Any help for Action Myoclonus please?

[Guest guest]

Any help for Action Myoclonus please?

I have had a request from a fellow severe sufferer to ask around for any

advice for Action Myoclonuus.

Symptoms are now jerking many times an hour with any muscle movement or

anticipated voluntary movement.

They have had it mildly for years but a month ago caught a cold which

caused an ME flare up.

It is worse with any extra effort, better with quiet and dark.

No temperature or blood pressure changes.

Any advice or suggested treatment gratefully received

and I will pass it on and let you know how they got on with it.

Best wishes

From Wikipedia:

*Action* myoclonus is characterized by muscular jerking triggered or

intensified by voluntary movement or even the intention to move. It may

be made worse by attempts at precise, coordinated movements. Action

myoclonus is the most disabling form of myoclonus and can affect the

arms, legs, face, and even the voice. This type of myoclonus often is

caused by brain damage that results from a lack of oxygen and blood flow

to the brain when breathing or heartbeat is temporarily stopped.

*Myoclonus* (pronounced /maɪˈɒklənəs/

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:IPA_for_English>) is brief,

involuntary twitching of a muscle <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle>

or a group of muscles. It describes a medical sign

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_sign> and, generally, is not a

diagnosis of a disease. The *myoclonic twitches* are usually caused by

sudden muscle contractions; they also can result from brief lapses of

contraction. Contractions are called /positive myoclonus/; relaxations

are called /negative myoclonus/. The most common time for people to

encounter them is while falling asleep (hypnic jerk

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk>), but myoclonic jerks are

also a sign of a number of neurological disorders

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurological_disorder>. Hiccups

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiccup> are also a kind of myoclonic jerk

specifically affecting the diaphragm

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaphragm_%28anatomy%29>. Also when a

spasm is caused by another person it is known as a " provoked spasm " .

Shuddering attacks with babies also fall in this category.

Myoclonic jerks may occur alone or in sequence, in a pattern or without

pattern. They may occur infrequently or many times each minute. Most

often, myoclonus is one of several signs in a wide variety of nervous

system disorders such as multiple sclerosis

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_sclerosis>, Parkinson's disease

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_disease>, Alzheimer's

disease <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease>, Subacute

sclerosing panencephalitis

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subacute_sclerosing_panencephalitis> and

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt-Jakob_disease> (CJD),

serotonin toxicity <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin_syndrome>,

and some forms of epilepsy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy>. Some

researchers indicate that jerks persistently may even cause early tremors.

In almost all instances in which myoclonus is caused by Central Nervous

System (CNS) disease it is preceded by other symptoms; for instance, in

CJD it is generally a late-stage clinical feature that appears after the

patient has already started to exhibit gross neurological deficits.

Anatomically, myoclonus may originate from lesions of the cortex

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_cortex>, subcortex

<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Subcortex & action=edit & redlink=1>

or spinal cord <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_cord>. The presence

of myoclonus above the foramen magnum

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foramen_magnum> effectively excludes

spinal myoclonus, but further localisation relies on further

investigation with electromyography

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromyography> (EMG) and

electroencephalography

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroencephalography> (EEG).