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myoclonic seizure?
Fri, 10/13/2006 - 19:43Hi, my name's Liz, I'm 22 and I have been having what I call a "twitch" for the past 3 years that has only gotten more frequent and occasionaly goes being very slight to where my whole body "twitches."
I am very scared to go to a dr. about this even though I know deep down that I should (very few dr.s near me, let alone a nuerologist) and because I am on a college campus in a small town (they commonly misdiagnose students on a regular basis).
I have suffered from migraines from the time I was 16 (and in my junior year of high school) till I was 20 (sophmore year of college). I still get them occasionaly but nowhere near to the severity I used to.
The reason why I believe I might be having what I think is a myoclonic seizure is because from the time I went off my migraine medicines (under a former dr.s supervision~just felt i should say that), I have been having a twitch/jerk that has only progressively gotten worse and more frequent. I never thought to say anything to my dr b/c it honestly didnt seem like a big deal, it used to be just a simple, slight twitch. When I have one of these episodes now it is as though my whole body seezes up and I shake (usually just my upper body but has progressed to my lower half now) mildly, sometimes quite hard though. This scares me and has scared my boyfriend several times when this happens. Sometime I can feel the twitch coming on, like my whole face suddenly "drops" or relaxes or I have an 'off' (i apologize, i don't know how else to describe it) and I twitch for a second or two, no more than 5 seconds usualy (i had my boyfriend time it once before. And after the twitch occurs, usually for about a few seconds afterwards, I can't do anything (move, etc.) and become disoriented for few seconds as well.
Getting to the point however, how do I go about seeing someone about this without being laughed at or told its just nothing (its happened to many people, including myself, by the 'nurses' and staff at our campus health services). And could this really be a type of seizure?
The only reason that I am looking into having this looked at now is because I had a bad twitch in front of one of my professors this morning and he had asked me if I ever had a history of seizures.....
I did not mean to ramble, I sincerely apologize for it.
Do you have insurance, or
Submitted by missemmy on Fri, 2006-10-13 - 22:51
Do you have insurance, or are you able to get care through the college? Don't avoid going to the college health center for fear they may not treat you right. Ask them for a referral to a doctor or a neurologist. Quite often neurologists won't accept a new patient without a referral. One thing I know though, is that nurses are not educated enough about epilepsy, and many have major misconceptions about what all epilepsy involves. Let them know that if they can not give you an acceptable answer to the cause of your problem, you expect a referral to someone who can help you. They usually will give a referral if someone asks. This is not something you need to ignore. If you have to, take in notes to help you remember everything you need to tell them. When I started having new problems with my epilepsy, I put them off, and I regret it. I did go to a neurologist about it before it got really bad, but he didn't do anything for me. I didn't know what I was experiencing was simple partial seizures, and I did not go in with notes to help me remember what to tell him, and I think that was part of the problem. I thought that they was just little annoying things, but they progressed and got worse until they took over most of my day and woke me at night. They kept me from living well. Take care of yourself, and don't let fears keep you from it. Make sure you are heard. If the campus don't listen then find someone else. I know how small town campus colleges are. I went to college in a town of 800 people, and the college population was about as much. I think one of my professors noticed problems with me there. He questioned me when I had so much trouble in his calulus class after doing so well in his chemistry class. High "A" in Chemistry vs. 1/2 point from failing Calculus. I remember him telling me he wanted to transfer his brain into a new body since he was so smart, and he wanted to be young again. Don't worry about rambling here, as you can see, I just did too.