Epilepsy in older adults

Doctor,

I always forget to ask my neurologist questions. I am 54 and have had epilepsy since I was 18.  Why I don't know.

My question is:  why do my legs jerk for no reason?  When I am laying down my legs jerk.  My doctor knows that my legs are giving me problems but i havent told him about the jerking at night.  Also, when  I'm going to sleep my whole body jerks so bad that I think I am going to fall out of bed!!!!!  I never mentioned it to my Dr because I am sick of having problems.  My Neurologist keeps tabs on me but I don't know what I should bother him with or not.  I have had muscle fasciculations for 4 years now.  They started in my feet and now are everywhere.  Believe me, I know what they are.  I had an MRI for radiculopathy in my left leg, recently.  I have a bulging disk in my back (and mild cervical spondylosis in my neck, last MRI , maybe 3 years ago)  My Doctor had told me before that my reflexes were brisk, but no ankle reflexes.  I have to see him every 3 months.  That's a bit much don't you think?
I don't know. All I know is that I get my reflexes tested every time I go in.

Thank you for your time.

[FurballsMom]

It seems to me that you should tell your neurologist about this jerking you're talking about.  That sounds neurological to me, so it sounds important to me.

I don't know much about epilepsy, but if you're having such tremendous amounts of this jerking that you're worried about falling out of bed, your doctor should be informed.  

I do have a friend with epilepsy, but with the medication she is taking she doesn't have very many seizures.  Most of the time she has petit mals, but she told me that she has had some grand mals.  Just not so often.  And, she has hers under sufficient control that she is still allowed to drive.  She is only a few years older than you are.  I can't remember the name of the seizure medicine she is on now, it's one of the newer ones.  She is really glad to be rid of Dilantin because of the side effects.  As if the memory problems associated with epilepsy weren't bad enough, she told me the Dilantin caused memory problems for her, too.

She had a round with Restless Leg Syndrome for a while.  I realize this is different, but I thought it was still noteworthy to mention anyway.  Through a process of elimination, it as discovered that she needed to lower her salt intake.  Once she discovered that, she stopped having symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome.

There is one other thing I nearly forgot to mention.  Most of the time when my friend does have a seizure, which is usually a petit mal, her husband notices it first, because she usually has her seizures while she is in bed.  She will certainly feel the affects of having had a seizure or a few dozen of the petit mals and will feel physically sick for the next day or two.  I saw her have petit mal right in front of me.  It wasn't obvious to anyone else in the room, but since she had been having problems with seizures the night before, I knew what to watch for.  The other friends in the room weren't even aware.  Like you, she started having epilepsy when she was an older teenager.  

Anyway, it seems like you should inform your neurologist of this jerking you described.  It could clue him in on anything else neurological going on with you, especially since you do have issues with your back along your spine, which are also obviously neurological.

I don't really know, but I'm wondering if this jerking you're describing does have something to do with the epilepsy.  I'm wondering if your neurologist needs to reevaluate your seizure medication.  I would hate for you to have to endure a grand mal seizure that you might be able to avoid.