With all the talk of Myoclonus lately..

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AndrewIrish

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Hey all,

It seems like many users, more often then normal, have been posting about Myoclonus... something I know an incredible load about... but I've recently started wondering if what I assume to be Myoclonus in myself, is really a 'jerk' at all... this afternoon, I had the 'jerks' going on but they started getting more powerful and... well... the only way I can describe it is as if I start to go into a tonic clonic and actually convulse for a brief moment, full-body... but it's also a jerk, it's part of the jerks, just a very very strong full-body one... these are happening more and more lately... they happened about 3 times in a row in that level last time I had my TC a few weeks ago.. I had 3 what I would call 'convulsive jerks' in about 2 minutes time... and a quick walk to my car and I instantly had a TC... could these 'mega jerks' not be jerks in and of themselves and my body actually 'revving' up for the TC? These really powerful full-body ones... could they be me starting to go into a TC and then snapping right back out of it?
 
That's what I'm starting to think... I mean... if it's possible to have a 1 or 2 second TC, I would classify it as that but I don't think such things exist... it fits the bill as 'generalized myoclonus' because my ENTIRE body jerks violently... I feel like I'm 'not quite a girl not yet a woman' lmao... it's not quite a jerk but far away from a TC... I call 'em Mega Jerks, I guess...
 
No. If your entire body is involved, you're having either a tonic seizure or a clonic seizure. Those are entirely generalised, even if they don't feel as serious as tonic clonics. Chances are they are tonic seizures, as those are far more common--most tonic clonics start with a tonic, rather than launching straight into the clonic phase. As you may have figured, a tonic clonic is the combined result of the initial tonic, where the body arches outward, followed by the clonic, where the body moves in on itself and then convulses.
 
Do a google image search of tonic seizures. That should help you to figure out what's going on with you.
 
My God, Kristen... you're totally right...

It's kind of like a 'drop seizure'... I'm a fairly unathletic person but I have had my 'mega jerks' a couple times and fallen to the ground.... but usually I'm just laying about the house when they happen... you're right... I've thought those were ust 'bad bad jerks' for years... they're not... I'm having tonic seizures almost everyday then... this makes me requestion if I even have JME at all now...

"Tonic seizures involve increased muscle tone or stiffness. Depending on how quickly the seizure starts and how long it lasts, tonic seizures may be a gradual movement or a massive jerk. "

You just helped me so much... lol...

"Epileptic spasm (which include infantile spasms) consist of a sudden forward flexion of the upper body followed by stiffening. Often the arms are flung out as the knees are pulled up and the body bends forward. Less often, the head can be thrown back as the body and legs stiffen in a straight-out position, or movements can be more subtle and limited to the neck or other body parts. Each seizure lasts only a second or two but they usually occur in clusters. "

I also might be having these 'spasms', because they really are usually only one second or two, often in a string of 3 or 4 within a couple of minutes... I'm a big computer nerd and often what hgappens is I have what I thought was a 'jerk' but it looks like I smashed my computer mouse into the table or threw it and my body just feels rocked, like I'd gotten electrocuted for a brief second... they're very violent and full body... my breathing does get stopped... but they're only one or two seconds... I think I'm either having these tonic seizures or these 'spasms'.... I haven't heard much about epileptic 'spasms'... has anyone else?

Doing research as I edit the post, lol...

"Epileptic spasms, infantile spasms, juvenile spasms, West syndrome or West's syndrome[1] is an uncommon to rare epileptic disorder in infants, children and adults. It is named after the English physician, William James West (1793–1848), who first described it in an article published in The Lancet in 1841.[2] The original case actually described his own son, James Edwin West (1840–1860).[3] Other names for it are "Generalized Flexion Epilepsy", "Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy", "Infantile Myoclonic Encephalopathy", "jackknife convulsions", "Massive Myoclonia" and "Salaam spasms"."

'Massive Myoclonia' - I think I just hit the dead ringer... I labeled it 'Mega Jerks'... lol... it's also Ironic because it's named after a Guy with the last name of 'West' and my last name is 'East', lol. That fits the bill to a perfect tea... now if I was walking around when this happened as well, I'd still fall to the ground... I'm having a bunch of epileptic spasms I think... anyone know about 'em?

"The epileptic seizures which can be observed in infants with West syndrome fall into three categories, collectively known as infantile spasms. Typically, the following triad of attack types appears; while the three types usually appear simultaneously, they also can occur independently of each other:

Lightning attacks: Sudden, severe myoclonic convulsions of the entire body or several parts of the body in split seconds, and the legs in particular are bent (flexor muscle convulsions here are generally more severe than extensor ones)."

...okay... learning more... that's aperfect explanation of what's going on...

Now here's the tricky part... as far as I can discern these typically happen in babies... very little on them in Adults...

still editing and researching, lol....

