Muscle Twitch

Bulldog

Bulldog

Active Member
For 3 weeks now my right bicep muscle has been twitching. It happens about once every 1-3 seconds. It is driving me frigging crazy. Does anyone know what would cause something like this? I just started working out a week ago after a long break so I know I'm not over trained or anything like that.
 
Are you getting plenty of vitamins? Whenever I quit watching my magnesium and potassium intake, I notice more muscle twitches and muscle cramps. Strange that it's after a long break though, it usually only gets bad for me when I'm in the heaviest parts of my training...
 
I take one multivitamin every day and I take ZMA at night. Maybe a banana per day will help with potassium.

Yeah, it's strange that it isn't after lifting heavy for a while. And the week before the bicep twitch started my right eye lid was twitching, which was also very annoying.
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That's happened to me too, the eyelid twitching gets really annoying really fast. Have you been under any kind of additional stress? I get the twitches in the eyelid when I'm not getting enough sleep and have to deal with extreme aggravation at work.
 
Now that you mention it I have only been getting about 5 hours of sleep every night for the last couple of weeks. I haven't been able to figure out why though as there are no new stress factors going on in my life right now. But like clockwork I'm wide awake (although still tired) at about 4 AM every morning and can't get back to sleep.

The only thing I can think of that has changed recently is the weather. And pretty soon my alergies will start kicking in although I haven't had any symptoms yet.
 
Well maybe that is it. I know how you feel about the sleeping problems - I get them all the time. It might be something worth mentioning to your doctor, although I think I recall you talking about this in a thread before? I've never tried talking to my doctor about it or trying any prescription medications for sleep - over the counter never seems to help, they just make me feel groggy in the morning.

What time of day do you lift? If I lift too late before bed, it seems to disrupt my sleep patterns.

How much magnesium is in ZMA? From what I've read, it seems that magnesium deficiency is the most common cause of muscle twitches. It could be worth getting some extra magnesium on top of whatever is in the ZMA, though supposedly too much magnesium can cause diarrhea which could be counterproductive. I've never noticed problems like that from magnesium supplementation though.
 
I started taking the ZMA late last year because of my sleep problems.  And it really helped a lot but I quit taking it when I stopped lifting several weeks back.  I just started taking it again the week before the arm twitch thing started and I seemed to sleep pretty well that first week taking it again.  Maybe I should drop the ZMA and see if maybe it is the cause for some reason (of either the twitch OR the sleeping problem).

It is quite possible that it is my nutrition though.  During my 6 week break (approximately, don't remember exactly how long it has been)  I wasn't eating near enough and I lost 15 pounds (from 165 down to 150) and appear to have lost quite a bit of LBM.  And my strength is way down as well.  So I know I need to get a better handle on my nutrition.  But have always tried to get a multivitamin, some extra vitamin C (500-1000mg per day) and some fish oil every day.  Occasionally I forget but most days I remember to take it.

I usually workout in the evening around 6 PM. But occasionally will workout in the early morning around 6 AM if I know I won't be able to workout that evening for some reason.
 
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(Totentanz @ Apr. 09 2008,11:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Are you getting plenty of vitamins? Whenever I quit watching my magnesium and potassium intake, I notice more muscle twitches and muscle cramps. Strange that it's after a long break though, it usually only gets bad for me when I'm in the heaviest parts of my training...</div>
Echo Tot's reply... no cramps or twitches since watching MG/K intake.
 
Still twitching.....

MG/K intake? I'm assuming MG=Magnesium but what does the &quot;K&quot; stand for?
 
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(Bulldog @ Apr. 19 2008,12:48)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Still twitching.....

MG/K intake?  I'm assuming MG=Magnesium but what does the &quot;K&quot; stand for?</div>
Potassium -- try switching your table salt from NaCl to KCl.

It may help. It will cut down your sodium intake (which is already too high for most of us), and increase your potassium significantly.
 
ZMA?!? I thought that stuff was BS since the only study on it was from the guy who created it...



Anyhow, I get the eye twitch when I am stressed (probably with disruptd sleep patterns).
 
Take ZMA for wild and crazy dreams! ...well, they (the sleep researchers) say that your deeper sleep is REM, which happens while dreaming? Or did I get that wrong? Anyway, being chased by two women with 3, uh, well, you get the idea...
 
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(jwbond @ Apr. 21 2008,3:01)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">ZMA?!?  I thought that stuff was BS since the only study on it was from the guy who created it...</div>
I did read one other study that says there are no benefits from ZMA.  But they used a supplement called &quot;Z-Mass PM&quot; which has some other crap in it besides the Zink, Magnesium &amp; B6.  Would that affect the results?  I have no idea.  But it makes sense that better sleep would result in optimum testosterone levels.  Would I get the same sleep benefits from a simple Magnesium supplement?  Probably.
 
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(Bulldog @ Apr. 19 2008,12:48)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Still twitching.....

MG/K intake? I'm assuming MG=Magnesium but what does the &quot;K&quot; stand for?</div>
K is Potassium
 
I'm not sure about sleep benefits from Magnesium, but it has taken care of rather annoying muscle twitches for me. My sleep has improved for several reasons because of lower stress, a new bed and fish oil intake.
 
I'm a crappy oldmansleeper. I wake at least 3-4 times a night to drain the vein or just because I heard something. ZMA cuts down on the uptime so I sleep more, which is key for me. Because of that I feel better. If I feel better, I lift better. If I lift better I grow better. If I grow better I get to eat pie.
 
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(quadancer @ Apr. 22 2008,7:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">If I feel better, I lift better. If I lift better I grow better. If I grow better I get to eat pie.</div>
Dag! Is that motivation or what...? I wanna eat pie, too!
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