Neurological spasms
 

Has anyone else experienced anything like a neurological spasm in their brain or neck?

I have noticed that most of my postconcussion symptoms seem to be pretty familiar to everyone else, but I haven't seen any mention of twitches or spasms. It feels as though there is something building up that tends to get discharged in a kind of spasm. It isn't something that is noticeable to others except that there is visible contraction around the eyes and in the throat. It feels like an electrical discharge or a wave of something.

Please send me a message if you have experienced anything like I am describing. I am curious to know if it is a widespread phenomenon or just me.

Thanks.

CS

I have spasms and twitches but not in my head or neck. I have had body jerks, arm jerks, leg jerks, usually just on one side, more commonly my left. I take Neurontin and it seems to reduce their frequency and intensity.

I know what you mean about the sensation building before it releases a twitch. The anticipation from the building sensation is worse than the twitch. I know I cannot change the building sensation but it gets in the way of other thoughts.

Weird stuff.

Despite a boat load of meds, I still spasm and twitch.

Among my favourite spasms are the one that closes my throat so I can't breath for a few seconds and the one that makes my hand fly open (bye, bye coffee cup.) It's like being tasered a hundred times a day.

Additionally, do you guys have the the sensation of nerve pulses all over your body and/or shaking hands?

Anyway, as I also have spinal cord damage, it's hard to say if the source is brain or neck (probably both). Either way, they're no fun.:mad:

Glutamate
 

I am beginning to wonder if there is an actual build up of something, Glutamate. That has been shown to build up in cases of traumatic brain injury and it is an excitatory neurotransmitter, so perhaps it could be triggering these pulses. This is currently my working hypothesis.

Thanks for the replies
 

Thanks for replying, Mark and Hockey.
Regarding Hockey's question: I do get a sensation of a nerve pulse in my neck as well as the head. I did have some neck as well as brain damage, so that might be similar to your case. It doesn't really spread out to my hands though.

On one occasion, not long after I was injured, I felt a pulse like being hit in the back and neck. It almost make me collapse. It has never been that bad again and I think that my periferal nervous system has pretty well recovered. It felt really strange moving my arms at first but that has gone and it feels normal now. I guess the central nervous system can't recover in the same way or at least not as fast, so that's why the symptoms have only remained in around the head and neck.

I know it is sometimes difficult to tell if it's coming from the neck or the brain, but I have come to thinking that the sensations are probably coming from where you feel them, and we can confuse the situation by always thinking of referred pain.

CS

For the first two years after my injury, I had ballistic movement problems. It effected my arms and legs. If I wanted to move my arm from a relaxed state, it would move far beyond the target point. The same would happen to my legs. I kneed my wife a few times while turning over in bed.

From what I could find out, it was likely caused by the sensory nerve failing to send signals of position and movement. It appeared to be limited to times when my neck was either bent forward and/or to the left. This was either when I was in bed or relaxing in my recliner.

I also have problems where a muscle will lock in a flexed state. My thumb can spasm across my palm, toward my little finger. I can get toes stuck in a clenched mode, too.

If I try to concentrate, I often start shaking. It can be my hand(s), arm(s), head, etc. This can also be brought on by stress.

Trying to do find motor control can bring it on and especially fine motor control where I need strength as in trying to hold a heavy part in place while I put a bolt in a mounting hole.

These are all skills that I was highly proficient at prior to my injury. I had planned to study to be a dentist based on this aptitude. I changed career directions after having a bad decompensation with associated academic struggles in college.

I have experience a few loud sounds in my head. They are not real because nobody else heard them. They are very short duration, like a bang or clash. I have always wondered if they are micro-strokes.

The Neurontin appears to reduce these symptoms.

