Hi there,
I'm new here and found this site while doing some research on absence seizures and temporal lobe epilepsy.
I won't make this long, but I am curious if being diagnosed later in adulthood is something that is common.
I've had things happen throughout my life that indicate that I may have been having absence seizures and over the past year I have not really been able to work much (thankfully blessed with jobs working at home part time). I've always been an over acheiver, but have had substantial stress over the past 6 years.
Honestly, I don't know, but I do know when I was a child my school called my parents and told them I 'spaced out'; they took me to counselors and had me tested for drugs, but ultimately sent me away when I was 14. I just know that I was frequently 'spaced out' and 'confused', sometimes did not know where I was (meaning I got very confused and detached while trying to drive somewhere then not remembering parts of it).
Going into being an adult - when I was around 19/20, I started having these 'episodes' where I felt like the front of my brain was clenching (like a fist) and burning. I would have floaters, etc, and be 'out of it' after these episodes.
Shortly after this I started having extreme floaters, heat wave visual things and what I would call my 'fuzzy head' - which was like static on a TV, visually. I had a lot of anxiety as well and was most always in a fog - it wasn't like lethargy or fatigue, it was more like not engaged.
This subsided after I started taking xanax. But I would frequently have experiences when my arm or leg would jerk - pretty often, migraines, extensive floaters and that 'disengaged' feeling.
This all continued over the years and sometimes worse. I never had any mood swings or anything like that. Just always when I had energy it would be zapped with these floaters and the dis-engaged feeling...in extreme cases the 'heat wave' visuals would come in addition to the 'tv static'. And of course the jerking and twitching and sometimes that clenching/burning feeling in my brain. I would also suddenly start shaking...almost feeling like my blood sugar had just dramatically dropped. I would think to myself I was almost on the verge of a full blown seizure (at that time never even considering I was having neuroligical problems).
My ears ring alot and I hear a sound like what you would hear with a test to check on a baby..not sure what that is called.
I had a 'ocular migrain'; I was on the computer at work and the center of the page had a circle and the circle continued to get larger until I could not see anything on the page. Never any headache pain, but I was knocked out for a day after that.
In stress situations I go have a moment of 'spacing out' then the floaters, etc..and go into the, what I call, 'almost coma' phase.
About 2 years ago I started getting extremely iritable - very little patience, which is not like me at all. My energy dimished into the floaters, heat wave visual sensations and sometimes the static tv visuals.
I'm 39 now.
There was a period over the past year that I felt I completely lost my long and short term memory. It was embarrassing because I would be with a CEO and I couldn't remember things in our discussion I should know. It wasn't that I could not find the words - It was more like I had that deep spacing out moment and could not remember things. Hard to explain. Just not really able to carry on a conversation, but not unable to find words..Just more like I could not remember things to reference and could not connect in my brain to speak intelligently like I would normally do. Ack.
So, not that long ago I went through the Micky D's drive through to get a drink and I was talking to the guy and I don't remember the end of it before he gave me my drink and then he looked at me really funny. I remember thinking that was weird and what happened...
I know that sometimes we drive our cars and go into an alpha state (and I know that by searching because that happens to me frequently). And I thought I was in an alpha state.
I wake up in the night an my hand is completely asleep - or rather there is no circulation and I need to revive my hand.
Often I wake up in the morning with that 'spaced out' feeling and I know that is normal sometimes, but this is different.
I recently had an episide where I had the worst pain on top of my skin on my right side (my right side is where I have everything wrong). It felt like I had a sewing maching needle go into my skin..It started out with having some sensory issues in my leg - it started out one morning on my thigh on the right side then over the next week moved into my whole leg in the front and my foot. This has lasted 6 months until I could feel the top of my skin normally and I'm still looking forward to my foot being totally recovered.
During the, what I call the 'epicenter' of this episode, I could not feel my insides. I went to go to the bathroom and I had to force myself to urinate (sorry). My bowels stopped all together; I took an entire bottle of Miralax over a 2 week period and psyllium husk, amonst other things and nothing happend. Sexually, I could not feel ANYTHING.
I was being treated for depression and my doctor gave me Lamital. This has changed everything for me (but hasn't fixed everything). During the episode I described above, my hip got bursitis when I lost feeling in my stomach on the right side and it was very painful. But the Lamictal has made that go away mostly. I still get it.
Not sure what is/has been going on with me, but I know it is neurological. My vitamin D levels are extremely low and I've been put on a prescription for that; 50,000 iu x2 per week and am being tested for a parathyroid tumor. But that does not explain the other symptoms I have had since I was a kid.
Seriously, I'm not a person who goes to the doctor. But I need to get back to work so I'm trying to figure out what is causing this situation where I'm feeling good then having all of the floaters, 'heat waves', static, visually and the dis-engaged feeling I have after I get these symptoms.
Thanks for reading this long post. I know that sharing this information can help.
Anissa
I'm new here and found this site while doing some research on absence seizures and temporal lobe epilepsy.
I won't make this long, but I am curious if being diagnosed later in adulthood is something that is common.
I've had things happen throughout my life that indicate that I may have been having absence seizures and over the past year I have not really been able to work much (thankfully blessed with jobs working at home part time). I've always been an over acheiver, but have had substantial stress over the past 6 years.
Honestly, I don't know, but I do know when I was a child my school called my parents and told them I 'spaced out'; they took me to counselors and had me tested for drugs, but ultimately sent me away when I was 14. I just know that I was frequently 'spaced out' and 'confused', sometimes did not know where I was (meaning I got very confused and detached while trying to drive somewhere then not remembering parts of it).
Going into being an adult - when I was around 19/20, I started having these 'episodes' where I felt like the front of my brain was clenching (like a fist) and burning. I would have floaters, etc, and be 'out of it' after these episodes.
Shortly after this I started having extreme floaters, heat wave visual things and what I would call my 'fuzzy head' - which was like static on a TV, visually. I had a lot of anxiety as well and was most always in a fog - it wasn't like lethargy or fatigue, it was more like not engaged.
This subsided after I started taking xanax. But I would frequently have experiences when my arm or leg would jerk - pretty often, migraines, extensive floaters and that 'disengaged' feeling.
This all continued over the years and sometimes worse. I never had any mood swings or anything like that. Just always when I had energy it would be zapped with these floaters and the dis-engaged feeling...in extreme cases the 'heat wave' visuals would come in addition to the 'tv static'. And of course the jerking and twitching and sometimes that clenching/burning feeling in my brain. I would also suddenly start shaking...almost feeling like my blood sugar had just dramatically dropped. I would think to myself I was almost on the verge of a full blown seizure (at that time never even considering I was having neuroligical problems).
My ears ring alot and I hear a sound like what you would hear with a test to check on a baby..not sure what that is called.
I had a 'ocular migrain'; I was on the computer at work and the center of the page had a circle and the circle continued to get larger until I could not see anything on the page. Never any headache pain, but I was knocked out for a day after that.
In stress situations I go have a moment of 'spacing out' then the floaters, etc..and go into the, what I call, 'almost coma' phase.
About 2 years ago I started getting extremely iritable - very little patience, which is not like me at all. My energy dimished into the floaters, heat wave visual sensations and sometimes the static tv visuals.
I'm 39 now.
There was a period over the past year that I felt I completely lost my long and short term memory. It was embarrassing because I would be with a CEO and I couldn't remember things in our discussion I should know. It wasn't that I could not find the words - It was more like I had that deep spacing out moment and could not remember things. Hard to explain. Just not really able to carry on a conversation, but not unable to find words..Just more like I could not remember things to reference and could not connect in my brain to speak intelligently like I would normally do. Ack.
So, not that long ago I went through the Micky D's drive through to get a drink and I was talking to the guy and I don't remember the end of it before he gave me my drink and then he looked at me really funny. I remember thinking that was weird and what happened...
I know that sometimes we drive our cars and go into an alpha state (and I know that by searching because that happens to me frequently). And I thought I was in an alpha state.
I wake up in the night an my hand is completely asleep - or rather there is no circulation and I need to revive my hand.
Often I wake up in the morning with that 'spaced out' feeling and I know that is normal sometimes, but this is different.
I recently had an episide where I had the worst pain on top of my skin on my right side (my right side is where I have everything wrong). It felt like I had a sewing maching needle go into my skin..It started out with having some sensory issues in my leg - it started out one morning on my thigh on the right side then over the next week moved into my whole leg in the front and my foot. This has lasted 6 months until I could feel the top of my skin normally and I'm still looking forward to my foot being totally recovered.
During the, what I call the 'epicenter' of this episode, I could not feel my insides. I went to go to the bathroom and I had to force myself to urinate (sorry). My bowels stopped all together; I took an entire bottle of Miralax over a 2 week period and psyllium husk, amonst other things and nothing happend. Sexually, I could not feel ANYTHING.
I was being treated for depression and my doctor gave me Lamital. This has changed everything for me (but hasn't fixed everything). During the episode I described above, my hip got bursitis when I lost feeling in my stomach on the right side and it was very painful. But the Lamictal has made that go away mostly. I still get it.
Not sure what is/has been going on with me, but I know it is neurological. My vitamin D levels are extremely low and I've been put on a prescription for that; 50,000 iu x2 per week and am being tested for a parathyroid tumor. But that does not explain the other symptoms I have had since I was a kid.
Seriously, I'm not a person who goes to the doctor. But I need to get back to work so I'm trying to figure out what is causing this situation where I'm feeling good then having all of the floaters, 'heat waves', static, visually and the dis-engaged feeling I have after I get these symptoms.
Thanks for reading this long post. I know that sharing this information can help.
Anissa