episodes of extreme confusion?

[girlwithadog]

So I'm back again. I have six weeks until I have my next neuro appointment so I need some opinions. A bit of background I was diagnosed with complex partial epilepsy with secondary generalization or something like that in april 2013. I have had epilepsy since 1993 but was told it wasbpsychological up until I had a tc and started seeig a neurologist. So now I don't know what is seizure and what isn't.
Now the problem is that I'm nearly 7 months pregnant. I am on 750mg of keppra twice daily and a lot of my episodes have stopped all together. After four months of taking the meds some of the episodes came back which is when my neuro upped my meds. Its dangerous to risk a seizure while pregnant so when I had an episode today it concerned me. But the episode wasn't what I had to cause the neuro to up my meds so I don't know if it was epilepsy related or not so long story short I'm here to get opinions on this.
I felt fine and out of no where whilst on my phone I started feeling ancious for no reason. This lasted briefly probably a minute or two. Next though it started getting hard to focus and understand anything. It was hard to talk, hard to understand what was going on and what was being said. It was as if the whole world confused me and I just didn't know anything. My daughter asked me questions and I couldn't figure out how to answer her. Everything seemed far away and while I could hear words being said I couldnt understand what they meant. But I dId wIth some thIngs. LIke I belIeve my husband asked If I was ok and I looked at hIm ((he says I even looked really confused) and It took about fIve to seven seconds to understand what he wad askIng and even longer to fIgure out how to shake my head. the last tIme thIs happened was about two years ago and It kept gettIng worse and worse untIl I had my drop seIzure. Now by my memory I only losr consciousness every 2-3 years in a bigvseizure but I get a lot of episodes leading up to those seizures before and a short while after. Some my neuro says are likely not seizures and some are. Maybe some are auras idk but with the risk during the pregnancy I don't know if I should wait the six weeks or call and schedule one sooner? My neuro just increasrd my meds and I have already had this episode and a different one (one that he upped my meds for) so I'm also wondering if its from increasing the meds? Has anyone had this kind if confusion or anything similiar or could someone share some advice?

 

[Nakamova]

Hey gwd,

Unexplained anxiety, problems focusing and understanding are symptoms of simple and complex partial seizures. It's unlikely that it's due to the increased dose, but it can't be ruled out entirely. Another possibility is that the symptoms are a response to fluctuations in estrogen that occur during pregnancy. Either way, definitely call your neuro and let him know what's going on.

 

[AndrewIrish]

So I'm back again. I have six weeks until I have my next neuro appointment so I need some opinions. A bit of background I was diagnosed with complex partial epilepsy with secondary generalization or something like that in april 2013. I have had epilepsy since 1993 but was told it wasbpsychological up until I had a tc and started seeig a neurologist. So now I don't know what is seizure and what isn't.
Now the problem is that I'm nearly 7 months pregnant. I am on 750mg of keppra twice daily and a lot of my episodes have stopped all together. After four months of taking the meds some of the episodes came back which is when my neuro upped my meds. Its dangerous to risk a seizure while pregnant so when I had an episode today it concerned me. But the episode wasn't what I had to cause the neuro to up my meds so I don't know if it was epilepsy related or not so long story short I'm here to get opinions on this.
I felt fine and out of no where whilst on my phone I started feeling ancious for no reason. This lasted briefly probably a minute or two. Next though it started getting hard to focus and understand anything. It was hard to talk, hard to understand what was going on and what was being said. It was as if the whole world confused me and I just didn't know anything. My daughter asked me questions and I couldn't figure out how to answer her. Everything seemed far away and while I could hear words being said I couldnt understand what they meant. But I dId wIth some thIngs. LIke I belIeve my husband asked If I was ok and I looked at hIm ((he says I even looked really confused) and It took about fIve to seven seconds to understand what he wad askIng and even longer to fIgure out how to shake my head. the last tIme thIs happened was about two years ago and It kept gettIng worse and worse untIl I had my drop seIzure. Now by my memory I only losr consciousness every 2-3 years in a bigvseizure but I get a lot of episodes leading up to those seizures before and a short while after. Some my neuro says are likely not seizures and some are. Maybe some are auras idk but with the risk during the pregnancy I don't know if I should wait the six weeks or call and schedule one sooner? My neuro just increasrd my meds and I have already had this episode and a different one (one that he upped my meds for) so I'm also wondering if its from increasing the meds? Has anyone had this kind if confusion or anything similiar or could someone share some advice?

