Vitamin Deficiency With Muscle Twitches

Muscle twitching interferes with life. It messes with your sleep and takes away your comfort. Whether your eyelid is twitching, your calf muscle is spasming, or you have a muscle twitching all over your body, ​there's a solution to the problem​.

Muscle twitches are a fairly common experience. The official medical term is ​benign fasciculation​, according to an iCliniq February 2019 post. These harmless spasms are large enough to be felt but not so big they cause involuntary movement. Other symptoms include ​fatigue, anxiety and pain, weakness and stiffness in the affected muscles​.

Twitches aren't all caused by serious problems. iCliniq lists a number of benign causes:

• Stress
• Trauma
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Alcoholism
• Smoking
• Viral infection
• Strenuous exercise
• Vitamin deficiency

Resolving your muscle twitches is ​a matter of finding its cause​ according to the iCliniq article. A muscle spasm from vitamin deficiency can be resolved with a diet change or taking supplements. If your twitch is from stress and fatigue, get better sleep and learn stress coping skills. Find your twitches trigger to resolve them.

Different vitamin deficiencies cause muscle twitching, according to a study in Neurology International in August 2014. Vitamin deficiencies that cause twitches are ​calcium, magnesium, vitamin B12 and vitamin D​.

Before starting a supplement, make sure you check with your doctor for a deficiency first. Otherwise, ​you might end up with toxic levels in your blood​.

Calcium is essential to keeping your bones healthy and strong, but it's also imperative for muscle health. According to the National Institutes of Health, ​calcium deficiency can cause spasms​ and cramps. Improving calcium levels may be an easy solution to twitches.

There are several calcium supplements you can take. Or you can start eating foods rich in calcium. Such foods include grains like barley, vegetables like broccoli and most types of meat.

​Read more:​ Can Calcium Be Absorbed Without Magnesium

Vitamin D plays a critical role in calcium absorption, as noted in a September 2018 Merck Manual article. Vitamin D also plays a crucial role in muscle health.

A deficiency in vitamin D can lead to muscle spasms. The first signs of rickets in babies is usually these types of twitches. Though the ​deficiency can cause fasciculation in adults​ as well.

Having a vitamin D deficiency can cause several other types of ailments such as fatigue. Since fatigue can cause muscle twitches, ​this only exasperates the problem​. Talk to you doctor if you suspect a deficiency.

​Read more:​ 9 Ways to Help Avoid Vitamin D Deficiency

As noted in a January 2018 article in the journal Open Heart, magnesium deficiency can cause muscle ​twitching all over the body​. Typically these are small irritating twitches. It's only a sign of a minor deficiency though. So taking supplements or eating magnesium-rich foods should be an easy fix.

If you're experiencing leg cramps at night, it's disrupting your sleep. Instead of being up all night, University Health News January 2019 article recommended vitamin B12. It's an important vitamin that you should make sure you're not low on in general. So have your doctor check your levels and find a good quality B12 supplement to add to your diet.

Vitamin deficiency is ​not the only cause for muscle twitching​. Exercise-induced cramping is one of the more common reasons. Those with nocturnal leg cramps may have restless leg syndrome. Even having too much caffeine can make you twitch. If it's none of these reasons, it may be due to a bigger medical issue, so talk to your doctor.

A BMJ Journal April 2019 article found drinking ​water increases cramping after exercise​. Adding electrolytes to your water, however, can fix the problem. So, don't quit exercising just make sure you prepare your body for it ahead of time. By watching your fluid intake and maintaining your electrolytes you can easily tackle this problem.

​Read more:​ How to Replace Electrolytes

The Journal of Caffeine Research noted in a September 2013 article that ​too much caffeine could cause muscle twitches​. There's a simple solution, though, limit your caffeine intake. You don't have to quit the coffee just yet, but you might want to cut down on the number of glasses. If you need energy from other sources, there are plenty of alternatives for you to try,

If your legs are twitching at night, you're probably wondering if you have restless leg syndrome. An International Journal of Colorectal Disease July 2018 study found that ​B12 reduces nocturnal leg cramps​. Meanwhile, a July 2018 article in the American Journal of Hematology found that RLS is often related to iron deficiency.

While the two correlate, researchers ​need more evidence to determine​ ​if iron can improve RLS​.

You've probably read that muscle twitching is a symptom of ALS. As you see, though, it's also the symptom of several other ailments. In an ALS Association Q&A from 2019, they emphasize how common muscle twitching is. So ​unless you have other symptoms, there's no reason to worry​.