Myoclonic Seizures

Have you experienced your arms and legs fly up and down for a few seconds, especially in the morning? Your mouth closes shut for a moment and a couple of jerks are seen in a row. After a few hours, the jumps and jerks tend to disappear as if they never occurred? If yes, then you are experiencing myoclonic seizures. These are generalized seizures that last for less than a second or so. Though you may experience just one, there are chances several of them occur in a row in a brief span of time. In the following paragraphs we shall understand what are myoclonic seizures and the myoclonic seizures symptoms.

What are Myoclonic Seizures
If you are wondering what are myoclonic seizures, then they are contractions of body muscles that occur for a short period. These contractions may affect one or both the sides of the body and mostly involve one foot or an arm. Many times people think of them as mere clumsiness as they occur for less than a second. Recurring myoclonic seizures may be a symptom of an underlying disease. Neurological disorders like epilepsy are one the underlying conditions that may lead to myoclonic seizures.

Many people who do not suffer from epilepsy or neurological disorders may suffer from myoclonic seizures. For example, one may experience a sudden body jerk in sleep or hiccups are common diaphragm muscle seizures. These myoclonic seizures are no cause of concern and do not require medical attention. Let us go through the syndromes associated with the disorder before dwelling onto the myoclonic seizure symptoms.

Associated Syndromes of Myoclonic Syndrome
Myoclonic syndrome occurs in association with different epilepsy syndromes. These syndromes associated with myoclonic seizure disorder include the following:

Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy
These are idiopathic generalized epileptic syndrome seizures. These seizures affect adolescents who are around puberty or reaching early adulthood. The seizures occur around neck, shoulders and upper arms. These seizures need life long medication for controlling them.

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
This syndrome occurs in early childhood and is very difficult to control. This is an uncommon syndrome that involves the neck, shoulders, upper arms and sometimes the face. These seizures also include the myoclonic seizures.

Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsy
This syndrome occurs as a combination of myoclonic seizures as well as tonic-clonic seizures. The treatment of progressive myoclonic epilepsy is not very successful as the condition deteriorates with time.

Causes of Myoclonic Seizure Disorder
Myoclonic seizure disorder occurs within the brain. These are generalized seizures that affect both sides of the brain. The myoclonic seizure disorder causes include a response to an infection. In some cases, it occurs due to head or spinal cord injury, stroke, etc. Other causes of myoclonic seizures include brain tumors, kidney failure, liver failure, lipid storage disease. Medication and chemicals that cause side effects also lead to myoclonic seizures.

When a person is given general anesthesia, he/she may develop benign myoclonic seizures. Lack of oxygen to the brain for a prolonged time may lead to posthypoxic myoclous. The neurological disorders that lead to myoclonic seizure disorder include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, lupus or opsoclonus myoclonus.

Myoclonic Seizures Symptoms
Myoclonic seizure symptoms are experienced usually in the morning after getting up. These seizures tend to be very frustrating as they make one spill coffee and face minor accidents around the house. Let us have a look at the myoclonic seizure symptoms in patients of different age groups.

Myoclonic Seizures in Children: Symptoms
Myoclonic seizure symptoms in children include one or more than one muscle jerks. These jerks occur on the shoulders, arms or the whole body. The child is conscious and the jumps are usually seen on an arm or a leg. In some cases, the jerks are not visible. However, the child may complain of a shock like feeling in his muscles. You might see the child suddenly throws away mugs or jugs from his hand or drops his toothbrush from his hand. You might think the child is still sleepy or begin notorious. But, if this becomes a regular scene in the mornings, you need to seek medical attention for myoclonic seizure symptoms in children.

Myoclonic Seizures in Adults: Symptoms
Myoclonic seizure symptoms in adults is similar to those in children. The adult may suffer from jumps or jerks due to rapid contraction and relaxation of muscles. In some cases, a few people suffer from hypnic jerks, when they are falling off to sleep. Patients with severe myoclonic seizure symptoms in adults may disrupt a person's ability to talk, eat, walk and sleep. The person may also suffer from abnormal body movements and twitching.

Myoclonic Seizure Treatment
Myoclonic seizure treatment includes seizure medication like benzodiazepine and clonazepam. These medications tend to have side effects that makes a person clumsy and uncoordinated. Prolonged use of these medications makes these medications lose their effectiveness. Myoclonic seizures can also be controlled by barbiturates, anti-epileptics, etc. that are used to treat epilepsy.

Myoclonic seizures are not a life-threatening condition. However, it can turn into a very debilitating condition. If one suffers from sudden body jerks or jumps and finds their jaw shut tight for a couple of minutes, visit a doctor for further evaluation.