My wife does this to me all the time and gets mad at me for it... we were pulling up to a red light this morning and she was asking me a question (can't remember what), and I was staring at the green light and then back at her and she was upset because I didn't answer her quickly enough I guess and she was frustrated and for a minute, I was confused as I waved my hand to usher her through the now green light.... but I couldn't process waving my hand and answering her at the same time apparently, like I was stuck in 'neutral' and couldn't talk for a moment... my wife thought I was ignoring her but I was apparently kind of in 'la la land' for a second... zoned out or something... happens all the time..

 

[kaelieh]

Sounds like it could have been a type of partial seizure.

I experience a lot of episodes of confusion, where the world doesn't make sense and I don't really know how to do anything, my motor control becomes clumsy, I'll have trouble doing basic math, and the kicker that makes me suspicious they don't last long.. Under a minute or so but they tend to occur periods of clusters, especially when I don't sleep well which is a lot lately.

 

[MrE]

It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish if confusion is actually what one is experiencing...especially if one believes one is confused...

For example:

Frustration can often be confused for confusion thus you become confused

 

[kirsten]

I have exactly this issue at the moment: anxiety followed by the confusion you describe so well here (I haven't been able to come up with a decent way to put it so I'll be using yours when I see my neuro.) It's like this: the other day I'd had soup on the stove and the confusion was happening. I already had the soup bowl and the bread plate set out and had to pour the soup into the soup bowl. I picked up the pot but didn't know where on earth to pour the soup. I couldn't figure out whether the bowl was shallow or deep, and whether the soup would just go spilling onto the counter if I poured it. Another time I was about to cross the road and I couldn't figure out where the cars were going, so I couldn't figure out when to cross. The cars can only go in two directions: to my left and to my right. Still, I couldn't figure it out so I just stood there for ages. When I was in my psych's office the other day, she stood up as usual at the end of the session, which is my cue to stand up and say goodbye. Couldn't figure out what I was meant to do, though. Interesting thing is that I found out I'd actually zoned out completely: my psych was calling my name and telling me to come with her and I was just staring into infinity, when I thought I was perfectly alert, if puzzled. So next time you're confused, ask who ever's with you what they see. It might be very different from the way you think things are going down.

 

[MrE]

I am interested to know the phenomenon that occurs before consciously becoming aware of said confusion...is it upon consciously becoming aware that one is confused...or for a lack of better words...not being able to think rationally thus your subconscious mind will process information in a point A to B loop cycle where said information is irrelevant to a rational conclusion thus your conscious mind will indicate externally perceived confusion...

 

[girlwithadog]

MrE, from what I recall from the events I get anxious for no reason. This lasts briefly and next I'm having trouble responding to others. I don't realize at the moment that its confusion but I can feel that something is off. My husband and daughter say I jusy tare at them confused for long periods of time and when I do respond its more mumbling than anything else. I can answer yes or no but it takes a qhile and often I mumble I don't know and my communivation goes no further. I aldo apparently do things like rub my lip with my thumb repeatedly or dcratch my srm without realizing. It isn't until I'm snapping out of it that I understand that I was confused and doing repititicious movements. I spoke with my neuro and he wants me to increase my dose again

 

[MrE]

No such thing as "no reason"

EVERYTHING is for a reason

 

[MrE]

Didn't get as much sleep today...felt a little woozy earlier...now I just have a mild tension headache...think I'm going to read now