Is this a seizure?

[TongueTied]

I normally have generalised seizures (so like tonic-clonic, atonic and absences) and frontal lobe seizures. I'm pretty well use to these.
However lately, I've been having weird sensations. It starts in my left hand middle finger, which starts trembling. The tremors slowly spread to my left hand index finger, then the rest of my left hand. It feels like I've got butterflies in my tummy, and then my right hand follows suit in the same pattern, middle finger shaking, followed by my index finger, followed by my whole hand shaking.
The shaking normally lasts around 3 minutes, it doesn't hurt but it is a weird sensation. The butterflies stop as soon as the shaking stops.
Could this be a seizure? My meds haven't changed lately or anything, so I don't think it could be a med reaction. Thanks guys

 

[marika853]

Any stressful situations that you are dealing with? Tremors occurred for me when my husband passed away. They were associated with my seizures.
M

 

[Nakamova]

"Butterflies n the stomach" is a fairly common partial seizure symptom, so it sounds like that sensation plus the trembling could be seizure-related. Make a note of it in your seizure/symptom journal and let your neuro know. Have there been any potential stressors that have entered your life recently? It could be anything from illness/infection to fatigue to a change in your diet to emotional stress. Or it might just mean that your seizure threshold is changing and your meds need adjusting. That has happened for me.

 

[masterjen]

I'm throwing a question in here not just for myself but the answer may (or may not) help TongueTied. Is the type of seizure one that would be considered a Jacksonian, as in the "Jacksonian March" phenomenon?

 

[Nakamova]

From epilepsy.com:

The characteristic features of Jacksonian march are (1) it only occurs on one side of the body; (2) it progresses in a predictable pattern from twitching or a tingling sensation or weakness in a finger, a big toe or the corner of the mouth, then marches over a few seconds to the entire hand, foot or facial muscles.

TongueTied's tremors fit the general pattern described above, but they occur on both sides of the body which would suggest something other than Jacksonian March seizures. The article also mentions migraine and capsular warning syndrome as differential diagnoses for those particular tremors. The latter is related to stroke activity, so it would be worth seeing a neurologist if only to rule that out.

 

[TongueTied]

The article also mentions migraine and capsular warning syndrome as differential diagnoses for those particular tremors. The latter is related to stroke activity, so it would be worth seeing a neurologist if only to rule that out.

I've been having a bit of a harder time than usual lately, I've had a shunt placed in my brain due to several mini-strokes, I've had more status seizures and I've been in hospital for the past 6 weeks. It's interesting that you mention stroke activity (I've had 2 strokes as well as the recent TIAs)
The tremors have been happening for about 5 months, it just never really occurred to me that they could be seizures so I haven't brought it up to my neuro, although I did bring up the fact that I often suffered from Todd's paralysis after a prolonged seizure. Maybe some of those episodes were actually TIAs, they increased around the same time as the tremors started.

 

[Nakamova]

I hope you can get the strokes or seizures under control, and keep out of the hospital. Feel better.