Involuntary Jerks

[chell]

l have become aware in the past month or two of getting small jerks that happen so quickly and dissapear before l can show anyone close to me. lt can be my finger, hand, face, arm, chest, leg, or legs and at first l thought it was because of what happened to me at Christmas, which they still don't know, (perhaps a small stroke) but l have had tests, and the Dr. lost the results, so she has to get another copy sent to her.
Other then that, l am worried about the little jerks that are happening now. l don't know if this is the beginning of something worse or do l ignore since she told me that alot of people get them when they are nervous or stressed or stressed out.
l also lose my balance at times so l dont go too far from home anyways. Has this happened to anyone else? Michelle

 

[ladylore]

It hasn't happened to me but I empathise with you Chell. How fast did your doctor say that the results would be sent to her?

 

[Daniel E.]

I guess a neurologist would be best at ruling out the potentially serious stuff, like the diseases mentioned in the article below:

Myoclonus Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

she told me that alot of people get them when they are nervous or stressed or stressed out.

I have no idea if what you are experiencing is anything like myoclonus jerks, but it is interesting that the anti-anxiety medication clonazepam (Klonopin) is often prescribed for myoclonus jerks according to the article above.

(It's normal for people to experience hypnic jerks sometimes while drifting to sleep but to experience such involuntary jerks while awake seems abnormal.)

 

[lallieth]

Chell

are you on an anti-depressant? I sometimes get random body spasms or jerks and sometimes loose my balance,I get more bruises while on meds,than I do off!

 

[Daniel E.]

On a related note:

Depression Meds and Sudden body jerks - Mental Health - MedHelp

she told me that alot of people get them when they are nervous or stressed or stressed out.

Similarly:

Such jerks are mostly stress induced. Can you identify stress factors in her life ? Reducing stress will help a lot. And does she get enough sleep?

--Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD

Body Jerks, But Awake - Neurology - MedHelp

 

[Halo]

l don't know if this is the beginning of something worse or do l ignore since she told me that alot of people get them when they are nervous or stressed or stressed out.

Chell,

I definitely wouldn't ignore them as there could be a specific reason that they are happening. They may be related to whatever happened to you at Christmas but it is best to talk to your doctor about them especially if they are happening more frequently. Your doctor is probably the best one to know whether this is something anxiety/stress related or a symptom of something more.

 

[Daniel E.]

Yeah, I would not ignore it, either. From the article I mentioned before:

Myoclonus may develop in response to infection, head or spinal cord injury, stroke, brain tumors, kidney or liver failure, lipid storage disease, chemical or drug poisoning, or other disorders. Prolonged oxygen deprivation to the brain, called hypoxia, may result in posthypoxic myoclonus. Myoclonus can occur by itself, but most often it is one of several symptoms associated with a wide variety of nervous system disorders. For example, myoclonic jerking may develop in patients with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Myoclonic jerks commonly occur in persons with epilepsy, a disorder in which the electrical activity in the brain becomes disordered leading to seizures.

Myoclonus Fact Sheet: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

The moral of the story of those medical shows I watch on TV is that ignoring sytems that are usually benign in most people is a problem because there are always exceptions. So it's important to have a doctor rule out the serious and even rare diseases.

 

[chell]

Well l did Nursing many years ago, but for my own health, l don't want to risk forgetting something,so l did go to my Dr...lt was when l could not urinate for almost 2 days, l knew that was an Emergency there, so l went to the Er presenting with a full bladder unable to go although l sat in the bathroom there for almost an hour, then they cathatorized me and l was sent the next day to the Hospital in the City , where l saw a Neurologist who did some simple tests and then wanted to do an MRI on me and when he got the results, he was mainly french speaking, so he spoke the best he could and said that he saw a white lesion on my forehead (part of my brain) and that my Dr. would follow up with me to tell me what it was.
l did another MRI, which the tech kept telling me to stop moving , and some other things that were not to polite, and then told me to get dressed and leave because she thought l was doing the jerks on purpose and it made her mad.
l am to go for an EMG test and the Dr. said the MRI test was never done, and l never showed up, so l explained to her what happened and she saw a paper with the result of the dye injection test done on my head and she could not find it , but told me the radiologist said there was nothing on my head that showed up, that everything to him looked fine and l asked her , "How could a dye test come out fine, when the MRI done showed a white lesion before? So l am scared, she is just a new Dr. out of school and there are no other DRs, around, so l am lucky to even have her.

Michelle

 

[David Baxter PhD]

she is just a new Dr. out of school and there are no other DRs around

Some of the best doctors I've had have been doctors straight out of school. They may not have years of experience but they are up on the latest information, the latest tests, the latest medications, etc., and they tend to be more likely to keep up with new research.

 

[Darkside]

I have these too. Doctor diagnosed hypnic jerks and put me on Klonopin. They stopped after awhile, but come back from time to time. Usually I have 1-2 days of sleep problems then 4-5 nights of sleeping soundly for 8 hours. I stopped taking Klonopin and I think it actually made things worse for me after taking it every day for a long time.

In my case the jerks have to do with too much stimulation late in the evening which causes my mind to become overactive when I should be falling asleep. That creates anxiety which then starts a cycle. If I turn off the TV and read or listen to soft music for an hour before bedtime I have less trouble falling and staying asleep.

 

[H011yHawkJ311yBean]

I noticed with my anti-anxiety pills that I sometimes have a jerky leg well before I go to bed, and sometimes it goes on even though I am in a deep sleep. My arms and sometimes torso also occasionally do a sudden movement. At times I will wake up the bed will still be shaking so I will suppose it was my whacky restless legs. I also used to chomp down on my tongue in my sleep but at least THAT has subsided.

Don't know if it's like that or not... I have found that stretching and doing relaxation breathing helps before I go to sleep. My husband, poor soul, used to have to get up and go sleep on the couch, but he hasn't since I've started my breathing exercizes at night. Maybe something like this could at least lessen the symptoms?

You are probably worried and stressed because of all the losing of the files/records, and not knowing... And I don't blame you... At the very least relaxation techniques might calm those nerves, if not get completely rid of the shaking... ?

Hope they get their files and tests all straightened out for you! ♥