Could these be seizures?

[Starburst]

With two of my children recently diagnosed with epilepsy, I have been scrutinizing our family history to see if there is any history of epilepsy in the family. So far, I haven't found anything but am wondering if I myself have had seizures in the past. This is my history of odd events throughout my life:

1. Early childhood: Seeing and hearing things that did not exist
I had some really frightening incidents when I thought I saw (human) strangers or monsters in our home or heard disturbing noises that no one else heard. I used to complain about this constantly to my mother. She took me to the pediatrician who chalked it up to my vivid imagination. When I was around 10, I figured out a way to "control" the hallucinations by distracting myself if I felt they were about to appear.

2. Late teens/early 20s: Feeling like I was being electrocuted upon slipping into sleep
I would get a horrible zapping sound in my head and feel paralyzed for a moment or two. Again, I eventually figured out a way to prevent this sensation by distracting myself if I sensed that the problem was going to happen on a particular night

3. Passing out:
I have passed out twice in my life from unknown causes, once when I was 12, and once when I was 18. No seizure activity was observed.

4. When I was 30, I woke up early to the sound of the alarm clock, which was across the room. I felt that I was glued to the bed and could not get up to turn off the clock. I felt paralyzed and could not speak. My husband woke up to the sound of the alarm and asked me what was wrong, but I could not respond. I felt like I was going to throw up and could not communicate at all. He tried moving me out of the bed, and things became worse. I heard a gushing sound in my ear like a roaring waterfall and was in a total panic believing that one of the kids had left a faucet on. Suddenly, all the bad sensations went away, and I went back to normal. I was slightly numb on one side and had trouble forming words and thoughts. I felt disoriented for days.

5. When I was 31, my arm suddenly became numb, and I went into some kind of panic that I cannot describe. My husband decided to take me to the hospital, and I could not get dressed or think. I was saying strange things and making faces (grimacing). At the hospital, they found I had a high fever and gave me a shot of something after which I felt okay but continued to grimace for a while. The strange thing is that I knew inside myself that I was saying strange things and grimacing and did not care.

6. Migraines with aura
I have a long history of migraine with aura

7. Inability to concentrate, feeling like I will break down (ever since incidents 4 and 5 above)

After incidents 4 and 5, which were absolutely terrifying, I took a lot of steps to improve my health. I treated an iron deficiency and started getting better sleep at night (previously, I was staying up long hours). I stopped drinking caffeine, started drinking water, and paid more attention to overall nutrition. I am 37 now and have not had any more incidents, and the migraines have been much less as well.

Sorry this is kind of long. But I am just wondering if any of this sounds like seizure activity. If it makes any difference, I was extremely stressed out due to work and life situations when incidents 4 and 5 occurred.

 

[Krista2882]

Hello,
Yes, all those events do sound like they could have been seizures. Although I find it interesting that you could keep some of them from happening by distracting yourself. I'm not sure if it's possible to do that with seizures.
But there are other things that can cause strange symptoms like yours. Vitamin/mineral deficiencies (iron in your case) can cause symptoms that you wouldn't expect, and so can anxiety (as you mentioned you had a lot of stress during the time those last 2 episodes occurred).
But other people here know more about the symptoms of vitamin deficiencies and the ways anxiety can also mimic seizures, so I'll let them answer.

 

[Starburst]

Thank you for your response, Krista. It's been a while since I posted, but I wanted to let you know I appreciated your feedback.

Over the past couple of months, I have been disturbed by jerking/rolling sensations in different parts of my body. It is always my left thumb, my left upper back, my left leg, my left eye, or my right stomach. With my stomach, it rolls as though there is a baby in there although I am not pregnant. I don't know if it is related to my previous issues or just something quirky going on with me. I am once again under a lot of stress and feel a great deal of panic when I feel these odd sensations. Sometimes they occur while I am awake and sometimes while I am asleep.

Just to clarify, I am definitely not asking anyone to diagnose me. If I ever feel I need to go to the doctor for answers, I will do so, but I am just interested in knowing if anything I have written sounds familiar to others. I am mostly interested in knowing if the symptoms sound epilepsy-related or just like random weird things that anyone might experience.

 

[Starburst]

Since I last posted, I have experienced another incident in which my stomach rolls and jerks. It happened in the early morning after being awakened by my infant. I felt extremely scared and could not get up. I also had trouble concentrating and speaking for a couple of hours after that. I could speak but kept calling my kids by the wrong names and I just felt flustered and was also crying although I was not sad.

I am just feeling really perplexed as to why all of this is suddenly happening. It was such a big shock to have two children diagnosed and then I am suddenly experiencing these jerking sensations in my body that I have never felt before. The only thing I can think of is that pregnancy and breastfeeding have thrown my hormones out of whack. I am very hesitant to visit the doctor as I do not wish to be perceived as paranoid or like a hypochondriac, as though I am somehow seeking attention for myself after my kids were diagnosed. Some people close to me have suggested to me that I may imagining things or feeling overly sensitive because of my kids and then imagining every little movement in my body to be a seizure. I honestly do not feel this is the case, but the idea that someone might perceive me that way really bothers me. I have thus mostly kept my concerns to myself but feel deep inside that I am experiencing something abnormal. I just wonder at what point I might be able to recognize that "yes, I am undoubtedly having a seizure." How can one tell the difference between a seizure and a normal muscle spasm that anyone might experience?