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Hi everyone, I am a mid-20’s female, wondering what to think of recurring episodes of confusion and strange sensations. Here is what these episodes are like:
I always know when it’s starting to happen because I get a very distinct feeling of pressure or “buzzing” inside my head, just behind the forehead region.
Sometimes this feeling is accompanied by deja-vu.
Sometimes there is a low-pitched ringing in one ear.
Sometimes I see waves of purple and green colors sweeping over my eyes. It looks similar to seeing colors when you press on your eyelids.
I space-out and stare, as though my mind suddenly switched to a low-functioning mode.
Sometimes there’s extreme nausea for no apparent reason, accompanied often by chills. This was very distressing as a kid.
Sometimes there is a powerful yet unprovoked feeling of euphoria in my stomach, like the feeling you get when going down a huge rollercoaster drop, only more pleasant. Then I’ll sometimes get tingling sensations up and down my arms.
Sometimes there are very strange emotions that I can’t find words to describe, but they're strong enough to make me lose my train of thought mid-sentence and become lost in my mind. For some reason these feelings are often accompanied by vivid scenes or images in my head of specific childhood memories or dreams I had as a kid, down to every last detail. I lose myself in these feelings and sometimes even enjoy them.
[STAGE 2]
Either the symptoms stated above linger for a bit and then go away, or they burst into a bizarre state of extreme confusion, in which thought-processes seem to jumble up (but don’t become absent). Little language is understood. For example, letters look like a bunch of foreign symbols.
Changes in visual perception. Everything becomes very abstract. For example, a chair is no longer a chair, but a bunch of different shapes put together.
Sometimes my vision flashes quickly, and the flashes are either red or white.
I feel paralyzed by terror and shut my eyes due to the fear of this strange new perception of my surroundings.
My mind struggles to make sense of the sensory input, and my thoughts become disarrayed and grotesquely frightening. Images in my head are painfully vivid, but make no sense at all, resembling abstract or surreal paintings flashing in rapid succession. Sometimes I’ll suddenly jump up and rush to a wall or door and have no idea why.
The full-blown symptoms of stage 2 only last for a minute or less, but the previous symptoms can last for a few minutes. Then I’ll “come back” and everything suddenly makes sense again, except a little lingering confusion and fear, hoping it doesn’t happen again, whatever the hell it was.
These episodes happened much more frequently while I was taking 300mg Wellbutrin daily. I know it lowers the seizure threshold. Now that I'm off Wellbutrin, they happen less frequently and with less intensity.
The full-blown ones would usually happen at night, right before I would fall asleep, or upon waking up abruptly. But sometimes they'd happen during the day. They come out of nowhere. I am never particularly anxious or depressed when they happen. I know what a panic attack feels like, and it’s a lot different.
I remember getting these sensations when I was little and sometimes liking the euphoric bodily sensations, but wondering why on earth it was happening. I would always tell people I felt “weird” but then be unable to explain why. No one would believe me about the physical symptoms, because the feelings would pass a few minutes later, and I’d have no way to explain that I really was feeling very sick and weird! People thought I was being overdramatic. But these were/are very real physical sensations, arising out of nowhere. I always think “Oh great here comes the weird/sick/happy feelings again”, and then wait them out, hoping they don’t evolve into the more extreme kinds. I’ve always kept quiet about it because no one seems to take me seriously or know what I’m talking about.
I’ve never had a clue what to call these episodes, so when people ask me what's wrong I say I "thought I was going to have a panic attack or something". But I knew it wasn't a panic attack.
Could they be simple partial seizures? I don’t know much about them but after reading for a bit, I see many similarities to my experiences, and I'm shocked by how similar the symptoms are to mine. Any second opinions? Should I mention these same symptoms to my doctor?
I always know when it’s starting to happen because I get a very distinct feeling of pressure or “buzzing” inside my head, just behind the forehead region.
Sometimes this feeling is accompanied by deja-vu.
Sometimes there is a low-pitched ringing in one ear.
Sometimes I see waves of purple and green colors sweeping over my eyes. It looks similar to seeing colors when you press on your eyelids.
I space-out and stare, as though my mind suddenly switched to a low-functioning mode.
Sometimes there’s extreme nausea for no apparent reason, accompanied often by chills. This was very distressing as a kid.
Sometimes there is a powerful yet unprovoked feeling of euphoria in my stomach, like the feeling you get when going down a huge rollercoaster drop, only more pleasant. Then I’ll sometimes get tingling sensations up and down my arms.
Sometimes there are very strange emotions that I can’t find words to describe, but they're strong enough to make me lose my train of thought mid-sentence and become lost in my mind. For some reason these feelings are often accompanied by vivid scenes or images in my head of specific childhood memories or dreams I had as a kid, down to every last detail. I lose myself in these feelings and sometimes even enjoy them.
[STAGE 2]
Either the symptoms stated above linger for a bit and then go away, or they burst into a bizarre state of extreme confusion, in which thought-processes seem to jumble up (but don’t become absent). Little language is understood. For example, letters look like a bunch of foreign symbols.
Changes in visual perception. Everything becomes very abstract. For example, a chair is no longer a chair, but a bunch of different shapes put together.
Sometimes my vision flashes quickly, and the flashes are either red or white.
I feel paralyzed by terror and shut my eyes due to the fear of this strange new perception of my surroundings.
My mind struggles to make sense of the sensory input, and my thoughts become disarrayed and grotesquely frightening. Images in my head are painfully vivid, but make no sense at all, resembling abstract or surreal paintings flashing in rapid succession. Sometimes I’ll suddenly jump up and rush to a wall or door and have no idea why.
The full-blown symptoms of stage 2 only last for a minute or less, but the previous symptoms can last for a few minutes. Then I’ll “come back” and everything suddenly makes sense again, except a little lingering confusion and fear, hoping it doesn’t happen again, whatever the hell it was.
These episodes happened much more frequently while I was taking 300mg Wellbutrin daily. I know it lowers the seizure threshold. Now that I'm off Wellbutrin, they happen less frequently and with less intensity.
The full-blown ones would usually happen at night, right before I would fall asleep, or upon waking up abruptly. But sometimes they'd happen during the day. They come out of nowhere. I am never particularly anxious or depressed when they happen. I know what a panic attack feels like, and it’s a lot different.
I remember getting these sensations when I was little and sometimes liking the euphoric bodily sensations, but wondering why on earth it was happening. I would always tell people I felt “weird” but then be unable to explain why. No one would believe me about the physical symptoms, because the feelings would pass a few minutes later, and I’d have no way to explain that I really was feeling very sick and weird! People thought I was being overdramatic. But these were/are very real physical sensations, arising out of nowhere. I always think “Oh great here comes the weird/sick/happy feelings again”, and then wait them out, hoping they don’t evolve into the more extreme kinds. I’ve always kept quiet about it because no one seems to take me seriously or know what I’m talking about.
I’ve never had a clue what to call these episodes, so when people ask me what's wrong I say I "thought I was going to have a panic attack or something". But I knew it wasn't a panic attack.
Could they be simple partial seizures? I don’t know much about them but after reading for a bit, I see many similarities to my experiences, and I'm shocked by how similar the symptoms are to mine. Any second opinions? Should I mention these same symptoms to my doctor?