I am not sure if this is related to what you guys are experiencing, but my daughter's left arm will twitch/temor when she gets really stressed or her system goes into overload. Sometimes it's just her thumb and index finger, sometimes her hand and then her whole arm. It just kind of depends. It's better now than it was previously. The interesting thing was this didn't start right after her concussion, but maybe 5 weeks into it - when she freaked herself out about going back to school. She also started stuttering at that time. The stuttering has since resolved and twitch/temor is much better.

Although I'm unaware of it, my husband also says that my whole body shudders as I fall asleep and that I shudder many times through the night. (Lucky him.)

I also have an exaggerated startle reflex. :eek: If you come up behind me while I'm holding a coffee, it's a sure bet we'll both end up wearing it.

I have a stutter that gets worse if I'm tired of flustered.

Cheers

Hockey - did you have a stutter before your injury? My daughter's doctor told me thought her stutter/temors were anxiety related and not concussion related. Based off what you guys are experiencing it could have very well been her injury.

you may suffer from benign fasciculation syndrome, microscopic twitching of the muscles. I have those all over my body, and was concerned years back that these twitches where associated with ALS :(.
As the word implies, these twitches are benign. I am not sure that they really relate to PCS.
The twitches are noticeable on the skin as a flickering and they feel like bursting small bubbles. weird..huh.

Let me know if this description fits your twitching, I will than forward you some info about this syndrome.

Nancy,

One of the odd things about a concussion is the delay in symptoms. The cascade of damage to brain cells can take days to weeks to fully manifest.

The studies using progesterone as a neuro-protective therapy administer the progesterone for up to eight weeks.

I know that my symptoms change over the first few months after a concussion. The dizziness goes away, the headaches lessen, and the cognitive problems and tremors seem to become more prominent.

Hi Nancy,

No, I never stuttered before my injury. In fact, my job involved a great deal of public speaking.

Funnily enough, Mark and I have been discussing TBI related speech issues in a thread on strange symptoms.

Frankly, I'm inclined to say, "Anxiety my *****!"

My speech therapist and neuro-psychologist told me catagorically that the stutter was the result of damage in my brain. The injury left me with other speech issues. For example, I say one word when I mean another and often I can't think of a word - even for a common object. There is no doubt my stutter worsens when I'm flustered, but that's because it makes it even harder for my damaged brain to process language.

Listen carefully when your daughter is talking. If her speech doesn't seem fluid, if she's unusually quiet or she's experiencing aphasia and/or apraxia in addition to the stuttering, she may have damage to that area of the brain.

By the way, I'm assuming your doctor does know that anxiety and panic attacks are common results of structural damage in the PCS brain, not some sign of psychological weakness or hysterics on your daughter's part.

Cheers

Hockey - Thank you for the validation. I have gone around and around with her doctor on this issue and the anxiety one as well. He keeps telling she has underlying anxiety issue that the concusion brought forward. I disagree. The ARNP we use for my other daughter's ADHD medication manage agrees that the issues are PCS and not a larger pychological issue.

The stutter resolved back in december, but I do notice on days when she is more brain dead or really tired that her speech is different. I'm not sure how to describe it other than it's maybe a little monotone and slightly slower - not her usual self. It somewhat subtle and I notice it and I don't know if others do or not.

Hi Nancy,

If a doctor is dismissing recognized PCS symptoms as "psychological," it might be time to get a better doctor.

Bad doctors always dismiss things they can't understand or explain as "psychological." How many people do you know who were told this before a competent doctor found out what was really wrong? My aunt, for example, had this psychological tumor. Perhaps her GP would like to dig her up and tell her being dead is all in her head.

Even if the TBI is accentuating pre-morbid behaviors, how would that be a psychological manifestation that should just be ignored? Hello, TBIs do tend to exaggerate pre-existing character traits - and that's a huge problem.

Hopefully the neuro-psychologist will be better versed in the consequences of a TBI and his/her report will help to bring your doctor onside. If not, you might want to move on.

Good Luck

Agreed. This is somethings I have been considering for the past month. It's been a frustrating experience on many different levels.

