FAQ - Myoclonus
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CP and Bi-polar?


My wife is bi-polar and has CP. the primary indicator of her CP is her myo-clonus. The medication she takes for her bi-polar increases her jerkiness to the point she has a hard time typing and drinking from a cup. Her walking is becoming more spasctic. She is almost falling. Her psychiatrist has given her depakote for this. Other meds are lithium, klonopin, effexor xr, and luvox. Over the weekend the Dr also decreased her lithium from 300 in the am and 450 HS to 150 am and 300 HS. What can I do about her myoclonus problem? She seen a neurologist but was referred back to her psychiatrist. Her psychiatrist is not really listening and there is only 4 other psychiatrists on my side of the island---live on the big island of Hawaii.
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Depakote will cause the jerkiness to get worse for her. I have Bipolar and was on Depakote for six months before they realized why I was so shaky. I am now on Lamictal and the shaking has stopped. She needs different medications that won't interact with one another. Good luck and keeping you in my prayers.  (+ info)

Bi-polar and CP?


Wife has Bipolar and also Cerebral Palsy. What can i do for meds to help her bi-polar that doesn't affect myoclonus. See psychiatrist and she is not listening about the meds. they are making so shaky that she can't drink from a cup anymore.
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diseases such as cerebral palsy can cause a malfunction in how the brain chemestry works. medications sometimes work, sometimes they make things worse and some do not work at all.

depression is sometimes caused by the actual causative issue, however, sometimes it is secondary to a disease-chronic disease and depression run hand in hand.

your wife knows what is best for her. supporting her wishes is all you can do.

good luck  (+ info)

Anyone else: Please Help!!!!?


I am in the process of maybe being diganoised with Myoclonus Dystonia. But I get headaches, they are not painful headaches like I don't need advil or anything. And they happen usually at night, like right now, but like every night. Is this normal, or could it be something else?
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I do not think the headaches have anything to do with the Myoclonus Dystonia.

If the headache is not painful though and you do not even need ]Advil or Tylenol, then what is it that you are worried about?  (+ info)

Myoclonic Jerk/Twitches?


for about 2 months I've been getting twitches on my upper right arm
it happens randomly during ther day..mostly before I sleep
sometimes it doesnt occur to me on days..
i was hoping it would disappear on its own..but after i searched up Myoclonus I was kinda freaked out..
what should I do?
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see a doc  (+ info)

"Intoeing" neurological cause?


Hi, I went to my neurologist today for nerve damage in my back and neck from an injury. While doing the neurological exam, he asked if my feet ever face towards each other, to which I replied very rarely -- I'm talking maybe once a month one of my feet will be slightly facing inward (barely even noticeable). He said that it was some part of my neurological condition -- the same part that makes my upper body, especially my hands, have spasticity and myoclonus. Do you have any idea what this would be? Neuralgia maybe? (I just guessed neuralgia because that was one of the diagnoses that I got about the problems in my back.)
I never had any problems with intoeing as a child, in fact this just started about 8 months ago. And I'm obviously an adult now, and I know that it's rare for this to affect adults. I mean it's certainly not a huge problem or noticeable, but he put me on some muscle relaxers used for spinal cord injuries for both that and my upper body problems. Any idea what it is?
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I've never heard of that, I work in Neurodiagnostics, It's interesting! Walking on your toes maybe.  (+ info)

Any one want to give a shot at a diagnosis?


My symptoms started suddenly with just myoclonus and a hand tremor last year March and the list has slowly been growing since then. They now include:

Spinal myoclonus in the abdominal area that gets when I'm lying down
Tremor in the right hand that sometimes spreads up my arm and in to my shoulders and left arm and hand
Bad headaches
Memory disturbances
Speech difficulties, written and oral
Fasciculations in my legs
Tiredness
Vision disturbences - blurred vision that goes away if I keep my eyes closed for a few seconds or if I blink a couple of times and I also sometimes see these spots

My first neurologist ran all sorts of tests which included blood tests (some of them were iron and magnesium levels; thyroid, kidney and liver function; ANA), MRI scans, EEG, EMG and a lumbar puncture and everything was normal. We tried to keep the myoclonus under control with sodium valproate at first which worked pretty well until I was taking a dose that my body couldn't handle and I ended up with what was suspected valproate toxicity (I say suspected because the levels were actually still within the normal range) Clobazam and clonazepam had no effect whatsoever. Levetiracetam worked to a certain extent when taken with sodium valproate. My neurologist was completely baffled by me so she sent me to a more senior neurologist who now has me on sodium valproate and lamotrigine, which is also only working to a certain extent. The new neurologist mentioned things like lupus, lyme disease and lafora disease but he said we can't make a definite diagnosis yet because he would like to have me under "observation" for a while.

