Does anyone else have these symptoms?

[KimShea]

Every now and then I have these wierd episodes.
It starts out with me suddenly noticing out of the blue that my vision has become distorted. I usually first notice it when I'm talking to someone... their faces look very distorted. I cannot see details unless I focus very closely. You know how when you look at a bright light then look away and you can still see that light... my distortion kind of looks like that. It also kind of looks like looking through stained glass.
After about 20 minutes my vision will be back to normal. Then the fingers on my left hand only start tingling really bad. About 15 minutes later my fingers will be back to normal.
Then I get a really bad headache and am exhausted for the rest of the day.

Have any of you had these symptoms? These episodes usually happen exactly the same way every time. I saw the neurologist yesterday and have an EEG scheduled in a couple of weeks. But I'd like to see if anyone else has these symptoms, as I think it may partial seizures.

 

[darkmarkshark]

Sounds like it is. The clue that led me in the right direction was rapidly changing vision problems.


Keep in mind that you can potentially be having 50 seizures a day and still end up with a normal EEG so get on the doctors case if its normal and he can't come up with an explanation for what could be causing your problem

 

[KimShea]

Thanks for the tip! That's nice to know because when I was a kid the first doctor we went to said I had absense seizures and the 2nd doctor said I did not. I think I was having them.

 

[Bernard]

Hi KimShea, welcome to the forum. :hello:

Simple partial seizures sound like a strong possibility to me. I wonder if the neurobehavioral therapy techniques offered in [ame]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=projectmana0a-20&path=tg/detail/-/0802774652/ref=ase_projectmana0a-20?v=glance&s=books[/ame] might help since you have a known progression - perhaps you can "short circuit" the process.

 

[Joe]

Hi there KimShea,

Welcome to CWE. :hello:

That sounds so familiar to me, do you also find you experienec the 'same' kinds of disturbances with smell, taste, hearing too (especially hearing for me). Weirdest visual thing for me is that although I am peripherally aware of everything else (just about) one thing will becoem the absolute focus of attention - it could be anything, and very odd can de close or distant (I once walked down this street, and the wheelie bins (trash bins) were out for collection, 1 bin, so distant I could not really see it normally, became the total focus of attention - it was all there was, everything else was kind of hazy, blurred...very strange, and not pleasant.

I know what you mean about stained glass and the star - also like through greasy glass, or as if you are looking through an oil puddle (you know, all the swirly and semi transparent colours..)

No...I am not a hippie (really, honest...) :roflmao:

And I get the tingling too, and my tremor is much worse for a while after.

darkmarkshark is right...an EEG will not show everything, and SPs can be so so frequent (50 a day is no exaggeration, I know)...over the past 9 months, I've had over 30 EEGs...I reckon less than half have showed much if any activity...those that show it, show it!!!

Anyway, you are not alone, and this is a great place to be! :clap:

 

[RobinN]

Magnesium. Convulsions are a known effect of a magnesium deficiency, as are weakness and tiredness, nervousness, muscle cramps, tremors and twitching, especially around the eyes. The recommended daily intake is about 400mg. More may be needed if you suffer from allergies, premenstrual syndrome or menstrual cramps, are suffering from morning sickness or hypoglycemia, or on the contraceptive pill or antibiotics. More magnesium is needed for those who have a high intake of fluoride - this can occur in areas with fluoridated water and in those who drink a lot of tea. The suggested supplementation of magnesium is 500-1000mg. Magnesium tablets should be taken in conjunction with calcium. There are tablets available which combine the two. This is a very important nutrient in epilepsy. The best sources of magnesium are soya beans, nuts, brown rice, fish and lentils.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Epilepsy-and-Nutrition

 

[KimShea]

Wow, thank you all for your tips, advice, and the welcome. I will try the magnesium; actually I already have some, I just don't take it much.

 

[dfwtexas]

I tried to explain to people that before my seizure hits, I see hazy images The best way I describe it is that it's like on TV when they are doing a dream sequence and the edges of the picture looks wavy. I know the seizure is coming, but cannot say anything.
Seizures have so many different traits...coming here is my best resource to know if others experience the same
Welcome Kim.

 

[seizures4ever]

I just wanted to welcome you to the forums!
-Julie

 

[googly389]

Yes, I have lots of visual problems. One started when I was 13 a few years before I even suspected my other "episodes" were epilepsy. Anyways, I would get these flashing eye floaters like when you get your picture taken but back in my preteens it would completely take up my vision unless I blinked. It scared me to death and I thought I was going blind! I've also always had things slightly turn colors and things get dark and light and HD looking!! (not often) And ever since being on my meds I'll every so often notice things looking like they are breathing (ie: walls and inanimate objects) and minor size distortions. It's trippy!

 

[RobinN]

My daughter had vision problems on Tegretol. It went away about a month after she stopped taking the med.

 

[sarahjane]

my eyes sting alot and my legs and arms hurt so much i get hedaches all the time and pains in my hands ive had my mri and ive had my eeg i have been on tegratol and lamicatol for about 16 years but stopped seeing my consultant about 11 years ago my mri is ok but my eeg shows epilleptic actiavity i really dont no what to think any more but i no i am tired all the time and im so snappy with my partner cant seem to talk to any one.first time on here

 

[Joe]

Yes, I have lots of visual problems. One started when I was 13 a few years before I even suspected my other "episodes" were epilepsy. Anyways, I would get these flashing eye floaters like when you get your picture taken but back in my preteens it would completely take up my vision unless I blinked. It scared me to death and I thought I was going blind! I've also always had things slightly turn colors and things get dark and light and HD looking!! (not often) And ever since being on my meds I'll every so often notice things looking like they are breathing (ie: walls and inanimate objects) and minor size distortions. It's trippy!

