Help! What's wrong with me?

[sbncmo]

Hi All.

I thought I knew all my seizures. But something is happening tonight & I don't know what it is. It started about an hour ago. I had this strange sensation start building up in me. Within half an hour I felt like my body would explode, similar to how I feelwith a tonic, but I don't have the rigidity. Then I started feeling shaky all over inside my body. Now my hands are shaking. I feel like I'm losing control of my body.

I'm getting ready to leave in 15 minutes & I don't know what is happening or what may happen shortly. Any ideas?

Shelia

 

[morgan86]

could be a change in the type of aura you have before. that happened to me a lil while ago.. i get a shake in random spots and almost always my hands a little before one.. have u changed meds? mine was because of a change in hormones im pretty sure... i hope this helps.. but regardless r u on ur way to the hospital?

 

[sbncmo]

Hi Morgan86,

I calmed down about 30 min. after I posted this. Then I remembered that I started shaking yesterday, too. My hands started shaking for short spells yesterday. I was at the pharmacy getting medicine for my husband & I asked the pharmacist about the shaking & showed him how I was shaking at that time. He said it is possibly one of my two new medicines. I started Vimpat 3 weeks ago and I started Savella (for FMS) 4 days after starting the Vimpat. He looked up both meds. Savella doesn't list shaking as any possible side effect. However, 7% of patients can have shaking as a side effect on Vimpat. He told me to watch & see if it got any worse. Since Vimpat is a brand new med & a last resort for treating my ep, the pharmacist said my neuro may want to add another med to counteract the shaking.

I don't know why I didn't think of all this earlier. I guess it was because it was so bad at the time & it scared me a little. When I saw my mom this evening, she was concerned, saying I didn't look well, that I was swollen & puffy in my face & hands. I haven't checked into that being a side effect yet, but I will tomorrow.

When I was on Depakote several years ago, I developed tremors so bad that I couldn't even hold a sheet of paper & sometimes it was difficult to feed myself. I had to be taken off of it & put on Trileptal for 2 years before I was back to "normal".

At least it didn't end up as a seizure, but I sure thought I was going into a bad one. Thanks for writing back. I know what you mean about shaking in spots before a seizure. I always have a vibration on the front of my left leg a minute before I have a simple partial seizure. That's the only one I ever get advance warning of. It would be nice if I got warning before the myoclonic, tonic & complex partials.

Thanks again.

Shelia

 

[jesusisonthefountain]

Just a thought

Could it be your blood sugar?

 

[huskymom]

I am glad that you started to feel better after 30 minutes! I take vimpat too, but I really haven't noticed anything. Maybe I should ask others...onder:

 

[sbncmo]

About the blood sugar - I do have hypoglycemia, had since childhood. This sensation started about 15 minutes before I ate dinner, but it was very mild at that time. It was about 15 minutes after eating that things became a more intense. In all, the episode actually lasted an hour. So I sincerely doubt it was a problem with my blood sugar. But thanks for the suggestion.

Huskymom, how long have you been on Vimpat? When my neuro gave me a half dozen sample packs, he said I shouldn't have any side effects as it is totally different from all other ep meds. I think he was just trying to encourage me because of dealing with ep med reactions for so many years. Every med can cause some kind of side effect with at least some people. That's just the way meds are. I've been on the Vimpat for 3 weeks now & have just started the shaking.

Anyway, it may not have been the Vimpat causing the problem last night. It may have been an anxiety attack. I haven't had one for several months & forgot what they are like. The important thing is that I'm okay now. But I will still keep watching to see if my shaking gets worse in the future.

Thanks for your concern & suggestions. It sure is nice having this site for support!

Shelia