Facial Tics.. Seizures

[[Sm...]]

So my only symptoms at the moment are occassional vertigo and no occassional facial tics.

I'd happily take these over some other benzo withdrawal sx like anxiety...

 

Except the facial tics worry me.

 

They are located in my brow and eyes. The last time I had them was a few months ago when I got the petit mal seizures. The stronger the facial tics the more petit mal seizures I got.

 

I can live with the occasional facial tic. It is in an isolated area so if it got very problematic I could use botox

 

But... is there a link between them and seizures? Or was it just that my benzo withdrawal brain was acting out in a whole bunch of benzo withdrawal ways and in this case the seizures coincided with the facial tics.

 

What compounds my worry is the bad blow to the head I got about a month ago and just how long it took me to recover.

 

I'd like to see a neurologist but they take 6 months to see. I suppose I may as well get on the waiting list since I'll be tapering far longer than that.

 

Anyhow.. thoughts?

Are they linked or just part of the spectrum of benzo w/d with seizures being the extreme end (Which I'm hoping desperately to avoid by a slow micro taper!)? Should I hold and see if it stops?

And what if once I start tapering they start up again?

There are plenty of benzo withdrawers before me who had tics but not seizures right?

 

(as you can see I'm worried fortunately not benzo w/d anxious )

[[Be...]]

Ive had the facial twitches iand twitiches in different parts of my body too, never had a seizure..

My eye twitches are between my eyes, and in the crease of the lid, sometimes the outer corner..

[[Sm...]]

Good news.. keep it coming people.. I want lots of facial twitching with zero seizures

[[Be...]]

seizures were my biggest concern, of course, since theyre about the worst side effect you could have....

I thought a couple of times I had worked myself into one, due to anxiety over it all, but still it never happened...

 

so these GM seizures,,, they aren't withdrawal related?

[[Sm...]]

seizures were my biggest concern, of course, since theyre about the worst side effect you could have....

I thought a couple of times I had worked myself into one, due to anxiety over it all, but still it never happened...

 

so these GM seizures,,, they aren't withdrawal related?

 

GM seizures? Do you mean Grand Mal seizures? Yes I think every sort of seizure can be withdrawal related. Grand Mal is the big bad.

The neurologist at the hospital didn't seem overly fussed by the petit mal - moments of unconsciousness. She didn't even recommend going up in my benzo dose. I did anyway because after them all benzo hell broke loose. The petit mal went once I updosed fully but hmmm.. not a history that fills me with joy especially considering my recent blow to the head and concussion.

[[Be...]]

I would imagine not..

try to have a good TDay

[[Be...]]

So my only symptoms at the moment are occassional vertigo and no occassional facial tics.

I'd happily take these over some other benzo withdrawal sx like anxiety...

 

Except the facial tics worry me.

 

They are located in my brow and eyes. The last time I had them was a few months ago when I got the petit mal seizures. The stronger the facial tics the more petit mal seizures I got.

 

I can live with the occasional facial tic. It is in an isolated area so if it got very problematic I could use botox

 

But... is there a link between them and seizures? Or was it just that my benzo withdrawal brain was acting out in a whole bunch of benzo withdrawal ways and in this case the seizures coincided with the facial tics.

 

What compounds my worry is the bad blow to the head I got about a month ago and just how long it took me to recover.

 

I'd like to see a neurologist but they take 6 months to see. I suppose I may as well get on the waiting list since I'll be tapering far longer than that.

 

Anyhow.. thoughts?

Are they linked or just part of the spectrum of benzo w/d with seizures being the extreme end (Which I'm hoping desperately to avoid by a slow micro taper!)? Should I hold and see if it stops?

And what if once I start tapering they start up again?

There are plenty of benzo withdrawers before me who had tics but not seizures right?

 

(as you can see I'm worried fortunately not benzo w/d anxious )

 

Be very careful chasing a seizure disorder.  Psychomotor seizures can mimic benzo withdrawal symptoms and visa-versa.

