New girl and tics...

[AndrewIrish]

Hey all,

I have a new girl... she was a loose aqquaintence/friend for a year from work that I would talk to on smoke breaks, she knew I had epilepsy, knew how I recently broke my shoulder... but after we... sealed the deal, last night... and we defined our relationship as 'seriously dating', I explained the 'myoclonic jerks' and how she or may not have noticed them... she said she did and she thought they were 'tics'... i just explained they are myoclonic seizures... but tics? i dunno how to take that... i don't know what it's like to be 'ticcy'... of course this is also the girl who called my seizures 'fits'... but thats just her southern vernacular I've come to know... she's just a gorgeous southern belle from kentucky... but anyone ever find a way to describe some odd side effects of your epilepsy to a new relationship?

 

[Cint]

Tics are really Tourette Syndrome, they are spasm-like movements which usually effect one's face, they are repetitive movements that are involuntary. Myoclonic jerks are also involuntary but are more like sudden jerks, like you said, and don't continue repeatedly like tics.

Here is an explanation:

What Are Tics and Twitches?

While many people use the terms tic and twitch interchangeably, there are differences between these two forms of movements.

Tics. There are two types of tics -- motor tics and vocal tics. These short-lasting sudden movements (motor tics) or uttered sounds (vocal tics) occur suddenly during what is otherwise normal behavior. Tics are often repetitive with numerous successive occurrences of the same action. For instance, someone with a tic might blink his eyes multiple times or twitch her nose repeatedly.

Motor tics can be classified as either simple or complex. Simple motor tics may include movements such as eye-blinking, nose-twitching, head-jerking, or shoulder-shrugging. Complex motor tics consist of a series of movements performed in the same order. For instance a person might reach out and touch something repeatedly or kick out with one leg and then the other.

Tics are often classified not as involuntary movements but as unvoluntary movements. This means that people are able to suppress the actions for a time. The suppression, though, results in discomfort that grows until it is relieved by performing the tic.

While people of all ages can experience tics, they are most prevalent in children. Experts say that around 25% of children experience tics. And tics are far more likely to affect boys than girls.

Twitches. Unlike tics, the majority of muscle twitches are isolated occurrences, not repeated actions. Muscle twitches are also known as myoclonic jerks. They are entirely involuntary and cannot be controlled or suppressed.

 

[epileric]

Personally I wouldn't have much problem with it. To me it sounds like she's just being honest about what she perceives (no matter how uninformed) but is very willing to learn about your medical issues and accept them.

To think about it, it's only when someone isn't scared to show what they don't know as she did with the "tic" remark, that they can have an opportunity to learn and you sound like a good teacher.

An advantage to this (that I wish I had) is you now have someone who can give you an outside perspective of how others might perceive you & your medical issues and is comfortable doing so. We rarely perceive ourselves the same way others do I'm trying to remember where I read the quote but the gist of it was that we are the worst at judging ourselves and that we can judge others so much more accurately.

That said I can be pretty sensitive to certain remarks, especially if they involve my seizures. Something I think is a good measurement that helps decide how I react is to determine if what was said was done out of being ignorant & uninformed or if it actually is an insult or is degrading/demeaning in any way.

 

[N Sperlo]

AndrweIrish, if I saw your myoclonic jerks and knew no better, I would probably jump to the conclusion that they were tics. I think it is a reasonable assumption. I have a complex
tic (maybe just a Compulsion) I have been trying to suppress.