first seizure - scared hell outta me!

[WADriver]

hi guys... I'm a 30yr old woman and in march 2012 i had a seizure. it started with me seeing flashes of light first to the right, then to the left and i recall trying to look away from the flashes but getting hit in the other directions. weirdly i recall seeing faces in these flashes! with this i told my partner i felt unwell and we left the shop we were in at the time. when outside i still felt unwell but from here my memory fades. I'm told i kept going limp while staring quite scarily. then all of a sudden i collapsed and had a seizure. i bit my tounge snuff for it to be sore for 2 weeks, lips went blue/gray, my head kept jerking to the right and my legs kept rising gentally then falling. i next remember waking up in the ambulance but at that point couldn't figure out where i was. eventually it dawned on me and scared the hell out of me. i was taken to hospital and give the ok to carry on with my day with advise to visit a fit clinic.

i saw my doctor a few days later who referred me to a neurologist. he said the symptoms didn't fit that of syncope, no tonic clonic movements were observed with certainty and the head movements could fit frontal focally initiated version movement. I've had an EEG so far. the technician said that at times it read as tho i was in a coma. weird as i was awake throughout. (maybe a mis-reading). incidentally immediately after the EEG i had a feeling of the books on a shelf at the end of the room getting smaller/ferther away. this is a feeling I've previously felt but when talking to people intensely. I'm due an MRI in 2 weeks then heart scans some time after.

does anyone have a similar seizure history or are able to throw some extra light on what I've described or what the nero has said? any help would be great as playing "dr internet" isn't doing me much good! lol

 

[Nakamova]

Hi WADriver, welcome to CWE!

The symptoms you describe definitely sound seizure-related to me. Head jerking to the right, biting your tongue and lips going blue (because all the oxygen is sent to the brain) are all par for the course for tonic-clonics. The other things you describe could be Simple Partial or Complex Partial seizures. The flashes of light are similar to what can occur with migraine, but they can also be a form of Simple Partials. The odd sensation with the room changing is called "Alice-In-Wonderland" syndrome, and is another kind of Simple Partial. (Simple partial are seizures where there's no loss of consciousness, just weird sensory disturbances; they can take a wide variety of forms. Complex Partials are seizures where there's only partial loss of consciousness/awareness -- a bit like sleepwalking). I'm surprised that you neuro is reluctant to characterize your symptoms as seizure activity, though perhaps he's just being extra-conservative before moving forward with diagnosis or treatment.

I recommend that you keep a journal tracking how you feel -- write down any unusual symptoms you have had in the past or are having now -- even if you're not sure they're seizure-related. The information can be helpful to the neurologist in making a diagnosis, and to you in a getting handle on what's going on. And take care of your overall health -- aim to get plenty of sleep and eat and drink healthily. Avoid stress where possible. I hope you're neuro can give you some answers.

Best,
Nakamova