twitch and jerk?  what twitch and jerk?
 
So I began thinking about it and realized that perhaps I didn't blog about the twitch and jerking in my life.  Now here's the real story.  It began with the Effexor in 2002, and subsided somewhat when I came off.  What it looked like was this - think of yourself laying in bed, just getting comfy, restful, and your body does this whole body jerk, just like you tripped on a set of stairs...now try having that happen about 70 times a night before you get to sleep.  My head jerked to the right and my left leg really shoots out...funny I know.  So it got a little better after coming off the Effexor and while on the Trazadone, it wasn't very bothersome...too zonked out to happen I guess.  I wasn't 100% sure why it happened at all, but related it to the Effexor. 
 
Then I began on the Paxil...now we're havin' fun...try about 200 times a night, and sometimes during the day, when I was laying on the couch, or even sitting in my chair, relaxing.  I even had a couple while sitting in the restaurant with the gals for lunch...WHOA.  And then get me drunk and there's a whole other party going on.  I was pretty sure then that it was related to SSRI drugs.  (Selective Seretonin Reuptake Inhibitors).  They persisted somewhat afer Paxil, so I asked the doc for a referral for neurology, which I got sometime in January I think. 
 
Now THAT was an experience!  Amber wanted to go, purely for entertainment, as well as I didn't know what exactly they were going to do to me, so wanted her there to drive home.  We also went shopping, so it was a good plan.  Well, they gummed up my head and attached a bunch of electrodes for an EEG, and laid me down in a dark room.  Amber was across the room, sitting next to the gal running the show.  And what a light show it was...they talked to me, then flashed lights now and again...and sure enough, they waited just 10 minutes and the twitch and jerk show began.  I was impressed...I had thought I would be too self-conscious for them to happen, but away my body went...it had the audience it needed!
 
Turned out I have Primary Generalized Epilepsy, and while I likely will never suffer a seizure because, get this, I am too old to develop Partial Epilepsy...lol, it will likely be that twitching and jerking I experience will be with me forever.  What the head doc said was everyone has a threshold for seizures, and mine happens to be lower.  And the name for what my symptom is, is Myoclonus, spike and wave disorder.  The Myoclonic jerks are what is happening to the body.  So there it was, in the brain wave patterns on his computer.  He printed off a page for me with a head jerk tracked on it...cool. 
 
So what does that all mean?  Well, stay AWAY from SSRI's for sure, and anything else that lists seizures as a possible side effect, like Welbutrin.  Stay away from anything with stimulants in it, like coffee, Ritalin or Dexadrine (sure...now I have to throw them all out, lol) and so on.  Well, not a problem...don't use any of it.  But good to know about the SSRI's.  And get lots of rest.  When I get tired, it will be worse.  Great...just what an insomniac needs to hear.
 
And the myoclonic jerks have all but subsided now...the only time I get them is just as I close my eyes for sleep...two or three at the most.  Oh well, they help me relax...I remember saying to my sister that I was so tired, I just wanted to go home and twitch...
 
So now you know.