Posted on 11/07/2007 4:58:12 PM PST by ShadowDancer
'Twitching' Illness Hits Several Students, Staff at Virginia School
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
VINTON, Va. — A mysterious illness causing an odd "twitching" symptom has stricken several students and a staff member at a Virginia high school.
Testing continues at William Byrd High School in Roanoke County where students and staff have shown strange symptoms of twitching and spasms since September, but a cause has yet to be determined.
About 30 students staged a walkout and protest earlier this week, and the school has said about 300 of the school's 1,200 students have been absent.
School officials say they do not plan to close the school.
Roanoke County school officials and health officials have found no environmental cause for the symptoms, which have affected fewer than 10 students, the Associated Press reported.
"I have seen them in the hallway, and it seems pretty bad," said senior Charlie Wallace, told the Roanoke Times. "It's uncontrollable. Twitching, that's the only way you can describe it."
Students and parents met Monday night with officials from the school system, the Virginia Department of Health and the companies conducting the environmental tests.
Parents asked about the symptoms and urged officials to close the school and offer classes elsewhere. But Superintendent Lorraine Lange said that health experts said that based on the environmental test results, there's no need to close the school.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Elvis-itis
All I could think of when I read this was a LA Law episode where the guy on the stand had tourettes. I had never even heard of it before that episode and I have to say I laughed my butt off at it.
What Chinese product have they been using?
Possibly Myoclonic Seizures. Cause? Could be a number of things such as a virus or bacteria attacking their sensory system.
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The stuff that goes around schools is scary.
Check their Inner Ears.
Alex, I’ll take “Mass Hysteria” for $200.
S**T! F**K! TOURETTE’S ISN’T G**D**N!FUNNY! A*****E!
lol, same thing with LA Law over here—had never heard of it before that ep...geez...I was in tenth grade (I think) when that ep aired, sigh.
In other news, Starbucks noted greater than expected third-quarter profits after opening franchises in Virginia high school cafeterias . . .
The new reasons to homeschool just don’t stop, do they?
My wife complains that I do a lot of twitching just before I fall asleep. I told her that if she was already asleep like she should be, she wouldn’t even notice it.
ROTFLMAO
I just looked up when the series was on, it started the year before I graduated. I get a bigger sigh than you.
Hey, watch your @#$%! language.
House? HOUSE - where are you??!
Maybe Riverdance is hiring?
Were they playing with mercury in the chemistry lab?
Khannnnn!!!!!
affected fewer than 10 students,
Boy was I stupid! I had to wear jeans in order to get sent home from school and if my mom was there, I caught hell!
Knowing what I know now, I would have started twitching........especially on the day of any test.
I know what I’m talking about on this. Disabled because of it and sensory processing related issues since 1994. The headaches and DIZZINESS point to a possible Vestibular origin. Vestibular meaning Inner Ear. I have upper Torso spams with it. It’s called Myoclonic Seizures and most doctors don’t recognize it when they see it. Certain audio or visual triggers can set off the spasms.
Yup, that must be it. ROFLMAO!
My first job after getting out of the Marine Corps 40 years ago was in an office at Southern Pacific Railroad....and one of the guys in our corner had a horrific case of itchy, flaky psoriasis or eczema.
The other half dozen of us, during the day, would all feel itchy and scratchy and twitchy after watching this guy gouge himself.
I believe you. And I intend to pass along your possible diagnosis for a friend who has suddenly started twitching a great deal and the doctors can’t figure out what it is. Hope you will be better.
I remember being in a "phone line" to call home just after boot camp, and we'd of course all be jawjacking and talking sh*t, being new Marines.
The guy that was actually talking to his family apparently thought we were too loud, because he turned to us (hand over the mouthpiece) and yelled, "Will you f***ing clowns cut out the f***ing profanity??"
(It's one of those memories I'll always have.....)
I’m sorry to hear that. But what would cause that in a mass situation?
If he has a medical history of say tubes in his ears as a child, chronic ear infections, or a recent inner ear infection it's a pretty good bet. It can also trigger what is called anxiety attacks as well. The Vestibular System can triggger it. It took me two years to find it out. In my case 13 years into it it's not going away. I just learned to adapt and limit the triggers. Also Tinnitus and /or such problems as Menieres Disease can go along with it.
Likely a viral source is my guess. It's only 10 persons I think. It may disappear in a few more months after the virus runs it's course. Interesting many people who have what is called Panic Attacks do this. The underlying cause is a Inner Ear infection or disorder the doctors miss.
Some things seem to come and go. They hit a lot of persons then you don't hear about it even though supposedly it isn't contagious like say Bells Palsy.
Gracious, I feel lucky! I have both tinnitus AND Meniere’s, but not these spasms/twitching things—and I hope I never do! :-(
Prayers for the people involved, that the cause and a cure can be found quickly!
If one day you are driving along and have a feeling of like where am I, where am I going, etc don't panic. Your sensory sysem has been overtaxed and the brain takes a short time out to re-boot so to speak. That may take 20 minutes or in extreme cases several days. That was the onset for me. In some extreme cases the sensory processing system becomes so overtaxed that it in effects crashes. This can be in the form of an anxiety attack at a Walmart for example or watching TV. If it happens to you a fair word of warning. Do Not Let any doctor try antidepressant therapy to treat it. Tranquilizers and treating the originating cause is the answer.
