Hi, I don't know what my GF has, maybe you guys do?

[WorriedBF]

Hi, I'm Alex, 25. My girlfriend just called me 15 minutes ago saying she thinks she just had a seizure. She was laying in bed then all of a sudden, while her eyes were closed, she said she felt this weird shaking sensation and her eyes were moving in her head and she felt a weird clicking noise or something. Now she says she has a huge headache.

She's been having headaches for a long time. Every time I talk to her on the phone she has a headache it seems. She gets stressed out about a lot of things. We are in a long-distance relationship right now and being with her is like riding a rollercoaster. One day she's happy, next day she's paranoid and suspicious. Sometimes she's really happy, sometimes she's really sad. It changes often and I find myself having the same conversations with her over and over and it seems like it doesn't matter what I say, nothing changes.

She cries on the phone at least 3 times a week. She's very emotional. She used to be on mood stabilizers and I read about what the medicine she was taking does: It can lead to seizures if you stop taking it or take too much. I told her to taper down off of it and she did and she hasn't taken it in 4 months. What always used to happen is she would get goosebumps on one leg, but not the other. It was always the same leg too. I got suspicious about this and that's when I found out that the medicine she was taking to stabilize her mood could cause seizures.


Now with this episode, I'm trying to figure out what could be wrong with her. I thought maybe she has a tumor that's causing this... Maybe the onset of epilepsy. I don't know.

Basically her symptoms are:
- Frequent headaches.
- Mood swings.
- Goosebumps on one leg only.
- Recent "seizure-like" episode in bed while trying to fall asleep.

Thanks guys.

[epileric]

Headaches can be neurological or not. I had a neurologist tell me that if they feel like a constant pressure then they're probably neurological but not if they throb.

Mood swings are common with seizures but even if she's just having frequent regular headaches I know I'd be moody too.

When you say "seizure like" can you be more specific?

Personally I would suggest that you tell her to see a neurologist and get a definite diagnosis one way or the other. You can check a few things out online though.

About.com's Symptom Checker and Epilepsy.com describe all the different types of seizures.

Hope this helps.

[Nakamova]

Hi Alex --

Mood stabilizers can sometimes cause seizures if you stop taking them, although usually it's when you stop cold turkey (as opposed to a gradual taper). It's also possible that your girlfriend has migraines -- which can resemble and overlap with seizure symptoms. As Eric suggests, a neurologist can probably get a better sense of what's going on. If she will make an appointment, have her write down a detailed history of her symptoms and medications -- that will help.