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Eye darting movements - reticular formation?

Thu, 02/03/2011 - 20:08
Can anyone relate to symptoms of occasional, involuntary eye darting - as well as symptoms which seem to be associated with aspects of the 12 pairs of cranial nerves - and the reticular formation of the brainstem?

Comments

Re: Eye darting movements - reticular formation?

Submitted by victoria.w on Fri, 2011-02-04 - 13:14

Hi pgd,

I have complex partial seizures and ecstatic seizures but the seizure activity has changed/morphed as time has gone on.  Since starting on a new med Zebinix over 6 months ago, there has been "new activity" which I think is seizure related (or a reaction to the med) and one episode involved "eye darting" .  

To explain - I was taking food from the freezer, and my hands became icey cold (I was feeling rather cold anyway).  I had a rapid shock like sensation shoot up from my hands to my shoulders and then lost control of my eyes which were darting all over the place.  At the same time, was heart was rapidly accelerating.  The whole episode, while only lasting a few minutes, was extremely frightening and it took me some time to readjust to normality.  

I don't really know what symptoms are related to the cranial nerves and reticular formation of the brainstem but would be interested in finding out more especially as my seizures are now slightly more varied than previously.  My understanding of my own situation is that I most likely have neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy (the left lobe) and the insular seems to be involved particularly in generating ecstatic seizure symptoms. 

But I'm not an expert and some of the research regarding the insular is relatively new.  

Take care,

Victoria

 

 

Hi pgd,

I have complex partial seizures and ecstatic seizures but the seizure activity has changed/morphed as time has gone on.  Since starting on a new med Zebinix over 6 months ago, there has been "new activity" which I think is seizure related (or a reaction to the med) and one episode involved "eye darting" .  

To explain - I was taking food from the freezer, and my hands became icey cold (I was feeling rather cold anyway).  I had a rapid shock like sensation shoot up from my hands to my shoulders and then lost control of my eyes which were darting all over the place.  At the same time, was heart was rapidly accelerating.  The whole episode, while only lasting a few minutes, was extremely frightening and it took me some time to readjust to normality.  

I don't really know what symptoms are related to the cranial nerves and reticular formation of the brainstem but would be interested in finding out more especially as my seizures are now slightly more varied than previously.  My understanding of my own situation is that I most likely have neocortical temporal lobe epilepsy (the left lobe) and the insular seems to be involved particularly in generating ecstatic seizure symptoms. 

But I'm not an expert and some of the research regarding the insular is relatively new.  

Take care,

Victoria

 

 

Re: Eye darting movements - reticular formation?

Submitted by pgd on Sat, 2011-02-12 - 14:17
In absence seizures, there is abnormal brain activity without exhibiting the outward motor spasms associated with grand mal seizures. A person will not lose normal body posture, and the person may appear to be staring into space with or without jerking or twitching movements of the eye muscles... These periods last for seconds, or even tenths of seconds. Those experiencing absence seizures sometimes move from one location to another without any purpose. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absence_seizure -

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