LynnW
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Greetings!
I have found this great forum in my search to find out what is wrong with me. I would like to say hello, and ask a few questions. First, my story (sorry it’s so long):
I am 45 years old, married with 3 kids. About 3-4 years ago, I started having these “episodes”. They start with a weird feeling like I am having a familiar dream. It is always the same “dream”, but I can never remember it afterwards. I am aware of everything around me, but feel kind of disconnected from it. I believe that I can talk and respond to people, but as 95% of these episodes have happened when I am alone, I can’t verify that for sure. Next, I have a feeling wash over me that is somewhat like an adrenalin rush you might feel when you have a near miss in your car. All of this lasts probably less than a minute. Afterwards, I feel shaky, weak, and slightly nauseous for a few minutes. For several hours afterwards, I feel a little tired and spaced out.
I really didn’t think much about these episodes since they occurred infrequently (3-6 months apart), and I felt fine in every other respect. Last summer, however, I began to notice that the episodes were coming closer together (now every 2-3 weeks). Also, in December, I felt one of these episodes starting, and the next think I knew, I was waking up on the floor in a pool of my own urine. I could also hear a loud rushing noise upon waking.
Since then, I have blacked out during an episode one other time. My husband was with me that time, and he said that when I blacked out, I slumped forward, twitched a bit, and kicked my leg out once. It was not violent shaking, as in descriptions of tonic clonic seizures I have heard about, but more like the twitching you might experience while dreaming. He was holding me upright in my chair so I wouldn’t hit the floor. This all lasted maybe a minute. No loss of bladder control this time (thank goodness!)
I immediately called my doctor after the first blackout. He sent me to the hospital to get a metabolic workup, EEG, and CT scan. These all came back normal. He then suspected vaso-vagal syncope, and sent me to a cardiologist so I could have a tilt-table test. The cardiologist ordered a stress test, sonograms of my heart and carotid arteries, and the tilt-table test. All showed perfectly normal heart function. I now have an appointment with a neurologist next week
Now for the questions. First of all, I’m not even sure what to call these episodes. Could they be seizures? None of the descriptions I’ve read of seizures really sounds exactly like what I’ve been experiencing, but maybe some of you have some insight.
I also would like to know from people who have been there what to expect during my first visit to a neurologist, beyond listening to my symptoms and taking a medical history. He has asked me to bring my CT scan, so I presume he will look at my brain. Are there any questions that I should ask? At this point, I’m confused and my biggest worry is that I’ll never find out what is wrong with me.
Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Best Wishes,
Lynn
I have found this great forum in my search to find out what is wrong with me. I would like to say hello, and ask a few questions. First, my story (sorry it’s so long):
I am 45 years old, married with 3 kids. About 3-4 years ago, I started having these “episodes”. They start with a weird feeling like I am having a familiar dream. It is always the same “dream”, but I can never remember it afterwards. I am aware of everything around me, but feel kind of disconnected from it. I believe that I can talk and respond to people, but as 95% of these episodes have happened when I am alone, I can’t verify that for sure. Next, I have a feeling wash over me that is somewhat like an adrenalin rush you might feel when you have a near miss in your car. All of this lasts probably less than a minute. Afterwards, I feel shaky, weak, and slightly nauseous for a few minutes. For several hours afterwards, I feel a little tired and spaced out.
I really didn’t think much about these episodes since they occurred infrequently (3-6 months apart), and I felt fine in every other respect. Last summer, however, I began to notice that the episodes were coming closer together (now every 2-3 weeks). Also, in December, I felt one of these episodes starting, and the next think I knew, I was waking up on the floor in a pool of my own urine. I could also hear a loud rushing noise upon waking.
Since then, I have blacked out during an episode one other time. My husband was with me that time, and he said that when I blacked out, I slumped forward, twitched a bit, and kicked my leg out once. It was not violent shaking, as in descriptions of tonic clonic seizures I have heard about, but more like the twitching you might experience while dreaming. He was holding me upright in my chair so I wouldn’t hit the floor. This all lasted maybe a minute. No loss of bladder control this time (thank goodness!)
I immediately called my doctor after the first blackout. He sent me to the hospital to get a metabolic workup, EEG, and CT scan. These all came back normal. He then suspected vaso-vagal syncope, and sent me to a cardiologist so I could have a tilt-table test. The cardiologist ordered a stress test, sonograms of my heart and carotid arteries, and the tilt-table test. All showed perfectly normal heart function. I now have an appointment with a neurologist next week
Now for the questions. First of all, I’m not even sure what to call these episodes. Could they be seizures? None of the descriptions I’ve read of seizures really sounds exactly like what I’ve been experiencing, but maybe some of you have some insight.
I also would like to know from people who have been there what to expect during my first visit to a neurologist, beyond listening to my symptoms and taking a medical history. He has asked me to bring my CT scan, so I presume he will look at my brain. Are there any questions that I should ask? At this point, I’m confused and my biggest worry is that I’ll never find out what is wrong with me.
Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Best Wishes,
Lynn
I'm Brandi. I'm 16 and have been having seizures for a little over a year and a half now. It sounds a lot like you are having Temporal lobe seizures to me. We are pretty sure that is what type of of epilepsy I have also. It is the most common type of epilepsy. The auras seem to fit the description pretty well. And just because your EEG came back normal doesn't nessisarily mean you are not having epileptic seizures.
