Pseudoseizures...
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Bloodborne Audio
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I have something known as "Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizure Disorder". I was originally mis-diagnosed with Epilepsy. I think this is what pseudoseizures are.
My seizures are brought on by extreme levels of stress. Just thought I would contribute my $.02
My seizures are brought on by extreme levels of stress. Just thought I would contribute my $.02
RobinN
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Brandi - a few doctors thought Rebecca's were too, but then others have confirmed that it is not. I would like to throw this out. If it is... what would the difference be. There is still a reason your body and brain need to "throw a fit". Whether or not there is a chemical imbalance is hard to tell. IMO I would be willing to say that many neuro issues have an organic cause. A label is so hard to shake. To me a seizure disorder is just that, and one needs to reach the best level of health if possible.
Welcome Bloodborne Audio - Welcome!
Well you see my answer above. You have labeled it correctly.
Are you under extreme levels of stress? How are you dealing with that?
Have you changed your diet in any way? Seratonin.. that feel good hormone is I think about 80% (correct me if I am wrong) in the "gut". So it seems to me that if you start healing from within, you begin to see changes in your "mood factor". Again IMO.
Welcome Bloodborne Audio - Welcome!
Well you see my answer above. You have labeled it correctly.
Are you under extreme levels of stress? How are you dealing with that?
Have you changed your diet in any way? Seratonin.. that feel good hormone is I think about 80% (correct me if I am wrong) in the "gut". So it seems to me that if you start healing from within, you begin to see changes in your "mood factor". Again IMO.
Bloodborne Audio
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I am under extreme stress. I have recently lost my wife and there are other stressors. I am managing it though, I'm not really sure how, but I am.
Bee91
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I think there is one really easy way to tell them apart it works like 98% of the time (rememering Only 98% of the time...there will be exceptions) I heard that If your eyes are open it is an epileptic seizure, if your eyes are closed, it is non epileptic....but remember...only 98% of the time...
Absence seizures or not?
In my family we have a history of Epilepsy...My nan was diagnosed at the age of 27,after battling with odd symptoms since the age of 15/16.I was diagnosed Epileptic at age 22 after suffering from seizures since the age of 14. My daughter's school suggested to me,not having a clue about the family history, that they thought she was suffering from absence seizures. This confermed what i had suspected for years,that she was having some sort of seizure. At this,I went to her peadiatrician,who referred her for an EEG. I have just had the results from that single EEg and they have said that,as there were no abnormalities on the EEG there is NO WAY she is having seizures as it did not show the typical "spike - wave pattern". Is this possible? I was always told by my neurologist that one EEG with no abnormal results did not necessarily mean that you did not have epilepsy?. She has had "blank,non-responsive" periods that last from 1 - 4 mins where she stres blankly into space all her life,to the point where my friends babies would crawl over the top of her and she wouldnt even flinch when she was tiny...and she loses control of her bladder...even at age 10...at school...for no other reason,as all others have been investigated.....which she REALLY doesn't want to do......she has them at night as well,so wont go on sleep-overs for the wet beds.....and yet the peadiatrician is saying she DEFINATELY doesn't have epilepsy....Any answers/ideas on what I do next???(In England)
onder:
In my family we have a history of Epilepsy...My nan was diagnosed at the age of 27,after battling with odd symptoms since the age of 15/16.I was diagnosed Epileptic at age 22 after suffering from seizures since the age of 14. My daughter's school suggested to me,not having a clue about the family history, that they thought she was suffering from absence seizures. This confermed what i had suspected for years,that she was having some sort of seizure. At this,I went to her peadiatrician,who referred her for an EEG. I have just had the results from that single EEg and they have said that,as there were no abnormalities on the EEG there is NO WAY she is having seizures as it did not show the typical "spike - wave pattern". Is this possible? I was always told by my neurologist that one EEG with no abnormal results did not necessarily mean that you did not have epilepsy?. She has had "blank,non-responsive" periods that last from 1 - 4 mins where she stres blankly into space all her life,to the point where my friends babies would crawl over the top of her and she wouldnt even flinch when she was tiny...and she loses control of her bladder...even at age 10...at school...for no other reason,as all others have been investigated.....which she REALLY doesn't want to do......she has them at night as well,so wont go on sleep-overs for the wet beds.....and yet the peadiatrician is saying she DEFINATELY doesn't have epilepsy....Any answers/ideas on what I do next???(In England)
onder:
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Did she exhibit any apparent seizures while the EEG was recording? The EEG only captures a moment in time.
seizure during EEG?
