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Facial Twitching in Cheek Muscles in Social Situations

Advice Needed 
1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  incapaz dseguir mintiendo 
#1 ·
I've seen that this topic has been briefly discussed before in the forum, but I have been seeking to find any solutions to the issue. It is concerning me for my future career and has certainly given me more social anxiety than I have ever had in the past.

In summary, sometimes in social situations when I am meeting someone for the first time, or I go to a big event where there are lots of new people to talk to or there is a lot going on, I can't hold a smile because my cheek muscles start to tremble/shake. It's like I have to stop smiling because it feels as if my cheek muscles are having intense spasms and then I have to make a blank expression for a period of time to relax the muscles. It feels as if they get overworked or tired in a sense. I had a bad experience a little over a year ago with the twitching, and then it became a thought that persisted in my mind. It is like my body's automatic response in social situations to stress. Can I rewire my brain to knock this habit? Is fixing SA the only issue at hand? What advice would you give?

I have tried supplementing with magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin B, propranolol, etc. None of these solutions have worked effectively. The only solution that has completely stopped the twitching is by having several drinks of alcohol. It is now a thought that I can't get out of my head in many social interactions. Please let me know if there are any solutions to this problem. Perhaps just accepting the twitch and not trying to fight it will make it go away. I'm just concerned because it has been over a year now.
 
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#3 ·
I've had several doctors appointments. My doctor prescribed me propranolol which slightly helped at first, but now it seems to not work at all. I met with a neurologist and he said it is an SA related tic, not a neurological disorder since I don't experience twitching when I am not speaking to anyone. However, I do feel as if my face is susceptible to twitching sometimes, and it has become a feedback loop where it is happening more and more often.
 
#4 ·
I've had this happen in the past - with me it was just to do with the anxiety of the situation I was in.

I'm not sure what to tell you - maybe some CBT, or just exposure will get you used to the situations and the anxiety will decrease, then the twitching will hopefully stop. I hope things improve anyway.
 
#5 ·
My neck twitches like I have cervical dystonia when I'm nervous around people, and when I try to smile my cheeks also twitch. I don't care about the cheeks because I prefer being serious than faking a smile. The neck though is really annoying because I can't hold eye contact without my head tourning around automatically. I'm also starting to experience neck twiches being alone and that scares me, because they started showing up only when nervous around others. I'll try not to think about it too much or else I'll get scared of the twitches and twitch more, typical anxiety feedback loop. I have one family member that has tremors btw, might have inherited some of those genes.
 
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