Any MD's out there? need your Pro. knowledge

[Jfpinell]

Something just hit me and I wonder if this holds any water.....can complex partials be compared to a state of sleepwalking? In another recent post of mine, I think I may have finally solved part of an issue that's been bugging the heck out of me for 10 years. Without having to retype my whole story, I'm wondering if you can do things (like drive around or between objects) while having a complex partial seizure and then not recall any part of it. I was conscious and not having any aura (like I always have for 39 years) before and after said situation above. There have been reports of people taking mile long walks in their sleep and not recalling a thing the next morning. Anyone know if you can see things sleepwalking but are in a different state and don't recall seeing them? That's the only reason I could see for people not crashing into things or tripping over stuff while sleepwalking. I wonder if this isn't what happened to me while driving that day and that's why there's that 10 or 15 second period of time I can't recall, but apparently must've been able to see what I was doing but don't recall seeing it.
....Am I making ANY sense here?

[Rae1889]

I have heard of reports of this happening with people with narcolepsy.

[epileric]

I can't imagine any connection b/w the two. An epileptic seizure is when neurons misfire & rebound hence controlling & limiting movement whereas sleepwalking occurs in the slow wave state of consciousness.

[Endless]

I have no idea about connections between the two, but what eric said makes sense.

I do know you can do some pretty detailed and seemingly sane things during a complex partial. Only someone who knows my seizures would know I'm having one. I've said perfectly understandable sentances (although they either weren't applicable to the topic and/or were off the wall or offensive), I've driven a few blocks (thank god nowhere near a stoplight), I've pressed all the buttons in an elevator (in a 30+ story building), I've set off the security alarm in an elevator in an old folks home, I've opened up and left open all the cupboard doors in the kitchen... the list goes on.

Some people say "the lights are on, but nobody is home." I just think of complex partials as an airplane flight. But the pilot isn't doing the flying, the autopilot is, and it has some serious software bugs.

[Jfpinell]

I can't imagine any connection b/w the two. An epileptic seizure is when neurons misfire & rebound hence controlling & limiting movement whereas sleepwalking occurs in the slow wave state of consciousness.

I was just trying to come up with the best analogy/comparison I could think of. Sometimes I get stuck trying to clearly explain what I'm trying to say due to processing issues from the meningitis. But now that you put it that way, it actually does have me wondering if those misfiring neurons may have something to do with that kind of state I was mentioning. I wonder if any M.D.'s DO monitor this. (It would be neat if they did!)

[DayDreamer]

http epilepsyfoundation.org/about/types/types/complex

The efa above describes states we have been in at times. Recently I lost about twenty minutes during some seizure and was told of the fight I had with a few people and the walk I took while being removed from the trigger of my seizure. All I remember was the start of a movie then being at a bookstore. There's been lots of lost time/seizurewalking/altered states of consciousness in my past. I'm often not aware of it unless someone informs me afterwards.

[Chel]

I've had two major complex partials that I'm aware of (in fact the first was a series of short ones), and in both I undertook numerous tasks which required me to be aware of my surroundings. I had no accidents on either day, even though I have no recollection of that bank of time when I "wasn't there".

I would definitely liken it to sleepwalking. Both of my brothers sleepwalked as children, and like me now, were performing tasks, not aware of their surroundings or other people, and not aware afterwards of what they had done.

I'm about to start another thread about narcolepsy...

[mel239]

I had my son drive me to our bank where I closed all my accounts and reopened new ones and then came home.There was a lot of forms involved and it took over an hour plus the drive and I had no knowledge until 2 wks later when I used my password to get on my website to paybills and different acct numbers popped up.When i tried to type in old acct number it came up as closed .I freaked and went to bank where the lady said I acted perfectly normal and responsive.Since this obviously took longer than a seizure I was curious and under wikipedia I found something called transient epileptic amnesia which are true underdiagnosed seizures

[Chel]

under wikipedia I found something called transient epileptic amnesia which are true underdiagnosed seizures

My friend's mother had that. She phone one morning and asked what day it was. My friend is one of my confidantes, but hadn't told her mum about me; she thought her mum was playing a joke, so tested her out. The amnesia lasted well over a day, and the mother had all sorts of tests. I don't remember a cause, other than it was called transient epileptic amnesia.

