Stress problems..

[Starr]

My name is Starr Garcia .. I was diagnost with epilepsy from the age of 4 and took depicolt (Not sure how to spell it) . At 8 years old my epilepsy vanished , but left me with something else. A little later I had weird accidents, like blacking out for a couple of hours , not remembering why or how I fell, but nobody saw me siez so I just would black out .. About 2 years ago in September , My father , grandmother and aunt witnessed my first episode I had since I was 8 .. They thought for sure it had came back , but all the tests should that they werent seizures .. and it wasnt epilepsy.. But we now know its caused by stress and I only get them when Im overly stressed .. It used to only happen when i was asleep, now its when I over stress.. Fiirst what happens is i start to have head pains , they feel like Im getting shot in the head then it stings , my chest starts to hurt .. and thats when I start to try to control it by either listening to soft music or think of something nice but then I collapse. When I wake from the episode i scream from the extreme pain I have in my head and chest .. It feels like my whole body is worn out , like i just got beat up . . . I dont know enymore , I lost faith in the doctors ... they have no idea , and ive missed too much school from going to the hospital and staying there , feeling like a lab rat ... I ended up lying myself outta there .. I couldnt take it enymore , thought I was going crazy ... So now Idk what to do Im only 16

[Sheri]

Hello and welcome. You will find lots of support here.

[Nakamova]

Hi Starr, welcome!

The stress sucks doesn't it? You stress about having a blackout, or the stress causes the blackout, or you stress about the doctors or missing school.

Some of the stuff you describe sounds like it could still be epilepsy, what are called partial or complex seizures (which involve loss of consciousness, but not convulsions). Even though the tests have come up negative, that doesn't necessarily rule out epilepsy -- plenty of people ere have epilepsy without it showing up on an EEG.

Whether or not it's epilepsy, it would be great to find a way to stop the blackouts and pain. Are you on any medication right now? Are you getting any sort of treatment, or counseling on ways to help you get rid of stress? Other than stress, do you know if there's any other factor that seems to bring on the head pains? Sometimes a trigger can be something like certain foods (especially things with nutrasweet or MSG), or low blood sugar if you haven't eaten for awhile, or hormones (if the headaches seem to happen at the same time of the month that's a clue), or lack of sleep. If you can keep track of when the headaches/blackouts happen, that might point to something to avoid in addition to stress.

There's a forum here called the "padded room" especially for venting, so if you want to offload some of that stress it's a great place to post!

Best,
Nakamova

[valeriedl]

I know that I am more prone to have a sez when I am stressed. I'll have more around the holidays than I have on average. Other than that I may only have one a month that I know of.

I have partial sezs. Usually I don't know that I've had one unless there is someone there to tell me that I did. I will black out, or start talking wierd or doing wierd things that I don't realize that I am doing.

Have you tried to see a different dr to get a second oppionion on things that are going on with you?

This site is great, I've gotten alot of help on here I hope you will too!

[RobinN]

What I believe is that stress can be the tipping point.
Getting there is like a block tower, that at any point it can fall over (black out)

Sometimes it really isn't necessary to focus the what, but to keep asking why.
My number one question to many here is what does your diet look like? How much of your days food intake is processed foods? This can actually effect your neurological health.

My suggestion would be to learn stress reduction techniques, but also find other triggers as well.

[Starr]

I barely eat anymore.. I feel sick most of the time.. If I eat alot I vomit .. Ive gotten second third and fourth different opinions from many doctors..and they still have no clue.. I barely sleep anymore, its always either because I cant fall asleep no matter how hard I try or the pain I have in my chest and in head ,, I have alot of stress put on me and on top of that I over stress myself but I dont mean to .. I over think.. My mom says I I have a overworking brain like it doesnt stop .. Maybe I tend to use my head too much .. Im behind my school work, failing and thats the one thing stressing me out the most .. I used to be so good at school . but this pulls me back and I dont want to fail, my family has pressured me my whole life about my future , and now it seems like its fading away ... I have been to the point where I have begged my parents /brother to kill me , that I couldnt take the pain .. Its SO BAD NOBODY UNDERSTANDS THE PAIN!!! ITS SOOOO HORRIBLE!! Theres nothing more in this world I would want but to take it away ... ........ .... ... as for the food I eat , Iusualy Ill have a sandwich of ham and cheese,, or a burger .. I walk daily but Im warned not to because if I fall into one I can really hurt myself but thats why I take my older brother with me ... I wish there was something!!!