Getting the jerks

[valeriedl]

I just recently noticed that I've started jerking. I'm not sure how long it's been going on but I realized it about 4 months ago. So I don't know if it could be happening more often now that I'm actually noticing it. It only happens from my shoulders down. It can be my shoulder, arm, side of my body, hip, leg or foot. I guess that's about every part of my body from my shoulders down isn't it? It only happens on one part of my body at a time. I don't have any sort of seizure 'after effect' when I've had one.

It's like the muscles tighten up then let go real quick. It only happens once, not a series of times, then doesn't happen again for anywhere from a few hours to a few days. I don't know if I have them when I'm asleep or only when I'm awake.

Probably about 5 years ago I was shaking very bad. The first time it was like I was having a grand mal because I was shaking all over, from my head down, but I knew I wasn't because I was completely aware of everything that was going on and I could answer any question known to man that was asked to me. My family called 911 but when the ambulance got there the shaking pretty much stopped and they knew I wasn't having a seizure so they didn't take me to the hospital.

For over a month after that I was still shaking, only my arms and legs. At first it was a constant shaking that didn't stop. Over time it would lessen up and the shakes weren't as strong and it would come and go but there was usually a very short time in between them. Then the time spans would be longer and the shaking much less strong. Then it just stopped. I told my neuro about it, but it's stopped by the time I'd seen him. He had some testing done but everything showed up ok so he really wasn't concerned about it. He said if it started up again to let him know.

My eyes also flutter a good bit. This has been going on for a good while. It comes and goes, same as the jerking, and only lasts a second or two. I'm not sure if I've told my neuro about it or not. I know I've been going to but if I don't write my questions down I forget to ask them.

I don't know if the jerks could be some sort of seizure? And if the eye fluttering could be too? I know that I've seen these things brought up on here before but I wanted to know if anyone has the jerks along with the flutters.

 

[lindsayschu2]

Valerie I don't know--the jerks could be seizure related. I get them too but they are never just one jerk alone, they are always followed by more, either over and over in the same body part, like a finger or hip, or they progress from one part to another super fast so I'm jerking all over, then stop, then the same pattern repeats (for me it usually starts in my abdominals and works it way down to my toes). These do not affect my consciousness, except the super bad ones are sometimes preceded by a severe sleepiness right before it starts (those are really rare though and I haven't had those in over a year). That doesn't mean that my pattern would be the same for you. But there are all kinds of movement disorders that may or may not be epilepsy related. Certainly worth a mention to your doctor!

 

[masterjen]

there are all kinds of movement disorders that may or may not be epilepsy related. Certainly worth a mention to your doctor!

:agree:

 

[Emerald]

The past week or so, I have also started jerking. Sometimes it's just a muscle in my arm or leg, but once my entire body jerked/convulsed (what's the difference?) and I thought I was going have my first grand mal seizure. Luckily I just convulsed once and was fine. I told my dad and he wasn't super worried, so that makes me feel a little better. To be perfectly honest though, I would rather jerk than to be seizing continuously for two hours. (That's normal for me) I'm lucky if it's shorter than an hour.

 

[Krista2882]

That's basically what my seizures are. They are simple partial seizures, but for me it's only on the right side of my body and I will experience a series of jerks at once, or a shaking that I feel but that you can't see unless I move. I get the simple-partial version of status epilepticus, so this can sometimes continue all day. :razz2:

 

[Emerald]

Thanks for the info! I am seeing my neuro soon so I'll bring this up.