Warning signs of seizures (mood swings)

[Torak]

I'm curious about the warning signs I get before I have a seizure and I'm wondering if anyone else gets these sort of symptoms.

They start anywhere from 2 minutes to 3 days before a seizure (usually on the same day though).

Intense depression, lethargy and my hearing deteriorates (I have tinnitus and it gets worse during this period. Hearing problems run in the family). If any kind of social problems arise in this period I can either fall apart or get really aggressive (varies).

My parents usually notice the change in my moods at this time too.

Eventually I'll have a partial seizure, sometimes several, and afterwards an immediate improvement in my moods (unless the seizure is really intense, in which case I'll be a bit of a mess for an hour or so).

I'm curious if anyone else experiences these warning signs hours or days before a seizure (I have TLE, seizure focus in right temporal lobe I believe)

Also, if I have a partial seizure while waking up I get long clusters of them for 30 mins or more. Visual and auditory hallucinations and an intense, nausea inducing buzzing in my head and paralysis, totally unable to move. I tend to lose track of time during this so the 30 mins are a guess.

P.S. the record so far in my diary is 20 in july, 35 in august, 15 in september and 20 so far in october.

 

[TeeTees]

Hi Torak,

Welcome aboard.

I usually notice, or should I say - other people usually notice - that maybe a day, or on the same day prior to my seizure I develop either a depressive/quiet mood, or a short-fuse mood where I react bad (not in an agressive way, I hasten to add) to the slightest little issue.

As my seizures are 99.9% off the time during the night, I usually wake up the next day feeling shattered and usually feeling full off self-pity and "why me" questions. But this all disappears as the day goes on, providing I have something to do such as going to work, where I'll be surrounded by people with their own issues. In these situtation I can then find that I tend to not focus so much on the "poor ME" side off things, and have a generally good day. I call this kinda day my "screen-saver" mode, where it looks like I'm working but in general I'm just "existing" for the day, if you know what I mean .

 

[Bernard]

Hi Torak, welcome to the forum. :hello:

Stacy has never really had any warning signs for most of her grand mals. We were able to identify and mitigate many of her seizure triggers, but up until a month ago or so, she was still having breakthrough seizures around the time of her period.

She does get very small jerks/CPS if she gets very excited (in a good or bad sense), though she is not near as sensitive to this as she used to be once upon a time.

 

[RobinN]

Torak -
My daughter Rebecca, has a focus in the right front lobe as well.
I have wondered if the mood swings were related in any way. I am afraid I would have to hover far too much to keep that sort of record. We have also started within the last six months introducing a bio-identical progesterone to her system. I wondered also if that could be the cause of mood swings. Sure is for me. In addition, we have the meds that are are the slow increase. Oh.. and dont' forget... I am working with a 15 yr old female.

Luckily she has been very "even" emotionally most of her life, so I guess I am in for a ride this year. Though they do grow out of it... so I am told. I know I did (darn... couldn't find the angel smilie)

 

[POSITIVEPERSON]

Before the grand mal , I will have absences szs and they will come in clusters and faster and faster till I have the grand mal. I will have to keep going to the toilet, to urinate and eventually diaherea at least twice. I usually wake up spaced out and the absences will increase until I turn to the left and I am going into grand mal.

I am taking this from my husbands notes in my medical journal.

Now I am going thru adjustments ,which means I have the szs but they keep coming weaker and weaker till theirs none. Thats part of my treatment with homeopathy.

Torak welcome to th e board and nice meeting you!!!!
Looking forward to getting to know you.

Riva

 

[Torak]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.

Things are strange here at the moment. Saw my GP today, My neurologist won't refer me to a specialist unit and as I meet four of the five criteria needed (you only need to meet one of the five to get a referral) I intend to politely insist that he refer me to the specialist unit at Canterbury.

If he refuses then I intend to raise the issue with the Patient Liason Office and if neccesary raise the issue with NICE. Rather strange these days... you don't seem to get anywhere by being polite, only by being belligerent and laying down the law.

Had EEG and MRI scans years ago, nothing unusual there but I managed to work out that the focus was in the right temporal lobe because of the hearing effects in my left ear (I used to hear music and voices in a partial seizure) and the jamais vu and deja vu attacks that sometimes occur (my previous neuro confirmed this theory).

Deja vu is almost exhilarating in a way, it's like reminding me of a dream that I never had. A sudden flash of intense clarity focused on a single trivial object where for a brief moment I feel a profound connection to the object. Strange really, especially when you consider that the last time that happened it was to a packet of cigarette papers.

Jamais vu sucks though, usually leads to panic attacks as I lose my memories of where I am or what I am doing.

I always have partial seizures travelling by train. The motion of the train makes me sleepy and I always end up having partial seizures with jamais vu attacks. I don't have the same problem if I fall asleep in a car though, so maybe it's an inner ear problem, something to do with the motion of the train.

 

[POSITIVEPERSON]

Good Luck Torak

You have every right to see the specialist!!!!!!!!!

To be tested and reevaluated!

Riva