is it epilepsy? where did it come from?
 

hi all
I am 35 year old woman with previously normal life, no significant medical history etc. Last summer, i had a period of 4 -5 days of increasingly horrid headache, sensitive to light, tired and achey and stuff, and my legs & fingers swelled a bit and i got a rash over my body. my skin was burning hot and i had a temperature for a while there (but not the whole time). i went to GP who did blood tests and said that i was fine and then the symptoms went away. it happened when i was really/ newly heartbroken and very sad, not eating properly & smoking too much etc. 10 days after i went to the GP for the blood tests, i had a seizure. i went for all the tests and had a clear MRI but an abnormal EEG. Then i had another fit 6 months later. now i'm taking lamotrogine. the neurologist says he thinks i have juvenille myoclonic epilepsy because my arms and legs twitch alot in the day, particularly in the morning but can happen at any time. He reckons its always been dormant in me and the stress triggered it. also, if i have that then absences are a part of it too....what is it like to have an absence? I sometimes find myself being starry and find it helpful to pass my hand across my face to snap out of it. is that an absence seizure or just a day dream?
can anybody out there describe what they experience in a myoclonic jerk, or an absence? also, has anybody else had this wierd infection type presentation which came to nothing but later had a seizure when the other symptoms had subsided? please help thank you!!

Hi Shinbone,
I'm no Dr. but I have a feeling that hormones changing along with stress triggered your sz. Often women will have sz. 7-10 days before the cycle because the hormones are changing and the best thing I found to do for this was to take Diamox 5 days before my cycle started. The infection could also have started the epilepsy or the fever. My best advice for you is to see an Epileptologist at an Epilepsy Center you can usually find them at big or university hospitals, have your GP refer you to one and they can pinpoint the exact cause of your epilepsy.
Myoclonic jerks are when a persons body in certain areas jerk around and they can't stop it no matter what, think of it as if when the phone rings or something startled you and you jumped this is like a myoclonic jerk except it happens only in a certain part of a persons body.
I've had absence sz. for 41 yrs. and I just have a daydream or staring look on my face but I continue talking to others and doing whatever I was doing I just don't remember. The best example is someone who had a few to many drinks and the don't remember anything the next day. I also used to get headaches and feel tired for about 2 hrs. after this kind of sz. but since I've had brain surgery I don't feel tired anymore nor do I have a headache.
Get a calendar and start keeping track of your sz. write down what time it happens along with a discripition of the sz. and also write down when you start and stop your cycle each month by doing this your Dr. may see a pattern in your sz. and can tell if they are hormone related. Also try taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day it has reduced my sz. greatly. If the Dr. does an e.e.g. on you again ask them to flash different color strobe lights one at a time this will tell what colors are triggering sz. for you. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!
Sue

[thank you Sue, thats very kind of you to send me such a thoughtful reply. I'm going to see my neurologist this afternoon, so i will bear those things in mind - especially about the hormones. Its helpful to hear your description of absence seizures. I have a different experience to that - i feel like to go blank and my eyes get fixed and i have to consciously and very deliberately swipe hand in front of face or shake my head to quite literally 'snap out of it' i tend to feel like it mostly when sitting still for a long time. i don't get a headache but a kind of muggy head where i can't seem to shake it or wake up properly to attend to a meeting or something for an hour or so. i don't know if perhaps its just because i don't like meetings!
my jerks do sound very similiar to how you describe the telephone jerks.
thank you

Nice to meet you!!