elderwanda
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Hello.
I'm a 41-year-old woman, and I'm wondering if the things I'm experiencing might be simple partial seizures. I have never seen a neurologist or had anything that was obviously a seizure, but autism runs in my family, and there may be a possible connection there. Before I explain the symptoms, I will say that I have seen a doctor about what I was experiencing (a couple of years ago), but it was very difficult for me to explain what I was feeling, so the idea of seizure never came up. I was given some kind of blood test, for diabetes or some kind of thyroid thing, but that came up normal.
Anyway, there are a number of strange things that I experience.
1. Vertigo. I use that word for lack of a better one. The feeling comes on at any time, regardless of what I'm doing or the position of my head. I don't lose balance or feel nausea, but I experience a kind of other-worldly swimmy feeling in my head. It's similar to the feeling you might get when stepping off a elevator, but only in the head. It's usually accompanied by a feeling of being disconnected. It's scary when I'm driving, because I feel an intense fear that I will lose the ability to connect with my environment. I have never lost consciousness, but the vertigo feeling often leads to a feeling that I WILL. It's a strong fear that I'm entering some kind of altered state, and instead of following the road, I'll fly off into some kind of dream-land. I'm not really doing that (or am I? I'm not sure), but I'm so afraid to drive that I limit myself to a few necessary, minor errands.
I'm afraid that if I write or say that exact paragraph to a neurologist, I'm not being clear. I realize that I am saying that I both experience these feelings and fear that I'm experiencing them, and that might be confusing. I'm not sure sometimes if I am feeling fear because of the strange vertigo sensation, or if the fear is part of the whole episode.
Since reading up on seizures, and thinking that this might be what's going on with me, I realize that some of the things I've experienced my whole life might be seizures.
One is a sudden chill up the spine and a jerking of my neck to the left. I've done that, maybe a few times a week on average, my whole life. It never occurred to me that other people don't, and it's not a problem.
Another is a sudden feeling of intense anxiety. I don't mean thinking about bad things that might go wrong and worrying about them. I mean a wave of physical sensations like butterflies in the stomach. I always just assumed it was because I'm nervous about something (which I tend to be), but often there is no cause that I can think of. It's like, "what the heck am I so nervous about all of a sudden? How weird!"
I also get a feeling of intense heat on a dime-sized area on my left thigh. It lasts for about a minute then goes away.
Those of you who experience seizures, does any of this sound familiar? Have I explained it in a way that is understandable? (Communicating with doctors is hard for me, and when I see one, I want to make myself understood). I have never, to my knowledge, lost consciousness during one of these episodes, which is why the idea of seizures never occurred to me before, because I thought losing consciousness was a requirement for it to be a seizure.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I'm a 41-year-old woman, and I'm wondering if the things I'm experiencing might be simple partial seizures. I have never seen a neurologist or had anything that was obviously a seizure, but autism runs in my family, and there may be a possible connection there. Before I explain the symptoms, I will say that I have seen a doctor about what I was experiencing (a couple of years ago), but it was very difficult for me to explain what I was feeling, so the idea of seizure never came up. I was given some kind of blood test, for diabetes or some kind of thyroid thing, but that came up normal.
Anyway, there are a number of strange things that I experience.
1. Vertigo. I use that word for lack of a better one. The feeling comes on at any time, regardless of what I'm doing or the position of my head. I don't lose balance or feel nausea, but I experience a kind of other-worldly swimmy feeling in my head. It's similar to the feeling you might get when stepping off a elevator, but only in the head. It's usually accompanied by a feeling of being disconnected. It's scary when I'm driving, because I feel an intense fear that I will lose the ability to connect with my environment. I have never lost consciousness, but the vertigo feeling often leads to a feeling that I WILL. It's a strong fear that I'm entering some kind of altered state, and instead of following the road, I'll fly off into some kind of dream-land. I'm not really doing that (or am I? I'm not sure), but I'm so afraid to drive that I limit myself to a few necessary, minor errands.
I'm afraid that if I write or say that exact paragraph to a neurologist, I'm not being clear. I realize that I am saying that I both experience these feelings and fear that I'm experiencing them, and that might be confusing. I'm not sure sometimes if I am feeling fear because of the strange vertigo sensation, or if the fear is part of the whole episode.
Since reading up on seizures, and thinking that this might be what's going on with me, I realize that some of the things I've experienced my whole life might be seizures.
One is a sudden chill up the spine and a jerking of my neck to the left. I've done that, maybe a few times a week on average, my whole life. It never occurred to me that other people don't, and it's not a problem.
Another is a sudden feeling of intense anxiety. I don't mean thinking about bad things that might go wrong and worrying about them. I mean a wave of physical sensations like butterflies in the stomach. I always just assumed it was because I'm nervous about something (which I tend to be), but often there is no cause that I can think of. It's like, "what the heck am I so nervous about all of a sudden? How weird!"
I also get a feeling of intense heat on a dime-sized area on my left thigh. It lasts for about a minute then goes away.
Those of you who experience seizures, does any of this sound familiar? Have I explained it in a way that is understandable? (Communicating with doctors is hard for me, and when I see one, I want to make myself understood). I have never, to my knowledge, lost consciousness during one of these episodes, which is why the idea of seizures never occurred to me before, because I thought losing consciousness was a requirement for it to be a seizure.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