Breathing walls...yeah...know that one, not nice at all...trippy :agree:

Amazing what you adjust to though...Actually you have to...you've got to get on with life. But what is weird is, you're working and driving, me to (as little as I can, driving that is, had two crashes end of 07 - resulting in two write offs, and a dent in my wallet) and you have these auras, szs, and, if you're like me, they happen regularly, well, multiple every day...and you keep on.

That is so hard for other people to understand...a very close recent friend once said 'I've never seen you seize'...I replied that 'you just have' - an exaggeration, but not too far from the truth. Luckilly (?) her dad has narcolepsy/undiagnosed sz activity, so she comprehends!

Oh well, keep on keeping on!

:tup:

 

[googly389]

Breathing walls...yeah...know that one, not nice at all...trippy :agree:

Amazing what you adjust to though...Actually you have to...you've got to get on with life. But what is weird is, you're working and driving, me to (as little as I can, driving that is, had two crashes end of 07 - resulting in two write offs, and a dent in my wallet) and you have these auras, szs, and, if you're like me, they happen regularly, well, multiple every day...and you keep on.

That is so hard for other people to understand...a very close recent friend once said 'I've never seen you seize'...I replied that 'you just have' - an exaggeration, but not too far from the truth. Luckilly (?) her dad has narcolepsy/undiagnosed sz activity, so she comprehends!

Oh well, keep on keeping on!

:tup:

Wow, don't scare me like that! I hope to god I never have an accident, and in fact my neuro is so sorry that he allowed me to drive two months after my single grand mal when I was 16. People just don't think I might have epilepsy, and whenever I go for extended periods of time without being "too bothered" by simples, I question it myself. As long as I don't have a complex or a grande then I can function. Fortunately, unless my pattern really changes, I was always able to tell by a specific aura I had if I would have a complex. When I get like that now from messed up sleep hours then I just take it easy and it passes over the weekend with no progression. You just have to relax. It makes me wonder if the whole "breathing" thing is from the depakote? I never had that before the meds and I also get illusions of things in the corner of my eye a lot ie: I think I'll see my cat in the floor but it's a black shirt. Never happened before the pills onder:

 

[Joe]

:sad: Sorry Googly,

Didn't mean for that!! That was just a very bad time for me...been ok since then...been careful and paying attention to how I feel.

Don't know if it is the pills or not - I don't take Depakote myself...onder:

 

[skillefer]

Ummmm, I hate to say it, but you might need to up your dosage of meds. Talk to your doc, but seizures can get worse.

 

[marshlakemom]

Ummmm, I hate to say it, but you might need to up your dosage of meds. Talk to your doc, but seizures can get worse.

Hi

Are you saying that simple partial seizures can get worse when your medication is upped???? The reason I ask is because I have constant simple partial seizures, mine being the sensation my head is falling backwards, combined with a rush of nausea, and the sensation I'm moving. I would have a couple of these a day before I was diagnosed as Epileptic in August, and put on Divalproex after having just one Grand Mal...(Aug 2). Now I have them several times/hour, and they drive me nuts...I can have up to 10 in an hour, and this is all since going on the Divalproex. This is scaring me, because in my mind, everytime I have one of these spells, it is damaging.

I would rather be off the medication, have a few spells/day, risk a grand mal, then go through these spells as often as I do daily now.

Deb

 

[sarahjane]

i did have my meds put up when they put me on my antidepressents [sertriline] but all i did was sleep and had pins and needels in my feet and hands so now they have put my antidepresents down and put my tegretol and lamotrigin back to what it was.i have that many episodes a day im always tired i cant think straight most of the time .they say they are going to take me in to hospital and take me of all of my meds to find out what kind of fits im having as i have no records and my mum all ways delt with this when i was in my teens and now shes not here im finding it very hard,and now i no how stupid ive been for not seeing any one for 13 years

 

[googly389]

Yes well, I'm not sleeping as much these days (work at 5:00 am and them off to school at 10:30 am, then a night class). I'll only go up on my dosage as a last resort; especially since I just started this gluten free diet recently and I'm waiting (was it you Robin that said gluten stays in the system a while?). I'm only suffering the simples in the form of deja vu and since my medication was induced three years ago I haven't had one complex so I believe it is still working *knock on wood*. My doc wants to switch me to Keppra, but I heard that's bad for people with TLE as opposed to just grand mals.

I also added 30 mg of Zinc to my diet in the forms of supplements today. Hopefully that'll curtail my symptoms in time and return my sex drive (I've read articles on this and it has been lacking for me since starting Depakote )

 

[Meetz1064]

Sarah Jane

PLEASE don't call yourself stupid.......you were simply in denial. It's a hard thing to deal with, this E. I still have a hard time with it, and I've had it for nearly 43 years now (as of next month).

Yeah, it SUCKS BEANS that you're having to wade through this mire of "shtuff" because your mom's not around to help you. But think of it as a learning experience. Tuck it away in your mind, and do your best to try to keep things in order.....keep copies of the tests, etc so you know what's been done, results and so on. This will help you to help the docs in the long run.

And, keep a daily journal, too. What you do, eat, sleep, med doses & times, seizure events, witness descriptions, etc. That will eventually help the docs find any patterns to the seizures, and triggers, too.

It's gonna be OK. And know that depression and E go hand in hand quite off, along with a few other buddies, like migraines (now considered a form of seizure).....so don't give yourself such a bum rap, OK?

Holler if you want to talk more......you can PM me if ya want.

Take care.

Meetz
:rock: