anyone easily startled? have a hyper startle reaction?

[Abynorml]

My doc says the my EEG didnt show any sensitivity to light, I told him flashing light does make me ill sometimes, and that two of my seizures have been triggered by unexpected light, he kinda agreed it might be some kind of startle reaction, so far him and his nurse dont quite understand me when I tell them I can have a hyper startle reaction, the nurse said its just anxiety, they just dont get it, people who work with me do, they are always asking me why am I so jumpy, it has nothing to do with anxiety, I can be calm and relaxed but if you sneak up on me, I'll jump out of my skin, I work with in-ear headphones on mixing sound for a band on stage, if you come up from behind me and touch me to try to get my attention, I just about pee my pants, and people try their hardest not to spook me, even just the sense of someones unexpected footsteps behind me can make me jump. Unexpected light can me, one time a friend snuck up on me and flashed a very bright strobing flashlight at me from behind, that nearly caused me to seize, I could feel my brain panic, I could barely yell "stop!!!" I had to tell him I probably had epilepsy(a year before the doc finally said the E word), he was very sorry and understanding.

right now Im dealing with an 8 hour time change, being on tour in the UK, and the concert lights are much brighter and intense than the ones we usually have, at times they make me feel ill, Ive taken to wearing a hoodie that blocks my sight of them, so far the increase in meds is doing the job, but I did have a few jerks this week.

[RachelinAZ]

Interesting about the anxiety vs seizure. That is what the doctor at Swedish told me, I was having major anxiety attacks. Luckily, my home doctor set him straight.

[CathyAnn31]

I'm very jumpy. People mention it but I can't really help it.

[MaryK]

I am hypersensitive to noises, light, (fluorescent light especially and when they are flickering or the ballast needs replacing I have to leave), flickering light in trees, just easily startled... everything is magnified to me whether it is light or sound

[jyearta]

I easily startle when someone walks up behind me.
I also have my stero on and singing right along with it, so I don't hear their foot steps.

My husband knows this but thinks he is beening cute by walking up behind me. I told him don't be surprised if one day I slap him.

[Krista2882]

I don't think I startle too easily. But when I do, I have a seizure (simple-partial). Like if I get REALLY startled. The things that usually do it is someone coming up behind me and poking my sides (I am soooooooo ticklish in my sides, I freak out when anyone touches me there, especially if I don't expect it). Or if I trip and almost fall (or actually fall), I'll have a seizure.
And when I've gotten into car accidents (fender benders), it causes me to have a simple-partial seizure.

[LJ-Bain]

I remember once my husband put the wrong setting on the alarm clock and instead of music it was a startling and loud beep beep beep....
talk about the wrong way to wake up. Instant partials.

Last night was an interesting experience. I was staring at a little boy in the restaurant (probably mid seizure already) and he whipped around his head around super fast and startled me and I smack my mouth and my head drops. Can't take me anywhere. They are pretty subtle fortunately. Mainly only my family notices. Or so I like to kid myself.

I also once heard my husband fall in the tub and he didn't answer when I called out to him. I ran upstairs panicking and found he was ok after all and proceeded to collapse in twitches on the bed.

It must be a whole fight or flight response that causes our brain to freak out!
Geez. I guess we can't be counted on in an emergency!

Krista2882...after a car accident would be totally understandable. Your heart would be jumping out of your chest and adrenaline would be pumping. What did the other driver of the other cars think? Even if it was your fault that could totally get a little sympathy thrown your way! Either that or an ambulance.


What is it with people and surprise tickles??? It should be banned.

Abnormyl...I hope the strobe lights take it easy on you...plus the sleep deprivation. And who would ever think of sneak attacking with a flashlight? I'm laughing but I just don't get it? At least he was apologetic.
I have heard that with flashing lights if you close one eye it helps lessen the effects of the photosensitivity in a pinch. It's helped me through surprise police car lights while being a passenger from time to time.

[Nakamova]

I wonder if reflex triggers (sudden sounds/movements/flashes, etc.) are more likely to cause partial seizures than tonic-clonics. Before I had my tonic-clonic seizures I would occasionally get flashing migraine aura (without the headache) from bright sun/dappling, but my tonic-clonics don't seem to be triggered by photosensitivity.

[Krista2882]

Krista2882...after a car accident would be totally understandable. Your heart would be jumping out of your chest and adrenaline would be pumping. What did the other driver of the other cars think? Even if it was your fault that could totally get a little sympathy thrown your way! Either that or an ambulance.

LOL Well, most people don't notice when I'm having a seizure and sitting still because I get motor seizures on the right side of my body that cause some shaking- but only if I try to move my muscles. If I'm sitting still, it feels like my muscles are crawling. But when I walk it makes me limp, and I can't move my limbs very smoothly. Sometimes my muscles do grab and pull my shoulder up or my head down to the right, but that doesn't happen often anymore.
But I think if the other drivers saw me having a partial seizure, they'd try to claim that that's why the accident occured, when it was actually the other way around.

[Rae1889]

I dont startle at all. I am always very observant of my surroundings. Both audio and visual and physical. That being said, I have too many PHOBIAS. Not just little fears. but actual PHOBIAs that cause me to overly freak out and some make me throw up or pass out.

[little fruitcake]

I too startle very easily. Sometimes I feel so silly. Oh well.

[MaeDae]

I startle and scare easily. Sometimes I can see it happen before it happens and or it happened and I still jump, scream etc... My reaction can be either pre-mature or delayed. Loud sounds(are the worse), sudden movements of others standing close to me, falling objects, bugs, and even lint has made me jump clean out of my skin. Thinking about it, I believe I jump more when its in my perpherial view. My depth preception is off also. Anyone else have depth preception problems or am I the only one?

[Cint]

Last night on 20/20 they did a show about Medical Mysteries and one of them was Misophonia. http://abcnews.go.com/2020 I found it very interesting because I, too, am easily startled and don't like anyone coming up behind me. Even in the stores where innocent folks come up asking to help me, I almost jump out of my skin and then have to find a quiet place in the store or go home. I've been like this ever since I was a child, before I was ever diagnosed with Epilepsy. I also hate it when people making rattling noises with newspapers, pages of books, etc. and when chewing, smacking lips (good thing I didn't hear myself when having a seizure). I sometimes had to leave the dinner table growing up because my father smacked loudly when eating. My family knew it really bothered me. And now that I have epilepsy (and I'm a bit older), it seems to be magnified.

Definition of Misophonia according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misophonia

Misophonia, literally “hatred of sound,” is a form of decreased sound tolerance. It is a neurological disorder characterized by negative experiences resulting only from specific sounds, whether loud or soft, and is often used interchangeably with the term Selective Sound Sensitivity.

Symptoms

People who have misophonia are most commonly annoyed, or even enraged, by such ordinary sounds as other people eating, breathing, or coughing; certain consonants; or repetitive sounds.[6][7] People with misophonia may be diagnosed with mood or anxiety disorders as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Though a few sufferers are bothered by sounds they make themselves, most are not.[7] The reactions are completely involuntary.

People who have misophonia may also be annoyed by other people's repetitive movements, such as leg-tapping, nail-biting, the rising and falling of the belly, and typing.[8]

Sensitivity to these sounds tends to be exacerbated by stress, hunger, or fatigue.

The onset of the symptoms appears to have a characteristic pattern, often in childhood just prior to or during puberty. Often there is a single initial trigger (such as a parent's or sibling's noises), after which the triggers expand over time to include both auditory or visual elements. It is speculated that there is a genetic basis for this disorder as the etiological data supports a similar pattern of emergence, but this remains to be determined.

[valeriedl]

I startle very easy and I usually throw a punch when I do!

My husband and I sleep in seperate bedrooms (I'm a bed hog and he snores too bad). He comes in my room to tell me he's leaving for work and give me a kiss before he goes. I've almost punched him so many times because he's startled me awake that he now stays in the doorway and wakes me up before he comes into the room! He doesn't want the guys at work to see him with a black eye and have to explain how he got it.

One time when I was in the hospital they even put a sign on my door to becareful if a nurse or dr comes in and wakes me up to give me meds or something else because I might punch them. They thought it was a joke until I actually almost hit someone, then they took it seirously.

I've even 'shot' my husband with the hair dryer a few times when he's come into the room while I'm drying my hair and I didn't see him come in. We get a kick out of that because I grab the hair dryer with both hands and aim it right at him. The first time I did it I think he laughed for about an hour afterwards.

[RunningGirl85]

I get jumpy when someone "appears" out of nowhere. My old land lord would be out doing yardwork when I'd go outside my house and I would always jump like crazy. Actually someone was coming out of the elevator and I didn't see him at first, and when I did I completely jumped. He thought it was pretty funny. I think sometimes I'm just not paying a lot of attention to my surroundings, so when I see someone, I'm startled.

I noticed loud noises really bothered me for a couple of days after my last tonic-clonic as well, but they don't always bother me.

[Bernard]

My wife used to have really bad issues with being startled merely by the act of me walking into a room if she was focused on brushing her hair or something and not paying attention. I've learned to announce myself gently just before entering the rooms for her benefit.

BTW, being startled (irrespective of the actual stimuli) may be related to reflex seizures or some underlying mechanism the brain uses to process inputs.