thread absolutely fascinating. I belong to an online forum that has nothing to do with AFIB and people have begun to report an internal "shivering". They are almost embarrassed to bring it up, but as more and more people come forward it is clear the phenomenon is a real thing. Several people have reported finding information from around the world that this strange symptom is a result of COVID!!! Doctors have also published dealing with patients with this symptom and admit being baffled.

CDreamer profile image
CDreamer in reply toKingst

Yes I’ve noticed a lot more about this in the last few months which is why I’m trying get a handle on it. It’s a really weird thing. Thanks for your input.

Auriculaire profile image
Auriculaire in reply toCDreamer

This internal shaking phenomenon was widely reported on Fluoroquinolone Toxicity forums. I have it very mildly and the episodes only last for a few seconds so I have never paid it much attention. I also have the lasting contractions mentioned in the symptom list affecting my little finger and thumb mainly on the left hand. This is much more bothersome but as it mainly happens in hot weather I have always put it down to electrolyte imbalance.

CDreamer profile image
CDreamer in reply toAuriculaire

Thanks, it seems that there are numerous possibilities!

Auriculaire profile image
Auriculaire in reply toKingst

It has been widely reported on FQ tox forums for dome years now - long before Covid. But the similarities in symptoms with FQ tox and long covid or covid vaxx injuries is striking.

Jpot34 profile image
Jpot34

My brother has recently experienced the same internal tremors. He never had them till he was double vaxxed. Have you been vaxxed? If so, that may be a place for you to start with your doctor. I wish you the best going forward! Have a great week!!

Tako2009 profile image
Tako2009

So much of what you and others describe resonates with my own experiences- I am late responding to this post but wanted to get my thoughts in order first. I have experienced the internal quivering myself recently but first became aware of of these symptoms during the first lockdown.

During lockdown my grown up son developed these type of muscular spasms and twitching. We believe he had Covid prior to lockdown as he had all the main symptoms in the previous January but there was no testing or tracing at the time. He subsequently developed neurological symptoms - muscles twitching in his arms and legs, tremors in his hands, shakiness and some numbness in fingers and toes and that feeling of internal tremors/shivers - our GP got him referred urgently for scans and tests - fortunately no serious underlying cause was found but the Neurologist did mention that they were increasingly seeing these type of symptoms in people who had previously been ill with the Covid virus.

I tested positive with the virus in November 2020 and was seriously unwell with it plus accompanying AF. During that time I started having what came to be termed my ‘funny turns’ - not funny at all, and like you say difficult to put into words - internal quaking, spacey, a feeling of weakness, of something wrong but so hard to describe and actually over quite quickly. Two months later they increased in frequency and I was feeling so bad went to A&E - where they promptly stopped! It took me a long time to recover from that bout of Covid and actually I’m not sure I ever got back to feeling as well as I was before.

And then a few weeks ago another viral infection - didn’t test positive but from the symptoms I had I believe it was a very close relative and of course it triggered a lengthy AF episode. Again I’m left with fatigue and once again I am experiencing that feeling of internal trembling in my body, and especially in my arms and legs, the ‘spaceyness’ - these tend to come in waves, last for a short time and then go away. Currently I am booked for blood tests to see if there’s any deficiencies or other indicators as to what causes this.

For us, the common factor seems to be the Covid virus. Our first encounter happened long before vaccines were available and I was fully vaccinated when I picked up the second virus and the odd symptoms returned. So I think if there is a link it’s with the virus, not the vaccine.

Anyway sorry for the long post but I am really interested in this as it seems to be affecting me and my son at the moment.

CDreamer profile image
CDreamer in reply toTako2009

Thank you so much for your reply, everything you said echoes my own experiences. I felt that after my 4th vaccine my immune system went into overload but I do think you may be correct that the problem started with the virus.

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