Who Let the Bees Out?

Why are my legs buzzing? Who let the bees out? A sensation during the day and night — but intermittently?

Of course, if you google this sensation a whole lot of weird things are going to crop up as the cause: MS, pinched nerve, Parkinson’s, essential tremor, peripheral neuropathy, and ants in your pants.

I see a neurologist all the time. I know I do not have specific conditions. However, I'm very curious as to what is causing this sensation. So I looked into what could be the cause of such a thing.

Essential tremors and internal tremors

I actually have a constant tremor in my left hand. It is very likely an essential tremor and nothing to worry about, in general. At least my neurologist isn’t concerned about it, and I am on a migraine preventative medication, Topamax, that actually may help with it, he said (recently went up in dosage).

An essential tremor, though, can also cause an internal tremor (or internal vibration). And it is exactly like it sounds: a vibration under the skin. This can also occur in MS and Parkinson’s, but I am assessed regularly by my neurologist.

How common are internal tremors?

A study in 2015 found that 32.6% of Parkinson's patients, 35.9% of MS patients, and 54.5% of essential tremor patients reported experiencing internal tremors, which seems to be associated with the tremors themselves and levels of anxiety.¹

The sensations I am getting in my feet could be this. It will take a long time before I can ask my neurologist if it is, though.

The combination of fibromyalgia, paresthesia, and nerve issues with RLS

I have previously mentioned I actually get some pretty intense paresthesia sensations in my legs from fibromyalgia. It can really add to the intensity of these sensations when you combine them with RLS.

Lately, I have had some intense pain in the soles of my feet. Add that to this buzzing/vibration feeling, and I wondered if it is a nerve issue beyond that of just paresthesia.

The problem is, how can a person sort all these weird symptoms apart? Who can say what is RLS and what is paresthesia and what may or may not be something else?

Pallesthesia: the perception of vibration

The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary describes pallesthesia as “awareness or perception of vibration especially as transmitted through skin and bones”.²

I literally have been getting that sort of perception of vibration right through my feet. It’s pretty intense sometimes. I’m very curious if this is different from my paresthesia.

I also want to know if the RLS community as a whole has this symptom. While my RLS has definitely gotten worse, I'm just not sure if that is to blame.

Getting an electromyography (EMG) test

It doesn’t feel like my paresthesia, but that being said, it may still be that, because that can get weird.

When I asked my neurologist about this the last time I saw him about my RLS, he simply said, "Yes, I have heard sometimes people experience this." Okey dokey — which was entirely not helpful, especially since it is much more intense now.

I have a history of peripheral neuropathy in my hands, and I was told often that when RLS shows up, they want to rule out neuropathy when you have an existing history. So they did an electromyography (EMG) test, which measures the electrical activity in the muscles and nerves.

Ruling out peripheral neuropathy

It turned out completely fine. I don’t even have peripheral neuropathy in my hands, which obviously is leading to some questions about those symptoms as well. However, I know for a fact none of these sensations are peripheral neuropathy.

It doesn’t rule out small fiber neuropathy, though, or neurological issues. However, with my feet having no large fiber nerve damage it does make me think this is RLS-related — or my paresthesia.

A new sensation for RLS patients?

Not every sensation is always RLS-related. If you have a new sensation that doesn’t follow your RLS patterns at all, it is worth asking your doctor about it, especially with complicated medical conditions.

This buzzing sensation that occurs outside of my RLS sensations made me curious whether it is pallesthesia or not, and if people with RLS can develop it.

I'm curious if any of you have experienced this sensation. If so, did you ever find out what it was? What caused it?

My neurologist didn’t find my description unusual for RLS, and maybe it is just that. We all have so many sensations with RLS and ways to describe them. Maybe this is just a new sensation?