Repetitive motion/daydreaming

[HL]

Ever since I was a girl, I have had episodes of compulsive repetitive movements.  I rock forward and back, make facial expressions, shake my hands, and sometimes curl my feet.  During these episodes, my mind is, for lack of a better word, daydreaming.  The images I see are extremely vivid and they can relate to fantasies or to just everyday life.  I do not smell or taste anything during the episodes.  I am social and do not seem to exhibit any other signs of Autism.  I am somewhat easily roused from the episodes and they are not coming more frequently.  They occur about 10-20 times per day.  The more worried or excited I am about something, the more often they seem to come.  My parents may have had similar experiences--my father made facial expressions and my mother jumped in place and looked at the ceiling when they were thinking about something intently.  Could this be a medical problem?  Or just behavioral?  Any insight into this "inconvenience" would be appreciated.  Thank you.

[falthu]

A related discussion, day dreaming was started.

[tena]

Hi there,  I'm not a doctor or in the medical profession, just someone who's trying to get help herself.  I have a suggestion about your daydreaming.  Did you ever consider OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)?  I would check that out if I were you.  There are medications that can help this disorder. I hope you find some help and some other suggestions that might aid you.  Good Luck

[Maximulus]

I suffer from the exact same symptoms, and have since I was six. I can find no diagnosis for it. If anyone can help, I would be interested in the term, and how this "inconvenience" effects others. I have noticed in the few cases I have found that the person exhibitng symptoms often has these fits in times of excitement and stress, and has an advanced imagination. Rett's syndrome is not consistent because it is an actual diesease, and this does not appear to be debilitating.

[glorya90]

I wonder what the doctor would propose to do if the eeg came out abnormal?  I have a situation similar to this.  However, only symptom for me is add-like symptoms(no hyperactivity).

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

The symptoms could certainly be behavioral in origin. We see some of the symptoms that you describe in the setting of autism, although you've pointed out that you are a social person. There are other diseases which have similar movements that are associated with developmental delay such as hand wringing/shaking in Rett's syndrome, but I'm assuming you're an otherwise healthy person. If they are only behavioral idiosyncracies, then I would not worry too much about them unless they're affecting your life dramatically or pose as a danger to yourself and others (such as daydreaming when you're driving.) The only concern would be that these represented seizures that have been undiagnosed, though your description of the symptoms make that possibility less likely. Consider seeing a neurologist and getting an EEG (hopefully capturing one of your episodes) just to make sure they're not seizures,although again, it doesn't really sound like it. GOod luck.