Intermittent Intoxication Feeling

[Sally]

Hi everyone,

I am still waiting to see a neurologist to get some answers but I am wondering if anyone experiences this feeling. It is like being partially intoxicated (but without drinking, of course). At the beginning of my illness, I had this feeling for 3 weeks prior to seizures starting. Now it comes and goes for varied periods of time. I just had a two week period of getting like that every time I rode in a vehicle. When I would get to my destination, it would feel hard to walk like my legs were wobbling and I felt drunk. I also get the feeling for no reason if I am just sitting at home so it isn't just during movement. Is this part of having epilepsy? I don't think it is a medication side effect because I had this happen before anyone put me on medication. It just stopped happening suddenly and I am just fine now for the time being. I know it will come again because it has been coming and going for the past 6 months. Any ideas about this? Does this happen to any of you?

 

[Nakamova]

It may be related to some problem with the vestibular system (the mechanisms in the ear that help us with balance and body positioning in relating to gravity and environmental cues). Your dizziness might be caused by ear infections, a head injury, or a blood circulation problem that affects the fluid or the nerves of the inner ear or brain. Problems in the skeletal or visual systems, (like arthritis or eye muscle imbalance), can also cause balance problems or dizziness. In many cases there's no obvious cause.

There are quite a few kinds of dizziness and balance disorders (BPPV, Meniere's, Labyrinthitis, Vestibular neuronitis, Perilymph fistula, just for starters) so it would be best to get checked out by a ENT to determine what's going on.