 

I fell into that paradigm early on in my diagnosis of panic disorder because I was desperate for a physical diagnosis.  I had a lot of trouble early in my history with panic accepting this might be psychological disorder.

 

I've had close to 30 different EEG's of all nature.  I was looking for anything.  I thought the doctors were trying to help me but now I think they were probably just humoring me.  Early on I did have a couple EEG's that showed seizure activity.  Both times I had been pulled off xanax for a few days prior.  In the early days I didn't know anything about the relationship between benzos and seizures.  I very much trusted what the doctors were telling me.  That was a mistake, but how was I supposed to know how confusing this could become and that the area of medicine I had entered was mostly a crapshoot as far as medication is concerned.

 

Benzos are used to help people with seizure disorders.  So if you have problems with benzos and start thinking you have a problem with seizures you may end up at the mercy of current medical dogma and as we know when benzos are involved it can get complicated very fast.

 

The desperation born from benzo withdrawal can lead us down many paths.  By all means talk to a qualified physician about any medical concerns you have.  Just do it smarter than I did.  There's much more information available to us as patients today than I had access to in the 80's and 90's when all this started for me.

 

The last 20+ EEG's I had didn't show any abnormal activity.  I know my concerns about seizures kept me confused about benzos and I used those two positive EEG's to justify my benzo use for a long time.

 

I still don't know if I have a seizure disorder but I doubt it.  After getting off benzos I have no reason to think that.  I do know that taking benzos complicated everything and from my perspective today probably were responsible for much of this. 

 

 

[[Di...]]

I get a feeling like my eyelid is twitching every once in awhile.

 

Can be either eye, but it's never developed into anything more than that.

[[os...]]

 

 

I had facial tics also... (left eye mainly).

 

Hold your dose until they settle down or go away... if I hold all my vibrating and tics vanish...

 

 

[[Pi...]]

I was reading this thread and I can't help say... How bad these benzos are when they cause such serious w/ds . To think that they can cause grand and petit seizures is just unacceptable! If only we had all known hey!     

          Sometimes twitching can be caused by a lack of magnesium , just saying.

      Hugs Pinkee

[[Sm...]]

It is too early to tell with certainty but I think a bit of Cal/Mag helped.

 

I agree Pinkee: very scary drugs that are still passed out like candy (though less and less)

[[pr...]]

i had a few facial tics and twitches and i haven't had a seizure after this c/t or rapid tapering up and then down again. i did have one seizure in 1994 but that is only cause i had my benzo's and opaites stripped away from me when i was on large dose's of both.

 

in other words, i don't think they are necessarily related.

[[Re...]]

Blepharospasm (twitching eyelids) and compulsive, exaggerated blinking have been with me for much of this process. In fact they started when I was on a relatively high dose of benzos before I even thought of tapering. No seizures for Reducto though! 

[[Sm...]]

Thanks all

 

Feeling relieved (via your suffering true ) that facial tics and seizures are connected only in so far as they are part of the spectrum of benzo withdrawal crap we have to put up with (or not put up with in the case of seizures because I for one wont be tapering that fast)

 

Fingers crossed eh

[[Ch...]]

Hi Smiff,

 

I've had lots of facial tics throughout my withdrawal (am 4 years off now). When I was tapering I had an almost non stop tic just under my right eye.

I had Bell's Palsy in the mid 90s which left me with about 10% residual neurological damage on that side of my face. The benzos masked it somewhat, so when I came off of course I got the tic.

It's a lot better now although it still acts up from time to time if I'm tired, stressed, have eye strain, water retention, changes in weather etc.

I also get tics just above my upper lip, I think this is from water retention (very common for us).

Mostly just a minor annoyance. By the way I've never had a seizure.

 

Chinook

[[pr...]]

i had watched a show about 'children with tourettes syndrome' because i was interested to see if it related to the GABA receptor's in any way and it does. because of some of the tics and movements i have from this i thought that it might.

 

it went on to talk about 4 different area's of the GABA receptor's being affected in people with tourettes. very interesting. heal the GABA receptor and lose the tic's and twitches i say.