My own E is accompanied by memory loss, and suddenly she was faced with placing her mother in a nursing home (no way they could live under the same roof and both survive!) My poor friend - she's surrounded by us LOL

[Jfpinell]

The odd thing is, if this is indeed what happened to me, it only happened once in my life -never again afterwards. And I don't ever recall anyone telling me any such stories about ones I had as a kid.

[Chel]

I closed all my accounts and reopened new ones....There was a lot of forms involved and it took over an hour plus the drive and I had no knowledge until 2 wks later

mel239, this raises an interesting question about mental competency and legal (can't think of the word - responsibility? Liability? Sorry, have had 7 days with extra E activity).

When do we sign legal documents and when do we not??? A question for the more experienced members here?

[Jfpinell]

A lot of it depends on State law, not Federal. So much of it is going to be different. In general, unless you have a court appointed guardian or are under 18 or 21, depending on the State, anything you sign like that is considered a legal document and legally enforceable. -Unless of course you walk in drunk or whatever As far as medical treatment, it's a judgement vs. liabilty call. If there's any doubt in the officer's or medic's mind that you're not into it 100% they HAVE TO take you, or risk being charged with patient abandonment and/or refusing to provide aid and losing their license. That's why in many situations when medics are called out, there is an officer responding as well, in case the person would get out of control, or refuse to go when they're not 100%. The officer is the only one who can legally hold the person and have them put under 72 hour watch, if need be. Usually if you can answer your name, date, and other "standard" questions they'll let you go, unless you're so injured that doing so would cause further harm to you. (If you require multiple stiches because of a huge gash, and refuse to go, the officer COULD look at that like you're a danger to yourself and do a 72 hour hold.) It's all a judgement call.

[mel239]

I guess it would just be my word against the bank employees word-but really-if my own son who drove me did not even know this whole event to be a problem i could not start a fuss-but I personally have placed my son on all pertinent accts to protect myself because you could not imagine the crazy things I have done the past 3 yrs on my own with paying bills out of 3 bank accts--Im lucky Im not on the street or in jail

[Jfpinell]

I was just thinking....it would be a good idea to get joint accounts. If I recall right (and this may be State law again, but if it deals with banks it could be Federal) in a joint account you need BOTH parties to sign to close an account or to withdraw more than a certain amount. I'd check that out if it'id make you feel better. Or is that what you were saying you already did?

[mel239]

I have him on their now-I have no clue WHAT I was trying to do when I changed them before,but now I have the word AND instead of OR that means it requires both parties-then we each have our own debit since he is away at college and believe me,my new past time has been cruising my bank acct statement online at least five times a day--at least one of those times I will be coherent--nothing gets past me now even when he debits a dollar!!(since he has no job)lol

[elizzza811]

I know I was able to take a long shower during a series of complex partials. I got out of the shower, never dried off, and put my vomited-on clothes back on though (instead of fresh ones). So apparently I was 'conscious' enough to realize I needed to be wearing clothes, yet not 'conscious' enough to realize that the clothes laying on the floor were terribly soiled. I really did feel as if I was almost sleep-walking though...going through the motions, but messing up here and there in my endeavors.

During another series of seizures I went outside and tried to do yardwork. I messed up there, too, though. I had gotten (white) egg stones and (grey) river stones at the nursery. One of my flower beds was done entirely in the grey river stones. During my seizure, however, I began placing the few white egg stones I had left in the bag on top of the river stone flower bed. Keep in mind that I also have severe OCD, so this was a big no-no for me for that reason, too. But I was able to go through the motions of placing stones, but not aware enough to realize that the stones I was placing did not match.