Am I Epileptic?

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Storm

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OK, so I know that the internet is no place to go for diagnosis, but I'm scared out of my wits, and a friend thought I might be epileptic.

So, I've had these weird fainting spells for years. They used to be pretty frequent, then dropped off to about one every 9 months for the last 5 years, but now I've had 2 in the last week.

Symptoms:
1) Complete and total disorientation. Can't even tell which way is up.
2) Severe dizziness and nausea.
3) A bizarre sensation like my body is dissolving.... You know that fuzzy feeling when you put your hand into a field of static? Like that, only internal.
4) (Frequent, not always) Blindness.
5) (Occasional) severe headache.
6) Loss of consciousness. (Only happened once.)

I mentioned them to an old PCP, but he had no idea what they were. He did say it wasn't "fainting." I'm seeing my new(er) doctor tomorrow morning.
 
doubtful. However, when I had my first brain tumor I had all of those symptoms. You may want to go to a neurologist, get an MRI done.
 
msuder0583 said:
doubtful. However, when I had my first brain tumor I had all of those symptoms. You may want to go to a neurologist, get an MRI done.
Click to expand...

Because epilepsy isn't scary enough?

I really hope you're wrong, but thank you anyway.
 
I know, I'm sorry. I'm just freaking out. I really am grateful under it, though.
 
I agree with msuder. You should see a neurologist

If you're really that scared then going to a medical professional will give you a more realistic & accurate answer.

You might not find out right away what is wrong but it's less scary than hearing a huge list of possibilities from everyone online.

You're still very welcome here & can search around this site to see if other peoples symptoms correspond with yours. There's a "search" option at the top of the page.
 
Yeah. I have to see my PCP to get a referral before my insurance will cover a specialist, but they heard my symptoms and got me an emergency slot for tomorrow morning.
 
Yaaay, at least you're in quick.

Do keep us updated as to how things go.

Best of luck to you. My fingers & toes are crossed.
 
I feel the exact same whenever I faint. Unfortunately I've no results as of yet either, so I can empathise, but I can't be of any help. Sorry :(
 
Storm! Sometimes we have some problem and we keep thinking of dreadful ailments and they turn out to be just minor health problems. So see ur doctor! And what if it is Epilepsy, dont panic! What ever the problem is, keep ur attitude positive. Its our body and many diseases occur at times. But one thing, dont say- he said i am epileptic! Say I am suffering from Epilepsy. If u tag urself with the epileptic word, all other will also do the same. Hope u r understanding!
 
Just got home. They took some blood, did an EKG which was good, and referred me for an MRI and neurologist. My doctor thinks it's seizures, but not sure.
 
Excellent, it's what the neurologist says that will be interesting.
 
I've got an appointment with the neurologist, but not until November. :(

Trying to reach them to see if I can get in sooner.
 
well mine is at johns hopkins and my first appointment was pretty quick. and hopkins is the number 1 hospital in the country, so
 
Stress related seizures

This is one thing i was unsure to ask about as well,

My seizures happened in early teens between 12 and 16 then stopped,
Had a couple around 23, was on epilim
Then between 30 and now 38 have had seizures once every 2, 2 half years i'm now taking Topamax and Lamictal, he wants to put me on Keppra
Being awake for long perods of time is not a problem for me as i used to be long distance truck driver (here in Australia) i dont drink, never used drugs, fluro lights used to be a problem when i was younger, but could be stress as i had seizure after real stressful family crisis.spoke to my Neuro about it but he just said "everyone suffers stress in there life". When i have seizures they last around 3 mins then i am all fine like i was before after 20-30 mins sometimes i sleep and sometimes i dont

Could someone help to tell me if my seizures are stress related and if i even am epileptic as i am loosing faith in my neurologist. Thanks Raymond..
 
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Hi rayray -- If you are losing faith in your neurologist, find another one whom you can trust and feel confident in. Especially when it comes to meds, you want to be very sure before adding a 3rd med -- it's always better to get seizure control with a single med if possible. Just because two meds don't work perfectly, that doesn't necessarily mean adding a third will do the trick. Your neurologist should at least consider the possibility of transitioning off one med onto another.

If your seizures are stress-related, they can still be epileptic, so while knowing the trigger is helpful it doesn't rule anything out. If the seizures have responded to anti-seizure meds, then that tends to indicate that they are epileptic in origin. Everyone has a seizure threshold. For people with epilepsy, that threshold seems to be lower than for others. For this reason, even if we remove all obvious triggers from our lives, we may still be vulnerable to having seizures.
 
So, I called the neuro clinic for an earlier appointment. They said if I wanted in sooner, I had to see my PCP again for triage. Did that yesterday, I think he's going to be a good advocate.

I've been keeping detailed notes of my spells for the docs.

MRI is later this morning.

Some good news: whatever they are, my darling emotional support animal Sophie can be trained as a response dog. I put in the application on Saturday, and my PCP signed off on it at yesterday's appointment.

ETA: And the neurologist is actually an epileptologist (spelling?), so I have high hopes for her.
 
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