Dizziness as an aura of sorts

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

M

masterjen

New
Messages
2,080
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I know we all have different warnings of impending seizure(s), but I have developed a new one: dizziness. Not vertigo, not lightheadedness; more of a feeling that my head is sinking into itself (lol) along with pressure in my head. And if I am standing when it happens, I have to hang on because of a sense of severe imbalance. But it is very quick - the worst of the sensation is over in 5-10 seconds. When it is really strong I can feel my eyes jumping up and down for a few seconds. I'll get these episodes up to 5 times a day for a couple of days, have a strong seizure or a few less strong ones, then that's it (no more dizziness) until the next cycle.
Curious to know if anyone else has dizziness (or another symptom) like this before a seizure that recurs a few times in the few days before a seizure, then disappears until the next seizure.
 
Some of the things that you said about can be side effects of medicines.

I have my eyes jump up and down, as you described it, for a few seconds. This can happen every day several times a day so I don't think it's has anything to do with having an actual seizure.

I will get dizzy and double vision at times but for me this lasts for a few minutes or longer. When I have this happen I can't walk strait and do have to hold onto something so I can. At times I have had a seizure while or after this has happened and sometimes I won't.

Sometimes I'll have seizures when I first get out of bed and I feel like I just can't wake up. My head won't start to act normal, if that makes sense, I still stay half asleep until I have the seizure.
 
I get weird fluttering left and right of my eyes now and then, slight diziness but it's usually more vertigo-like- as a med side effect- but nothing that seems related to seizures.

Are you taking particularly high levels of dilantin or carbemazepine especially combined with lamotrigine? And do your eyes kind of drift upward, then 'jump' down?
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your replies, valeriedl and slimblue. It doesn't seem to be medication related since the pattern is the dizziness I described for a couple days followed by a seizure (or a few minor partials), then no dizziness for 5-10 days until this dizziness/seizure cycle starts again. If it was medication-related I would have expected more or less daily dizziness, or at the very least less of a consistent pattern, but maybe I'm wrong about this. My medications (relatively low dose valproic acid) have not changed for close to 6 months.
I have had seizures without this dizziness having occurred, but not the other way around.
As for what my eyes do: at first they feel like they are sinking into my head for 1-3 seconds, then I feel them rapidly jump up and down for a couple of more seconds.
 
I thought it might be similar to the nystagmus side effects reported with lamotrigine and others, but from what you've described it really doesn't sound like it now tbh.

As for daily patterns or being related to your seizures- I get that side effect every now and then, and not with seizures- so that kinda pushes it further away from the med side effect theory as well..

There is a form of nystagmus that is up and down, but I can't find anything relating to the 'sinking into your head' feeling first, and it's not usually reported with dizziness either..

Sorry! Guess you're just weird :)
 
Last edited:
SlimBlue said:
Sorry! Guess you're just weird :)
Click to expand...

Lol! Even my docs (somewhat jokingly) accuse me of not fitting into a nice, neat pattern for them.

Question for you: when you get your dizziness as a side effect, is it precipitated by anything, such as a movement of some kind, or is it out the blue?
 
Out of the blue, and it's usually very short. It's rare as well, even more so than the bit of vertigo I get now and then getting up from chair etc

Tbh, it may well just be the times when I've had a few too many lol

It happens so rarely that I haven't even tried working out it's pattern, and can't really remember when it's happened. So it could just be the normal response to a bottle of wine and a smoke on the weekend..
 
Thanks for the link, Nakamova. Nice to know I'm not the only one! Sounds like it is still a bit of a mystery even for those folks.
 
Next time it happens, check your pulse.

Ask your neuro about Asystole, which is abnormal cardiac rhythms. This can be part of an aura.

I know about this one as my seizures are full blown Asystole where my heart beat stops altogether.

Good luck.
 
Dizziness & nystagmus are symptoms I experience with Meniere's disease.
 
Meniere's has fortunately been ruled out in my case. I know how rough Meniere's can be for people, though, because of my line of work - I hope your symptoms are not too severe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom