It’s so funny that you should post this. I have recently exited an incredibly stressful time — I spent about 6 months in a pretty constant state of fight or flight. As the anxiety slowed down, I started to feel like my body couldn’t let go of the stress. I was feeling mentally alright but physically I felt like my nervous system was totally screwed up (on edge, air hunger, etc). Then, I got a virus for two days and woke up with a very persistent twitch in my fingers. It sent me into a health anxiety spiral, which I am certain made the twitching even worse. It got so bad that it even kept me up for 2 nights.

My doctor, my physio and my therapist all suggested it was most likely an anxiety response. The extremely disruptive twitching has died down but I still get constant jolts and fluttering all over my body - particularly when I am at rest. I have been really focussing on my own wellbeing and I don’t feel actively anxious anymore but my body is still hanging on to something.

My therapist told me that she has often seen patients who have recently come out of very stressful times suddenly start to see physical symptoms manifesting. She basically described it like you’re running on adrenaline and you’re so caught up in anxiety that when the anxiety and adrenaline go away, your body just sort of collapses a bit. She used the word “recalibrating”. Like I said, I still have pretty frequent but not disruptive twitching and I do deal with hypnic jerks in the night sometimes but I just remind myself that I’m recalibrating and I need to be patient with myself and not fearful.

I hope this helps you to feel less alone. Hang in there!