large crowds and seizures

[thjr59]

Strobe lights dont affect me but it seems that certain store light do.

[TeeTees]

One of my triggers is raking leaves. I dont know if its the different color that my mind is sorting out.

Mine is corn-fields for some strange reason. If we're driving past some I have to ask my mate (who's driving) to tell me when we're past, and I'll then look back up - this usually works for me, as we're then past the problem.

Belinda : yep, I've had the family member problem - usually my Dad. He'll ask me if I've done anything differently to 'upset' the seizure. The reverse psychology part of that sentence is telling me that he's saying it's my fault.....lol I know he's not, but jeez I've had 'em for 39 years...if I knew what caused 'em, I'd sort it and then help all the others on here

[Wally]

One of my triggers is raking leaves. I dont know if its the different color that my mind is sorting out.

Hmmm I think the vacuum cleaner is one of my triggers, I'm pretty sure the dishwasher, washer and dryer are also triggers. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You guys gonna back me up when my wife starts raising hell tonight?

[TeeTees]

Hmmm I think the vacuum cleaner is one of my triggers, I'm pretty sure the dishwasher, washer and dryer are also triggers. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. You guys gonna back me up when my wife starts raising hell tonight?

...ooooh, those horrid 'machiney' type woooing noises, and I think it's the cylindrical slurrring noises they make that just hits me in all the wrong spots.....nah, I can't go near those...'womens things'

[skillefer]

Hi Belinda! I'm wondering if it's not the crowds that are necessarily the trigger, but the lighting used. Just a thought.

[Belinda5000]

Have you ever talked to your neurologist about ranking leaves being one of your triggers?
I'm guessing here ,maybe it's the colora and the motions of the leaves while you rake?

Belinda

[Belinda5000]

Hi Belinda! I'm wondering if it's not the crowds that are necessarily the trigger, but the lighting used. Just a thought.

Skillefer,
flashinglights will send me into a seizure.
Just plain over head lights won't do it ,they don't trigger me.
thxs anyway.

Belinda

[JLynn]

I thought it was just me, but I havent spoken to anyone else with epilespy either, until now. I am not nervous about the people or place, so it doesnt make sense, but I do notice my brain goes into some strange mode when there are many things that effect my senses such as the lighting movement, visual stimuli, etc. That is why I was originaly diagnosed with panic attacks.
I am still confused about this, but my neurologist doesnt bat an eye to anything I tell her, which is nice actually, that she doesnt think Im crazy. My MRI shows that I have Mesial Temporal Sclerosis, and my neurologist says it can cause many different types of seizures, as well as contibute to emotional issues, nervousness, depression, etc. All of which I battle with. Anyway, yes, large crowds with much going on visualy, and noisy cause me to have reactions, which my Doc says are likely seizures. Some of them are "jerks" and others are simple partials. I still tend to see them as panic attacks thou, as that was my original diagnosis some years ago. I have these attacks at home also, although they seem more frequent in public, and much harder to deal with in public. I stay conscious throu my seizures, other than the ones where my whole body jerks, loose vision for about a second while it happens, and feels like I jumped or took a giant step, and sometimes I am not in the exact location that I was when it happened, but nobody says anything most times. People must just think Im a weirdo. My daughter says she see's me jolt sometimes and knows its a seizure. Those kind are easier to explain as a seizure, but the others that involve the nausea, confusion, sensitivity to noise, light, heart racing, lightheaded, etc. are hard for me to tell the difference between it being a seizure of a panic attack, which can co-exist, but are also simular in symptoms.
I am glad you wrote about this, as I have felt so alone and confused about it.
This is my first post here by the way, I am new here today.
JLynn

[haird18]

When I am in the public or large crowds I get stressed! I even start feeling clausterfobic because it is hard on me to keep up with things in the public! Every time I am alone and I go some where by myself I do feel auras and sometimes experience seizures too! So now somebody has to go with me.
David

[jgbmartin]

I get nervous and stressed around more than 2 people...I have not had a seizure in the presence of others, but I get very nervous at the thought of having one in front of people.

[Belinda5000]

If I have a seizure in front of other ppl and they can't handle that's there problem. I learned long ago when I was a teenager not to let it bother me.
It's just life and when I've told others it can happen to anyone they really freak out.

Belinda

[JLynn]

Belinda, my problem is that often I am not sure if I am having a panic attack or a seizure. This is all so confusing to me. A few months ago I wasnt feeling very well to begin with, but decided to go to the store to get a few things. As often happens, I started to feel a bit sicker in the store, a little anxious, dizzy, nausous. Then when I got up to check out and was about ready to pay all at once my heart started racing so... fast, and I felt really hot and weak, and disoriented. The checker left her post and walked me to the bathroom where I stayed for five minutes, then felt better although still shakey and a little dizzy. I think it was a panic attack, but really I am not sure.

[Belinda5000]

Oh Belinda,

I TOTALLY understand! One word: Wal-Mart. Complete sensory chaos! The crowds, the colors, the aisles, the things hanging from the ceilings (including TV's!), all the talking, and walking, banging, people knocking you with their carts, product placement all down the rows, floor to ceiling hair care products, children screaming, the smell of deli food, the sound of the audio section, multiple ceiling fans spinning, the do-it-yourself broken cashregister, or the overworked and underpaid cashier slowly crushing your bread....Wal-Mart is a very complex unpredictable place I try to avoid!

Often in crowds, I'll tell my husband "we have to leave, I'm going to have a seizure." I'm not sure about you, but I have multiple foci (focal points) to my seizures (from different lobes). So often times something as stupid as high ceilings can set off a seizure (in Home Depot for instance), or Crowds (in Wal-Mart).

I think of it like this Belinda, when I am going to have or have had a seizure in a crowd, I need to get to a place where I can have a minute of peace to "reset" my brain and help my brainwaves find their natural rhythm. (think of this as the calm after the storm...we all do it)
Anyway, most often, in a crowd, it is very difficult to quickly find a place to "reboot" our brain in a peaceful state. I, personally, believe this is why those of us with crowds as triggers have a difficult time figuring out how to stop seizures from reoccuring. But do the best you can and look to us for support and know that you are not alone! (And for heaven's sake, PM me if you want to laugh: I'll tell you how I stopped a seizure in Wal-Mart one day).

Take care my dear. -Julie

seizures 4 ever,
I need to be in the front of the room if there is a large crowd and I usually don't seize if it's less 150 ppl.
If I'm in the very back or towards the backI'll certainly seize.
I've started to have auras more often and this is a real relief for me.

Belinda