Muscle twitches

[sbncmo]

Before I have a simple partial seizures (psychic), I have a vibration in my left front thigh, followed a minute later by speech & comprehension difficulties. It's always the same. Yesterday I started having twitches on my left eyelid & the side of my left leg. The twitches occur every 1-2 minutes. They lasted all day yesterday & continued today, but have intensified in strength & spread to include a larger area around my left eye, left leg, and now my left foot as well. I read an article about twitches that stated some twitches are myoclonic & I'm wondering if that is what I'm dealing with here. Up to this point, my myoclonics have been felt as rather painful electric shocks throughout my body. Any ideas? I haven't received any response on my other epilepsy forum.

Shelia

[irvkay312]

I have had a number of those throughout my life. The most predominant was during my late teens when Jacksonian epilepsy was diagnosed. Since, I'd gone through Grand Mal already and Petit Mal after. Now with partial complex and medication--most of those things are under control.

Presently, I do have occasional twitches with my right and left hands, as well as left eye. The hand twitches are said to be undiagnosed tremors.

[sbncmo]

Hi Irvkay,

I was pretty sure that these are seizures. I have complex partial seizures, simple partial seizures, myoclonic & tonic, but even with meds, they are not under control. I just haven't quite figured out what to do about this. By treatment guidlines, any seizure lasting more than 5 minutes should be treated as an emergency. This is 2 full days now, with the areas affected increasing. I don't feel like I'm in danger, but all seizures are caused by the brain going haywire electrically, which means harm is being done to the body. I just don't know what to do.

Shelia

[irvkay312]

If as you say "these instances are longer than 30 sec. to a minute, or most importantly if they can leave you a little confused or uncertain of where you are or what you were doing--they are likely seizures." Unless there is a type of aura that (as you say) could lead to a seizure.

I would definitely contact an epileptologist or neurologist to get at the root of your problem, likely with an EEG, MRI and medicine levels in your blood.

[sbncmo]

I see my family doc Monday & will talk to her. She will probably contact my neurologist who is directly above her office. If she doesn't, I'll call him. In the meantime, I'm keeping track of it in my epilepsy diary. My biggest problem is I don't respond well to meds or more often than not, I have bad reactions to them. It has made treatment very difficult over the years & left my previous & current neurologist's frustrated & feeling helpless. Anyway, I'll see how I do tomorrow & go from there. Thanks for replying.

Shelia

[valeriedl]

I get little twitches in my eye that last only a few seconds. I don't excatally know how to explain them other than my one eye will just go back and forth reall fast for just that second or two and then stop. I'll get these almost once a day. I feel fine during and after. Could these possibly be little seizures?

This is a little bit different but it involves my eyes too. Every so often I'll get blurred/cross eyed vision. If I close one eye I'm fine and everything looks normal, but when I'm looking out of both eyes at the same time it's blurry. This will last for maybe an hour or so. I feel fine during and after, I just can't see straight. Could these be some type of seizure too?

[sbncmo]

Valeridl, I'm not sure about those. It would probably be best to ask your neurologist/ep doc.

The twitches I have around my eye, leg & foot felt like someone had grabbed my muscle & was jerking it over & over. I've had little eye twitches before, probably everyone has. But these, when I looked in the mirror, the muscles around my eye were going crazy. And the leg & foot had the same sensation as the eye, but I didn't look at them.

As far as blurred vision or cross-eyed vision, again I'm not sure. I've had my vision checked this year, but it is always changing, sometimes from minute to minute. I do know that several of my meds affect vision, so even though I was given a prescription for glasses, I didn't get them because of the constant change.

It might be good to start a new discussion on epilepsy affecting vision. I do know that when I have my simple partial seizures - psychic, I will have difficulty reading, speaking & comprehending words. They usually don't last very long & it isn't like the words are more blurred than what my vision normally is, I just can't see them correctly.

So I don't really know if what you are experiencing is seizure related or an optical problem. Start a new discussion & see what you can learn. Then you may need to see your ep specialist or maybe even an optician. Wish I could help more there. Sorry.

Shelia