New here and have no idea what I'm doing....Oh and my Doc thinks I'm having Seizures

[Highwayhen]

Hi everyone....this is my first post. I'm a 42 year old woman. I'm hoping someone here can help me. A few months ago, I started having dizzy spells. They got progressively worse and before the afternoon I would have 12-15 spells. At first I thought it might be diabetes so I started to watch what I ate and when I ate. It didn't seem to matter. I found myself having to pull over to the side of the road to let the dizziness subside. At their worst, I would get this feeling that one was coming. I would have several seconds to pull over, put my car in park and wait. Sure enough, my world would spin. After several seconds it would stop and I would feel perfectly fine. Sometimes I would get a sick feeling and the anxiety was terrible. I went to my first doc who tested me for inner ear and did a bunch of blood work. All was fine. She put me on SERC and that didn't work. A second prescription and I felt somewhat better. Off to another doc who said the same thing. No inner ear issues. Finally I saw an ENT and after hearing and physical tests he said that Inner ear was ruled out. He thinks it might be seizures.
I am now on ativan to control the anxiety and it is helping with the dizziness. I get them when I'm lying still and playing a game on my iphone or something like that. My ENT is sending me for an MRI but I don't think anything will show up. Is this normal? Please, I'll take any advise.

[epileric]

If what you have are seizures it sounds like you might be photosensitive if they're triggered by staring at a game on your iPhone.

Good luck with the MRI but remember that if it comes up negative it doesn't mean you're not having seizures. A very high percentage of seizures have unknown causes (idiopathic). I was born with seizures & my MRIs always came back clean until I was 39.

If they are checking for epilepsy I think an EEG would be more likely to be more informative though some types of seizures don't show up on an EEG either.


Also, I did move your post to the "foyer" on the site so that you can get the official CWE Welcome & maybe some more information from other members.

[Nakamova]

Hi Highwayhen, welcome!

Dizziness can be a symptom of so many things, it can make it tricky to get a diagnosis. Can you think of any precipitating cause that might have brought on the dizziness? Any head injuries? Illnesses/infections? Medications? Lifestyle changes? Hormonal changes? Unusual stresses? It can help to keep a diary of your symptoms -- note the time of day, how often the attacks occur, how long they last. Also track things like meals (what you've had to eat and drink, and when), sleep, hormones, exercise, etc. You may be able to identify some triggers (such as the photosensitivity mentioned by Eric). It's a good idea to be proactive about your health in general. You may want to minimize alcohol and caffeine intake, and stay away from any foods or additives (like MSG and aspartame) that you may be sensitive to.

I hope you get some answers soon.

Best,
Nakamova

[marmi85]

Hi,

Also new here, but your post caught my eye. Yes, at this point, it could be several things, but I was just diagnosed with seizure disorder...they aren't sure if it's Epilepsy yet... (what's the difference, I don't know...) this is all so new to me.

ANYWAY...my seizures started out similar to yours...please be careful driving...and best of luck to you!

Marmi85