I was just wondering if anyone else had something else to add to the pot of possibilities or if anyone could tell me which one of the diseases is more likely. I've done quite a bit of research and nothing really jumps out at me
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Make sure you rule out celiac disease with testing and a gluten free trial. It quite often presents with vague neurological symptoms. I thought I had MS before I got diagnosed. I kept dropping things and tripping over my own feet. It was terrifying because I had a baby who was less than a year old and I fell while carrying her 4 times. It finally got to the point where I decided I wasn't going to carry her anymore. Even walking from the bedroom to the living room, I would put her in a stroller and push it around the house. It was terrifying. They have gone away with the gluten free diet.

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/
http://ezinearticles.com/?Brain-And-Neurological-Problems-Affect-Almost-Half-Of-Celiacs-Even-With-A-Gluten-Free-Diet&id=904155

http://www.csaceliacs.org/library/neurocomp.php
" A recently reported study showed antigliadin (anti-gluten) antibodies in 30 of 53 patients with neurological disease of an unknown cause."

"... celiac disease needs to be considered when making a differential diagnosis for patients presenting with neurological symptoms of unknown primary cause even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms."  (+ info)

Is it better to be sad than numb?


First off I'm not depressed; I was a couple years back but I got over it and now I have a circle of great friends and I am happy mentally. However, my physical health is deteriorating and it's really affecting my life. In the past few months I've developed myoclonus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoclonus), an as of yet undiagnosed seizure disorder (Feb 16 I had one that lasted 4 minutes but I'm on anti-convulsants now so no more seizures), and tremors all over my body, to the extent where 1 out of every 2 days my body is convulsing so badly that I can't leave the house or do most of my daily activities. My marks in school have dropped from 80s to 50s because I'm gone so much and my brain is so foggy from the meds that I can't understand what I'm learning (I'm in grade 12 and planning on going to university next year; I can't get in with my marks so low - I'm getting tutored and friends are letting me borrow their notes but it's not helping). I can't get a job because I can't hold anything heavy or breakable because I'll drop it, I can't do precise movements because I'll twitch and mess them up, I can't work with people because I'm embarrassed by the convulsions, and I can't work with food because I'm a vegetarian (I won't touch meat, carry it, or anything - and no vegetarianism isn't what's causing it - I'm still getting all my nutrients, vitamins, complete proteins, etc). I've had a CT scan, EEG, sleep-deprived EEG, and I'm getting an MRI soon, but it's the canadian health care system - I don't pay a dime but it takes 7 months for any of these tests to be processed by my neurologists. As a side note, I also suffer from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, dysmenorrhea, depression, bad memory, chronic joint problems, and chronic headaches.

Anyway, for obvious reasons, my depression meds aren't keeping me happy anymore. I don't see my friends as often and I've shifted from 'happy' to 'numb'. I don't mind being numb. When I was severely depressed and contemplating suicide, numbness was pure ecstasy. I didn't hate myself or anyone, I didn't feel the need to cut myself, I wasn't happy but I was so relieved to not be miserable. This time, the numbness isn't such a welcome feeling. I want to be happy again, but I honestly have absolutely no reason to be. My family knows I'm numb, and my mom suggested that since I have my life back to 'normal' ie, I have a friends and have my thoughts in order, that I wean myself of the anti-depressants. Partially because I'm on so much medication that cutting down on my anti-depressants might help the convulsions go away a bit and I'm taking Amitriptyline (which is a tricyclic antidepressant) for my fibro and CFS so a little less Citalopram shouldn't plunge me into an ocean of despair. My doctor agreed and cut my dose from 20 mg/day to 10 mg/day. The second reason is that when she was depressed and numb, she was numb for so long that she didn't feel human, and she'd rather be sad to feel something than numb and feeling nothing. I have a family who loves me and friends who support me, and she said that maybe I could try not being numb for a while.