***..an odd “twitching” symptom ***
Lice.
hilarious!
What is it with ear infections going around? I just came back from the Doc, and was diagnosed with that.(had the pressure buildup, wanting to ‘pop’ it, but to no avail). I wondered what the ringing was. I just thought all the voices in there got cell phones...
Cow belly, pot of beans
Tie a rope around your jeans
Tell your ma not to wait
You ain't getting home till late
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
We're gonna Twitch!
Theres a town I know where the hipsters go called Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
When you get an itch to do the Twitch in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
'Cause the twitch is fine, have yourself a time in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
Well, we'll twitch around the clock tonight in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
And Rock is gonna roll with all his might in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
It's a swingin town, so I'll see ya down in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
Yeah Yeah!
Well, we'll twitch around the clock tonight in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
And Rock is gonna roll with all his might in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
It's a swingin town, so I'll see ya down in Bedrock
Twitch! Twitch!
Honestly? I think doctors forgot about them. This due in part to the demise of the Family Doctor and growing use of specialist. I'm 50 and Inner Ear infections were pretty common when I was growing up. I remember adults talking about having them. Today you don't hear of it much. Sinus allergies can do it's damage as well which was in my case. The answers are coming from increasing Vestibular Research.
Here's a question to consider. How come Vestibular research list anxiety issues as a symptom of Vestibular but yet in the mental health circles if you tell a shrink I think I my problem is Vestibular in nature and not a mental one they'll about have a calf scoffing at the idea of it.
Here is another thought. With more and more technology being developed that is pushing the limits of many persons sensory processing capabilities, when will the medical community wake up to that fact? Many persons had fewer problems years ago simply because there were fewer sensory triggers even two decades ago. Now we are as a society literally saturated with such things as high frequency high decibel alarms. Used to shopping was somewhat enjoyable. If someone wonders why the longer they stay in a Home Depot or Walmart trying to think about their purchase and in that time becoming more and more agitated but can't figure out why that is the likely reason. The more tasking you add the more likely a person with a damaged sensory processing system whether they know about it or not is going to have these problems.
In that school I'd do some detective work. Was a new bell system added? Perhaps a new P.A. system? To some Vestibular patients something as simple as room air pressure can cause problems. Many persons with Vestibular issues know weather changes are coming before they happen. It's the combined sum total of all of the things added together causing the problems. Put stress in the equation and it really can get bad. Many people don't realize that stress is not necessarily from bad news. Getting a wanted and anticipated job promotion for example can be the factor that overtaxes the overall system or the straw that breaks the camels back.
Being a high school student is so much fun these days. Twitching, hot babe teachers taking you on trips to Meheeco, we’re missing on all the fun boys!
Sympathetic, like yawning. Or just for laughs, because the kids can get the adults worked up over something, or get some extra time off.
They likely wouldn't except possibly right before they go to sleep and that spasm may result in a yell or grunt as it would hit the vocal cords. From the article the fact that it's upper torso has me curious. My spasms never go below the elbows. Here's what someone needs to do and it will answer questions. Give the students and families journals to keep. Write down what the person is doing when the spasms start. Watching TV even a comedy that they are laughing about write it down. It's a process of finding out what is triggering the spasms if this is of sensory origin. It's a non phobic response.
If it's the kind of spasms I'm thinking about {actually seizures} the only way you'll get copycats is to hit them with a cattle prod or pour ice water down their neck. They are pretty darn severe in nature lasting about 2 seconds each and as many as several in a minutes time.
good friend of mine recently diagnosed with a viral infection that has since caused her to have vertigo, with upset stomach. Weird stuff.
if you tell a shrink I think I my problem is Vestibular in nature and not a mental one they’ll about have a calf scoffing at the idea of it.
**************
A good shrink will strongly push you to get all necessary medical tests done to rule out any medical problem. Especially if the patient believes it is medical. ]
We can however, assist client’s in identifying new ways to deal with the symptoms only if that is what the client wants. We have no magic wands or magic pills. If a shrink tells you that, find a real one.
Have you/your doctors eliminated scabies in the ear?
Just sounds like bullshiite to me so far, but hey, I'm a cynic.
Yea it is. My last night of work involved dealing with a retirement home resident who had just came home from the hospital. I was a maintenance mechanic and got a trouble call for her apartment.
When I got there she was crying saying oh please make it stop. I asker her what. She said that noise. I couldn't hear it so I asked her to take me to it. She took me to the air conditioner and I turned it off. Crisis resolved for her. I told the nurse and she said she came home like that. Less than 15 minutes later I was taking a break in my shop propped up in a chair against a door next to the time clock. A person in the hallway yelled for a co-woker and I about went through the ceiling. Within a few minutes all I could do was answer yes and no questions and call in a relief to watch the boilers.
It took about two years for me to get the answers. Two years of trying harmful medication {usually antidepressants} which made the symptoms worse as well. I found a book a Neurologist wrote linking Childhood and adult sinus allergies and Vestibular Disorders to Panic Attacks. That was the turning point.
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