Could it be seizures???

[SpaceCadet]

Hi, my name is Nick and I'm recovering from a brain injury. My injury was in June of 2011...From the moment of injury until the beginning of November, I was able to watch TV and play video games with no problems. November came around and I bought a new game...I spent all day playing it. When I was done, I was a complete space cadet (trouble thinking, talking, felt like brain was struggling, flexing or something). Ever since that day, I've been unable to play video games or watch TV without bringing on extreme brain fog.

Could it be seizures? I was given some seizure medication to take...but I'm not so sure its seizures that I'm having. I've read that petit mal seizures usually last anywhere from 10 seconds to 10-20 minutes. From the moment I start watching and for minutes, sometimes hours or day afterwards, my brain/mind becomes completely foggy and spaced out. I don't lose consciousness, I know that I'm becoming foggy and spaced out, I don't have blank staring episodes...So is it seizures??

My doctors are stumped. I'm part of a brain injury program and nobody there can relate to my struggles with TV and video games. Its crazy...we just watched a video at the brain injury place and I had to keep closing my eyes because it was shutting my brain down. Nobody else was doing this....


...I'm just confused and looking for answers.

Nick

 

[Starfish]

I also cannot play video games and watch certain types of televisions (CRT tvs) because of my epilespy, photosensitive epilespy. Beecause afterwards I have a tendency to act like a very crazy person and nothing makes sense and it's just not a good situation so I avoid them all together because it's just not worht hurting that way, which is sad because I must say I kicked butt when it came to mario games. I don't loose conciousness either I can see whats going on but hen I try to react to anything it comes out all... blah.

What you described with video games and televsions is actually why my parents started to think that I might have epilepsy, it's why I had my EEG because it the safty manuel it says that people who act like this may have PSE (Photo-sensitive epilepsy), we looked into it my EEG came back saying I have epilepsy and then later on I started having seizures. It may not be what you have but it's could be worth your while to look into.

Hope this helps.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Nick, welcome to CWE!

If you are conscious during your symptoms, they are more likely to be complex partial seizures (which involve impaired consciousness) rather than absence seizures (petit mals). Do you have the symptoms at any other time, or just when you are watching a monitor? Are you affected by flashing or fluorescent lighting? Do your best to avoid things that trigger your confusion. If you do have photosensitive epilepsy as Starfish mentions, you might want try special polarized lenses to see if they help. See http://irlen.com/index.php Follow the 20/20 rule if you are watching TV or on the computer: Every 20 minutes, step away and make a point of focusing on something at least 20 feet away.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[adddxat48]

One thing you can do is have an EEG done while you are watching the stuff that gives you those symptoms. Bring a laptop or portable DVD player (if there are DVDs that also create this problem) when you have an EEG. EEGs are not perfect--they miss a lot, but it would be a start. The standard EEG protocol for photosensitivity testing with a strobe light only tests your response to a white strobe light!

If you are photosensitive there are lenses that were developed by researchers specifically for photosensitivity that you can order. There is info about them at videogameseizures.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/life-with-zeiss-z1-f133-protective-lenses/