I had been suffering with what i thought was restless leg syndrome, (even though i had not been diagnosed with it). It started approximately three years ago, about the same time as i was starting to have symptoms of Chiari,( this was not diagnosed until three years later). It really gave me problems in the evening when i Had settled down in front of the telly for the night. It would feel as though there was a energy building up in the base of my spine and all of a sudden would shoot down my legs, causing a spasm. You could see it in my feet as they would go left and right at a great speed. People who saw it would laugh as it looked so strange. I read up on Restless leg Syndrome after seeing a leaflet in my Doctors surgery, so i just put it down to that. In April this year, straight after decompression surgery, I was lying in the hospital bed and started to get these jerks in not only my legs but now in my arms, legs and head. Again it is when i am at rest. When I am up and about during the day i can feel the sensation in my spine, my arms tense and my fists clench and move up to my forearms . I sit down and my arms and legs will suddenly shoot about. I try to control it but to no avail.
I went to see my surgeon two months post op and he told me they were called Myoclonic Seizures and prescribed me with Lamotrigine which is a drug used to treat Epilepsy. They help to ease it a bit but does not stop it.
Now after a bit of research i have found that seizures may not always relate to the brain itself, but may be caused from the Brain Stem. An interesting find as this may be the reason so many of us have been getting problems with jerks and we have just been putting it down to restless leg Syndrome.
MYOCLONIC SEIZURES
Myoclonic (MY-o-KLON-ik) seizures are brief, shock-like jerks of a muscle or a group of muscles. "Myo" means muscle and "clonus" (KLOH-nus) means rapidly alternating contraction and relaxation—jerking or twitching—of a muscle.
Even people without epilepsy can experience myoclonus in hiccups or in a sudden jerk that may wake you up as you're just falling asleep. These things are normal.
In epilepsy, myoclonic seizures usually cause abnormal movements on both sides of the body at the same time.
RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME
Also known as Wittmaack-Ekbom's syndrome, and colloquially as "the jumpylegs" is a condition that is characterized by an irresistible urge to move one's body to stop uncomfortable or odd sensations. It most commonly affects the legs, but can also affect the arms or torso. Moving the affected body part modulates the sensations, providing temporary relief.
RLS causes a sensation in the legs or arms that can most closely be compared to a burning, itching, or tickling sensation in the muscles. Some controversy surrounds the marketing of drug treatments for RLS. It is a 'spectrum' disease with some people experiencing only a minor annoyance and others experiencing major issues.