As best I can tell, I'm having Lightning Attacks as in West's Syndrome but very typically thats restricted to Infants under 12 months old... and I didn't have it as a baby... though I was a premature birth by 2 months... but the prognosis in even that if it's continued to adulthood (even had I been undiagnosed), doesn't fit my situation... I don't have Down's Syndrome... don't think I'm Autistic... I consider myself a fairly intelligent feller so not much in overall cognitive decline... I can't figure myself out! I fit the bill easily as a 'tonic seizure' but those last 10 or 20 seconds.. mine last 1 or 2.... it's just a MASSIVE full body jerk... one I'd fall down from.. or not really fall but thrown... like I'm hit by an invisible force that tosses me backwards...that's what happens when im standing... like I'd just been hit with a 'Hyuken' in a Street Fighter.... it may still be just a 'myoclonic jerk' because I've read in some sources the jerks CAN affect the entire body... but good lord, I'm having the King Baddy of Myoclonic Jerks then... anyone got an opinion so I can check one of these 3 off the list? If it were 'spasms' it would be insanely rare and almost unheard of, as far as I can tell... it could be jerks, but the violence and full body act to it plus they seem to have a traditional 'trigger' makes me question if they're simple myoclonus... it fits the bill as a 'tonic seizure' but the duration doesn't match up... 1-3 seconds as opposed to 10-30.... opinions?

Found a video on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjnzFZ0wrJU

If that's mislabeled as a tonic seizure, I dunno... but that's not what's happening to me... imagine a drummer in a rock band doing his solo and smacking the plates... that's kind of what it looks like when I'm in a chair... it'll look like I just went hog-out and tried to do some drumming.... i dunno... maybe it is myoclonic jerks and they're more violent 'cuz I'm a bigger guy and have more muscle mass... they just hurt more maybe now because of my shoulder being broken from the tonic clonic I had a month ago...

but then though it's from a prospective on the ground... this video labeled as a 'tonic seizure' POV video fits the bill when I've been thrown to the ground, plus it's weird 'cuz my name is Andy... surreal... I've had this happen several times... and like this guy, gimme a few seconds to shake my cobwebs, i'm not post-ictal... i pick myself up and keep on a chugging...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfzctJGzvO4

Okay... the more I look on youtube the more I'm convinced it's not a 'tonic seizure'... these look like a slow, 'stretching out' and stiffening of muscles... that's not what's happening to me... mine are more like myoclonic jerks because my body actually convulses... it's a spasm... as if I'd been shocked... yea, I'm scratching 'tonic seizure' off the list...

I'd say it's an infantile spasm if I wasn't an infant... so I'm back to my original idea, I guess... just some damn strong myoclonic jerks...
 
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If your body isn't stretching out but rather in like, as Jen describes, an ab crunch, and they're lasting longer than a second or two and you're having convulsions, it may be a clonic seizure. That electric shock feeling you have is, by rote, exactly what so many others on CWE has described with these sorts of seizures. To me it feels exactly like a 100 volt shock. I more often have the typical tonic position, and instead of holding my breath, it gets pushed out of me, and then my body lets go and I'm perfectly fine after that--no post ictal phase. But last week my body did the ab crunch thing and my arms rose up to my face instead, which is the typical clonic phase, and then it let go, and then I passed out and woke up with a swollen lip in the morning, so I can only guess it turned into a TC. This image shows you the two phases, which can happen in isolation. With my tonics, the arms stretch outward, which is also typical. http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/08/01/health/adam/19076Grandmalseizure.html
 
I started a new thread with a video that shows exactly what I'm going thrrough... you are really knowledgable, maybe give me thoughts on what you think of that video on what's going on, in that thread?
 
If your body isn't stretching out but rather in like, as Jen describes, an ab crunch, and they're lasting longer than a second or two and you're having convulsions, it may be a clonic seizure. That electric shock feeling you have is, by rote, exactly what so many others on CWE has described with these sorts of seizures. To me it feels exactly like a 100 volt shock. I more often have the typical tonic position, and instead of holding my breath, it gets pushed out of me, and then my body lets go and I'm perfectly fine after that--no post ictal phase. But last week my body did the ab crunch thing and my arms rose up to my face instead, which is the typical clonic phase, and then it let go, and then I passed out and woke up with a swollen lip in the morning, so I can only guess it turned into a TC. This image shows you the two phases, which can happen in isolation. With my tonics, the arms stretch outward, which is also typical. http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/08/01/health/adam/19076Grandmalseizure.html

These images depict exactly what it feels like happens to me. I can have a tonic by itself, a clonic positioning by itself, and I've ones where they start off as something like a unilateral tonic (left-sided - only my left arm comes up, left side of torso arches and left leg stretches out) that becomes bilateral . . . either bilateral tonic or clonic, I'm not quite sure. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
 
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