Lowering the Citalopram has out me on the verge of sad/numb, and I have no clue which I'd prefer to be. Sure, being numb means I don't constantly worry about my health or school but I don't feel human anymore, I feel nothing. Being sad means I feel things, but only bad things, and I really don't want to become depressed again.

Yikes this is long. Anyway, what do you think I should be and why?
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  (+ info)

How can i win in my situation (concerning anxiety and depression)?


Once upon a time a moved and got some crazy anxiety/myoclonus/and eventually depression. myoclonus is basically weird muslce twitching. so over time i've come to the conclusion that the the anxiety/myoclonus can be helped alot with clonazepam(klonopin), but, like other benzodiazepines, klonopin can flatten your emotions just like depression does. it makes life like sleepwalking, just nothingness. but with the klonopin, life is like hoirribly bad.

so, any suggestions?
thanks for that, that helps quite a bit.
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  (+ info)

anxiety meds causing restless legs syndrome?


I didnt really know what section to ask this in. Is it true that anti anxiety medication (ie SSRI's such as venlafaxine effexor which is what I take) can cause things like nocturnal myoclonus? I have a sleep disorder called nocturnal myoclonus that causes me to be sleep deprived all the time because when my legs move around at night I wake up about every 10 mins, thus missing out on REM sleep. THis affects my life signifigantly. My doctors are trying to figure out how to solve this problem. They say that my anti-anxiety meds may have caused it although I started taking the meds a whole year before the sleep disorder even came about. So is my psychiatrist going to have to change my anti anxiety meds? IT took him a year of trial and error to find one that worked for me. THey are also putting me on requip ropinrole hcl to decrease the leg movements.
shaneris: thanks for your advice but I cant just 'stop worrying' - I have a generalized anxiety disorder with OCD which means that the chemicals in my brain are abnormal. I need medication as well as anti-stress/relaxation techiques etc.
yep im sure I have a sleep disorder - I got dested - twice - at a sleep clinic and have had loads of blood tests etc.
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I'm on anti-anxiety medicine as well, and I do not experience any side effects at all. I know that is different for everyone. Can they try to put you on a new medicine. I'm on Celexa and feel perfectly fine on it. I've also heard that lexapro has the least amount of side effects. It is very similar to celexa. But then again everyone is different :( Insomnia is a side effect of anxiety medicines. It's kind of odd that your sleep disorder came a whole year after the meds though. It should have happened right away. Has the medicine helped your restless leg syndrome?

I'm sorry you don't sleep. That must be awful. :( feel better soon!  (+ info)

Could this be a sign of something more serious?


About 3 weeks ago I had this "fit" type of thing where my stomach would contract (almost as though I was doing stomach crunches), it almost looks like an epileptic fit, but i remain conscious throughout the whole thing and it lasted for at least 5 hours. After that my right hand started shaking (only when it is at rest and I'm not trying to do anything with it) and I had the stomach contractions every 5 to 10 min. I went to see a neurologist and she couldnt find anything wrong so she admitted me into hospital where she could run MRI scans, blood tests, an EEG, an EMG and chest x-rays. I ended up having another fit in hospital and the neurologist decided we cant just stand around and do nothing so she gave me some Epilim and it actually seemed to do the trick. So now I've been discharged from hospital and I'm taking Epilim twice a day which has made the contractions alot less than before but hasnt stopped it and my hand is still shaking. The doc said that I have myoclonus which is basically a movement disorder and that I would have to take the Epilim for a while then she would run more tests. I did a bit of research and found that myoclonus usually isn't a disease by itself, it usually is a symptom of something more serious. The doc is away on holiday until the end of next week so I can't ask her any questions. So I would like to know, could I be suffering from something more serious or am I just being paranoid?
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well from what my doctor tells me there are 3 different types of myoclonus. And they say in itself can cause spasms, have you had any type of trauma or did you just develop this?Because there is also RSD that can cause spasms but you usually need an injury for that.I wouldn't mind chatting more with you I kinda know what you are going through but its hard to explain so if you want to chat about it email me


[email protected]  (+ info)

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