Seconds before the TC..."Jamais vu" (it has a name!)

[Birdbomb]

I am curious as to what other people experience right before their Tonic-Clonic hits.

The one I had last month was nothing like my first one 9 years ago. The one I had in 2001 was a premonition that I was going to faint. I had never fainted before but knew I was going bye-bye and was able to warn someone right before it hit.

The one I had last month was odd. I became acutely aware I had lost recognition of the things I was looking at (little girl dress-up clothes in Wal-Mart) Nothing, not the clothes, or shelves or lights. I was thinking to myself, what the hell am I looking at, and was going to say something to my daughter, then the great nothing hit.

Does anyone else lose recognition?

 

[Endless]

Hi, Birdbomb,

I'm so sorry about your t/c. And equally sorry it had to happen at Walmart.

I don't have tc's, and can't say what others experience before them. But you asked about not recognizing things. I sure do recognize Jamais Vu (no pun intended), the fancy french name for not recognizing something you darn well should. Jamais vu is a type of simple partial seizure, and a very unsettling one at that.

Last week I was walking out to my mailbox and suddenly didn't recognize where I was. In my own yard. The seizure itself only lasted a couple of minutes, but that's enough. I've had this happen with recognition of faces/people, places, objects, situations, etc. My doctor told me that this kind of seizure is unusual. But from my observation, it isn't unusual in here. Golly it's nice to have company.

 

[Birdbomb]

There's a name for it OMG YEAH! Thank you so much for your answer!
I wasn't scared by it but then it didn't last long enough for my emotions to kick in, I just thought it was damn strange not to be able to recognize fricking toys!
I can't imagine it lasting for several minutes, then I know it would be frightening. Now I will change the title of this thread!.



http://www.answers.com/topic/jamais-vu

Often described as the opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before.
Jamais vu is more commonly explained as when a person momentarily doesn't recognize a word, person, or place that he/she already knows.[1]
The phenomenon is often grouped with déjà vu and presque vu (together, the three are frequently referred to as "The Vus").
Jamais vu is sometimes associated with certain types of amnesia and epilepsy. With seizures, jamais vu can surface as an aura due to a partial seizure disorder that originates from the temporal lobe of the brain. It also can occur as a migraine aura.

 

[Endless]

I'm not sure about how long it lasted. Hard to tell. My sense of time goes haywire when I have simple partials, don't know why.

I find Jamais Vu puzzling, too. Afterwards I'm usually a little rattled.

I really hate it when I don't recognize someone I know well, and they don't know I have epilepsy. In that moment I can't think straight to cover for myself. It's like, "who are you??????"

 

[Zoofemme]

I don't get a warning befor my T/ C hits...or if I do it is so quick between it and the siezure that I don't remember it

 

[Chris515]

My TC's tend to be nocturnal so I often don't realize what happened until I come around. But sometimes I'll wake up just before it starts. It feels like - .. like my head is full of cotton. And it tingles. So hard to describe.

I can feel it coming on and my only instinct is - I can stop this if I try hard enough. Then I feel my neck tensing up and my head moving to the right, and that's it...

One time I did fight it off (or so I think - maybe it was just random). I was at my friends apartment feeding his cat, and the last normal thing I remember was some 80's rock on the radio. Then the feeling started.. and I started thinking that the cat won't be able to help me or call my wife. and then the music faded. My neck started tensing and my head moving to the right.. and all I can hear is a high pitched squeal. Then boom - it suddenly stops and I'm back to reality. The final countdown slowly fades back into volume. But I can't talk.

I went home and subsequently had a TC later in the evening.

Sometimes I'll get deja vu in a SP before it generalizes into a TC.

 

[occb]

My partner had an episode of jamais vu about a week ago, but didn't want to tell me about it. He woke up after I had gone to work and didn't know where he was, didn't know if he belonged there, and actually got up to see who was in the bathroom, because he was sure somone was in there. It took a few minutes for him to finally realize he was in his home.

The reason he didn't tell me about it was because the first person he remembered and called out for was his ex -- he thought I'd behurt that I wasn't first in his mind :lol: Poor guy. I told him I understood he had no control over how his memory comes flooding back, and I wasn't angry or hurt, and that he needed to tell me these things so we could keep an accurate diary.

 

[Rae1889]

I feel bad when I call Chad my ex's name *Rob* and when I call him dad
or worse. not remember who he is. I look at him sometimes in the middle of talking and I remember a few times actually having to ask his name. or where we were. or if he knew where so and so went.

Then it becomes seizure-town.

 

[Chris515]

I've called out for my 'mommy' before.. I'm not sure what my wife thought of that...

 

[occb]

I'm sure your wife and Chad both understand. I found it completely logical that his mind would go there first. Heck, even the illogical things he does make sense in an odd sort of way.

 

[seizingbeauty]

I'm lucky in the department of calling out names, my ex-hubby and the wonderful man who now shares my life have the same name (insert joke here:roflmao
As to your question Birdy, I really couldn't tell you. I lose most of if not the entire day when I have a full T/C. Recently I've been having what I refer to as awake T/C's, body goes but the mind stays (they really suck!) With these ones I don't lose any time, just get really 4 yr old scared like.

 

[Birdbomb]

When I had my first TC, I came to during it several times during the seizure. At one point my husband was standing over me and when I saw him, I started screaming because I did not know who he was. This must be part of jamais vu too.

 

[matchu]

this happens so often while driving, and when I get up at work to get something, I forget why I am out of my chair.

 

[ebeth316]

I have just began looking up Jamais Vu. A neurologist was finally able to tell me the clinical name of my episodes. I still prefer to call them "reboots". I call them this because that is what it feels like. It is like my brain goes offline for a few seconds. During this, I am able to still function and carry on a conversation. I think I go into an automatic pilot mode. I feel like I have just stepped into a play and I do not know how or why I am here. I can then feel my memories come back. I have full and partial reboots. They all happen for only seconds. I have always thought this is how my mind copes when my stress level gets to high. I do not have any other sensations during, before, or afterwards. Is this familiar to anyone?

 

[Mark77]

jamais vu

Hi Ebeth - I have recently started having simple partial seizures again after 12 years of nothing. Mine are usually episodes of jamais vu where i know where i am, can continue talking or doing what i'm doing but my surroundings seem unfamiliar but at the same time i know they are familiar. I remember everthing after the episode. They usally occur when i'm at rest and my mind is wandering - if i'm concentrating on something i'm generally fine. I also have them sometimes when i am trying to sleep and every time i almost get to sleep it wakes me up - i know where i am but have an eerie feeling of light headedness. It can be very unsettling - does this sound familiar to anyone?

 

[forward2007]

I don't know how to describe it. I get a feeling that might last a second if that but I know once it happens it can only mean a Tonic Clonic is about to hit. I never get that "feeling" at any other tme.

 

[funnybunny]

ebeth - What you said about your mind needing a reboot when your stress level gets too high is exactly how I feel too! I get these episodes a lot when I am under a lot of stress, or (overshare) around that time of the month.

forward2007- I used to get these coming out of tonic clonics, when I had them (when I was a kid), but I do not remember if I had them going into a t/c, since I usually had amnesia after a t/c, and couldn't remember the couple of days/weeks preceding it.