:) Question about Jamais Vu?

[daisy.girl]

I had this experience today....and have had it happen a few times in the recent past also.

I have lived in the same town now for about 25 years, but while out this morning....we came up to an intersection and for a few seconds; I had absolutely no idea where I was, or which way we should turn. This literally was only about 5-10 seconds.....then I regained by bearings.

Does this sound like Jamais Vu? or just a normal bleep in time?

[epileric]

If you feel as though you've never been there before then it's a jamais vu. I don't think it has to be related to epilepsy to be one.

jamais vu
[zhämāvY′, -vē′, -vo̅o̅′]
Etymology: Fr, never seen
the sensation of being a stranger when with a person one knows or when in a familiar place. The phenomenon occurs occasionally in healthy people but more frequently in those who have temporal lobe epilepsy.

http://medical-dictionary.tfd.com/jamais+vu

[Endless]

Hi, Daisygirl,

Did you recognize the intersection but not know where you were or which way to go? Or not recognize the intersection and the surroundings at all (and didn't know where to go)? There's a big difference.

Jaimas Vu is one of my more frequent seizure types. It can be non-recognition of surroundings (place), people, situations, etc. That's very different from recognizing it but not knowing where you are.

When it happens to me I'm just so puzzled. Every time, no matter how many times it happens, I just sit there and try to figure it out. But of course I can't. It never occurs to me in the moment that I'm having a seizure - I'm too engrossed in the middle of it to think of anything else.

It usually lasts under 30 seconds for me. Then it goes snap! Off like a light switch.

[daisy.girl]

I did not recognize the intersection or surroundings at all, and I did not know which way to go.

how is that much different than recognizing the intersection, and not knowing where to go?

It was truly over quick.....and I said to myself....stupid you......of course this is where I am at, and we will turn that way.

[matchu]

absolutely had this happen and my stomach drops because literally you don't know where you are or where your going.

[Endless]

how is that much different than recognizing the intersection, and not knowing where to go?

Recognizing the intersection but not knowing where to go is a little forgetfulness around driving directions. My mom gets that all the time.

Not recognizing a familiar place at all that you should recognize is jaimas vu.

[epileric]

how is that much different than recognizing the intersection, and not knowing where to go?

Think of what it means when translated from French:

Jamais-never
Vu-see

[Birdbomb]

The beginning of my last seizure was like this. We were in the toy aisle and looking at dress-up clothes, when all understanding and recognition of what I was seeing vanished. I was thinking in my head, "What in the hell am I looking at?" and was just opening my mouth to say it and the next thing I knew I was on a gurney being loaded into an ambulance. That moment only lasted a very short time.

[occb]

Since there's a thread on deja vu, I thought I'd revive this jamais vu thread for fun.

Nightfighter gets jamais vu a fair amount, often when he's on his way to the doctor (I've wondered about this -- the doc is downtown, so maybe the sunlight flickering off glass, or the stress of seeing the doc that sets him off?). He says he'll be walking then all of a sudden he doesn't know where he is or where he's going, and he gets really engrossed in the mystery of it all, and then *boom* it's all over and he's okay again.

This is very different from the times where he just wanders off without being aware and "comes to" in a completely wrong part of town. The last time that happened, he had to call me for directions. He was 10 blocks west of the doctor's office, even though he got off the bus at the correct stop which is one block north of the office.

[Endless]

I'm just puzzled when it happens. And I just stand there and stare until I figure it out. Of course I can't figure it out. It just ends in a few seconds or minutes.

"Who is this dog? This isn't MY dog...."

"I'm at a gas station, but where the heck am I?!"

"I'm at Starbucks, but I don't recognize this lady next to me that keeps saying my name over and over."

It never occurs to me in the moment that it's a seizure.

[BuckeyeFan]

I get this once in awhile and find it rather disturbing. I can even be sitting at my desk and not know which way to turn to find a drawer, unable to find basic things around my desk.

Yes, quite frustrating - though has never led to a tonic-clonic or my typical type of aura.

[Rae1889]

I hate Jamais Vu!

I frequently look at my pen and wonder how to write with it.

[occb]

I'm just puzzled when it happens. And I just stand there and stare until I figure it out. Of course I can't figure it out. It just ends in a few seconds or minutes.

"Who is this dog? This isn't MY dog...."

"I'm at a gas station, but where the heck am I?!"

"I'm at Starbucks, but I don't recognize this lady next to me that keeps saying my name over and over."

It never occurs to me in the moment that it's a seizure.

It never occurs to nightfighter either that this is a seizure. Once he woke up and didn't recognize the apartment, and couldn't remember who he lived with, and called out his ex's name He was relieved that I thought it was perfectly natural for him to do so (She was a big part of his life, they'd been together 17 years).

[Rae1889]

I used to call out Rob's name for a while during seizures or after. Now its usually just my mum I ask for or chad. (sometimes I call him brad...)

I know that people in here have told me to try to press the spot under my nose when Im having a seizure, but the thing is (as endless and nightfighter know) is that it doesnt click that Im having a seizure. I dont just stop and go "omg I'm having a seizure" and press the spot. I know that if I am able to think "Hey, this is strange, I might be having a seizure" That it probably isnt one, or that by the time I think that it is, its already over.

So its useless to me to even try to stop them.

[occb]

Scott is usually in the situation/seizure/episode/whatever without warning, and can't stop them either, and can't realize what's going on either. The only time he gets warning is when he gets clusters of bad smells.

When they happen he knows more clusters of episodes will come, but by then he may not have the presence of mind to press the pressure point (the smells usually precede anger/depression and obsessively thinking about one thing).

I'm endlessly fascinated and annoyed that these episode affect his ability to reason and react so dramatically. For all intents and purposes he looks normal, but his brain is functioning almost at half speed or on a limited pathway.

Hey -- whatever happened to the test which showed your brain was half asleep?

[Rae1889]

They told me that it was probably due to the amount of anti-epileptic drugs and medication in my system numbing my brain and probably remnants of the coma as it wasnt there during my Video EEG. Bunch of BS in my opinion.

The other thing that sucks is that I know I have Auras, but I cant do anything about them when they start. I can only recognize that soemthing else is going to follow

[occb]

So they never considered it might be an inter-ictal event?

[Rae1889]

Not according to them. I have some real issues with my neurologist at the moment and its ticking me off.

[occb]

Is this the new neurologist, or the same douchenozzle as before?

[sandi]

So I've had this and intersections are bad as well, lots of turns ,choices and every stress to get through I've panicked and pulled off and been shaken enough that I needed a few minutes to get myself together. (This was when I was driving)
When I ask my doctor at the time , He said that it was my Stop- Go mechanism as it should be automatic I've been driving over 35 years.
Any thoughts as to what part of the brain that may involve?
But as I read the this thread , I get pannicked whenever I get the feeling I can't recognize my suroundings and yes their is an entire Internal dialog going on the whole time.While I try to talk myself through it of curse it doesn't make sense, till it's over.