My 16 year old daughter has a history of epilepsy - partial complex and petit mal seizures, plus a brain injury at birth and one at 8 years old. Her last 3 EEG's have been normal. She currently takes Lamictal 50 mgs BID and Zonegram 100 mg for seizures, plus Focalin for ADD. Two months ago she messed up her meds and accidently took 25 migs Lamictal BID instead of 50. About 3 weeks later she started what looked like tics at first - neck and head jerking - and they worsened. Then they began to look more like partial seizures - since they became more forceful, rapid, and were always to the right side. When we discovered the medication error, we immediately put her back on Lamictal 50 mg BID, and added Clonipin, .5 or 1.0 mg to help with the head jerking. It has helped only a little, but at least she isn't being woken up from sleep with the jerking anymore
However, the head jerking during daytime continues, and she now has a lot of neck pain, and now it is looking more like dystonia. It gets worse with fatigue and stress. She can't stop it, but holding her neck or head stops the movement, but not the twitching of the muscles. We can't figure this out, and the neurologist hasn't yet seen here because he is triple-booked for weeks to come and can't fit her in any sooner. (we live in a small town) She is having increased emotional lability because of this. She is also slightly obsessive compulsive and tends towards depression, but not severe.
Does this sound more like Tourettes, Seizures, or Dystonia to you?
Thank you,
Barbara