My daughter (15 YO - 6 months PCS) has moments where her "eyeballs jump around inside their socket." I've never witnessed it, and it isn't an eye lid twitch. She has never mentioned a "build up" feeling.

Seems to have lessened considerably since about the 4-5 month mark.

One of my most annoying and persistent symptoms is muscle spasms of which I assume are of the neurological nature. With muscle relaxers then do lessen; without muscle relaxers they are so intense they cause pain.

I have muscle spasms from time to time, usually just as I am falling asleep. I take Neurontin (gabapentin) and it helps immensely.

about spasms and twitches
 

Hi I have muscle (arms and legs twitches) also full body twitches especially when I am falling asleep or awaking up(1 year after that injury they become worse), can you explain more about your condition related to these.

*moderator edit*


Regards
Ivo

I also have noticed that my hands will tremor at times. Its becomes embarassing if I am trying to drink something and my arm and hand shake the whole way to my mouth. I also have some facial spasms i notice along my forehead, eyeslids and eyebrows.

I experience many of the symptoms you all are explaining...Mine is the acquired epilepsy from the TBI. Epilepsy seizures come in many forms, some are very subtle, while others are not. I don't have Grand Mals, but I do have an abnormally high out-put of electrical dis-charges even with Absence seizures and Partial Complex Seizures. My jerking, twitching and muscle spasms are due my epilepsy. I have an EEG every 8 weeks and even though I appear to "look normal" during my EEG, the readings are always off the chart.
Mine was discovered while being treated for my TBI. I told my neuro that I was feeling "zaps", like a small electrical shock...He immediately did an EEG and sure enough I was having small seizures.


Has epilepsy been ruled out for you all? Have you had an EEG and been visually provoked with strobe light testing?
Some of what you all are experiencing sounds very much like small seizures to me...Just a thought.

I had an EEG; normal.

I also experience what feel like small “zaps” inside my head sometimes when I am falling asleep. It’s a weird sensation that wakes me right up: My left leg twitches at the same time as this little “zap” happens in my head. Should I be concerned or bring it up to my doctor? It happens maybe three times a month, and usually happens about two times each time.

I have the exact same tremor symptoms as you, Concussed Scientist. I've had it for two weeks now and I'm so afraid and frustrated. I can hardly sleep at night because of the muscle twitching in my head, neck and arms (it feels as you have described - like electricity shocks). Did you recover from the twitching? I hope so!

Tremor symptoms
 

Hi GirlFromNorway,

I am sorry that you are getting those tremor symptoms. At least you have had them for only 2 weeks. I can understand that you are afraid and frustrated but it is early days and most people apparently do recover from postconcussion symptoms and usually within 6 months to a year.

Regarding my symptoms: I'm afraid that I still have them but they have got milder than they were in the first year and I also think that medication, mainly pregabalin (Lyrica) is helping.

To be honest the twitching was never my worst symptom, but i think that it perhaps indicates that something is wrong. I insisted on having an EEG done, because it seemed as though the twitching that I experienced was the result of something like electrical discharges that could be generated by the electrical activity of the brain. I did have an EEG done and it was definitely abnormal. However, much of what I assumed were electrical discharges were ignored because it was assumed that the discharges were so large that they could only have been caused by muscle movements. However, I was lying perfectly still and not trying to move a muscle. I think that it was the other way round. There was an electrical discharge coming from my brain and they made me perhaps move a muscle. Certainly it was not under my voluntary control.

What is your current situation?
Perhaps you have completely recovered and we will never hear from you again. That would be great, but if you do visit this site again, then please let us know if you recover. It is nice to get some good news stories.

If you are still bothered by symptoms then I think it would be worthwhile getting an EEG or a quantitative EEG (qEEG) done. However, you are likely to find that the medical staff have difficulty telling your tremors from muscle movements that they are trained to ignore. You should definitely see a neurologist and a neurophysiologist. They may be able to prescrible drugs that would help.

Good luck with everything.

CS