Muscle Twitches

In November 2001, I started having muscle twitches. At first, I thought it was related to my thyroid medication which I had started not long before that. After being taken off thyroid medication, I still had the twitches, though. They would happen usually every day in various parts of my body, and I couldn't figure out what caused them. I googled "muscle twitches" and Lou Gehrig's disease came up, which really scared me. I asked my doctor about it, and she said I probably needed magnesium and potassium, which I started taking. That didn't help. I did research on the internet and found there were other people who also had muscle twitches. Some of them had gone to neurologists and some had CT scans and other tests that came back negative.

I recently started going to a naturopathic doctor and told her about them. She also thought I may be magnesium deficient and started me on a different kind of magnesium (glycinate, chelate). I still had the twitches. I had a hair analysis done and it showed a high manganese level. One of the sources listed for high manganese was contaminated water, so I made some phone calls to see if I could get our water tested for manganese. One of the places I called was Culligan because we have an iron/sulfur filter from them. They informed me that they use manganese sand in the filter. Out of curiosity, I asked when our system was installed because I couldn't remember and was told November 2001 - the same time I started having the muscle twitches.

I don't know if this is just a coincidence, but I stopped drinking our water and started drinking bottled water. Bottled water is probably not healthy either but I wanted to see if the twitches would stop. They seem to be getting less, unless it's just wishful thinking.

High manganese levels can be associated with disorientation, memory loss, anxiety, emotional instability, bipolar-like behaviors, aberrant or violent behaviors and tremor or Parkinson-like symptoms.

The next step is to find out what to do about a water-filtering system. A Pur filter on our faucet apparently doesn't remove manganese. My doctor says steam distilled water is best, so I'll have to check that out. Read more!

Recipes

CHICKEN CASSEROLE

3 to 4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
croutons

Place cut-up chicken breasts into buttered 1-1/2 to 2-quart casserole dish. Spread cheese on top of chicken. Mix cream of chicken soup with 1/4 cup of water and pour over cheese. Top with croutons. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes with foil on. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes until bubbly. Serves approximately 4. Good served over rice.





SKILLET RICE

1 cup of brown minute rice
Onion, chopped (use as much or as little as you want)
Green pepper, chopped (optional)
Butter
Hot sauce
Salt and spices of choice to taste

Sautee onion and pepper in butter in skillet while cooking rice in another pan. Add salt and spices of choice (I use oregano and basil) to onion and pepper. Add butter to cooked rice. Add cooked rice to skillet and mix well. Add hot sauce to rice mixture and mix well. Read more!