NO! she didn't and this is the point i tried to make,but I have been shouted down,and its not even a neurologist who is saying all this...you have to bear in mind that this has been told to my daughter's SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator) at school and I have been waiting 8 weeks for the results....it is my daughter's usual peadiatrician who has told the senco that as there wasn't any "spike - wave pattern" on the EEG,Jade does NOT have epilepsy. I was present during the EEG,and Jade did not have one of what we have always called her "moments" while we were there.Should I contact the peadiatrician personally now to request the EEG results and question her findings? I do not believe that epilepsy can be discounted after just one,fairly short EEG that did not pick up any abnormal results. I myself have on some occasions produced "normal" EEG's.Does that mean that despite suffering from daily complex partial seizures,atonic seizures and now myoclonic seizures,that I DONT have epilepsy??And I am unwittingly fracturing my jaw/walking into concrete pillars (repeatedly)/stabbing my hands/burning my arm/bum(DONT ASK!!) for the fun of it?Is she conciusly loosing control of her bladder in front of her peers and getting teased/sometimes bullied for it/missing out on sleepovers because of it for fun??? I personally am under the impression that,unfortunately, my daughter will have these "moments" until she is in her 20's when, like my Nan & I,she will also develop other seizure types.( I live in hope that she wont)
NO! she didn't and this is the point i tried to make,but I have been shouted down,and its not even a neurologist who is saying all this...you have to bear in mind that this has been told to my daughter's SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator) at school and I have been waiting 8 weeks for the results....it is my daughter's usual peadiatrician who has told the senco that as there wasn't any "spike - wave pattern" on the EEG,Jade does NOT have epilepsy. I was present during the EEG,and Jade did not have one of what we have always called her "moments" while we were there.Should I contact the peadiatrician personally now to request the EEG results and question her findings? I do not believe that epilepsy can be discounted after just one,fairly short EEG that did not pick up any abnormal results. I myself have on some occasions produced "normal" EEG's.Does that mean that despite suffering from daily complex partial seizures,atonic seizures and now myoclonic seizures,that I DONT have epilepsy??And I am unwittingly fracturing my jaw/walking into concrete pillars (repeatedly)/stabbing my hands/burning my arm/bum(DONT ASK!!) for the fun of it?Is she conciusly loosing control of her bladder in front of her peers and getting teased/sometimes bullied for it/missing out on sleepovers because of it for fun??? I personally am under the impression that,unfortunately, my daughter will have these "moments" until she is in her 20's when, like my Nan & I,she will also develop other seizure types.( I live in hope that she wont)
Ruth
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I noticed that someone said stress. Stress is a trigger for E seizures. It is for me.
After 58 years of all different kinds of seizures, a neurologist in the hospital told me that I had psuedoseizures and was not an epileptic. I got mad and I fired her. She was the only neurologist in the hospital so my general doctor took care of my epilepsy. All because, my EEG did not show up a seizure for her. An EEG only proves you are an epileptic if you have a seizure during the EEG. I have had plenty of EEG's that showed up epilepsy over the 59 years of seizures.
I think at times we might have some psuedoseizures simply the way my brain works against me. But we are epileptics and have seizures.
I usually look up the articles and I will come back and read them. I always appreciate articles on points relating to epilepsy.
After 58 years of all different kinds of seizures, a neurologist in the hospital told me that I had psuedoseizures and was not an epileptic. I got mad and I fired her. She was the only neurologist in the hospital so my general doctor took care of my epilepsy. All because, my EEG did not show up a seizure for her. An EEG only proves you are an epileptic if you have a seizure during the EEG. I have had plenty of EEG's that showed up epilepsy over the 59 years of seizures.
I think at times we might have some psuedoseizures simply the way my brain works against me. But we are epileptics and have seizures.
I usually look up the articles and I will come back and read them. I always appreciate articles on points relating to epilepsy.
Abynorml
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Ive been thinking about this subject lately, I may or may not have experienced a seizure or a pseudosiezure a while ago the jury is still out, Ive allready wrote about it once in the foyer in my introduction, a general MD wanted to yank my license and my Neurologist didnt evan think I had a seizure at all, though I was very nervous the morning that I barely spoke to him and his "staff" of medical students. Im assuming he thought I had a pseudoseizure or thinks Im an outright liar, in search of attention, believe me the last thing I wanted to do was talk about wetting the bed from what I believed was a seizure with two 20 something, very attractive med students, close to my age, it was like some kind of hell. Im scheduled for a sleep deprived EEG in the middle of the month, Im feeling alot less stress about the whole situation now, maybe cause work has issues have been resolved for the time being.
Anyways, I wanted to put my two cents in, I grew up with very bad asthma, as a kid I had coaches in school and friends who would often tell me things like my Asthma was all in my head. For some people I believe that asthma can be psychogenic, however it doesn't stop it from being able to kill you. Evan in my adult life Ive had to deal with close friends who think Im just having an asthma attack for attention or to get out of work. I really wish it was that simple. I am fortunate that in the last several years it has been extremely managable, because my enviorment changed drastically at home.
I had a house fire that got rid of really cheap carpeting and paint and lost a dog that shed profusely, it still gets bad from time to time and that when I have to really examine my life to see whats changed, much like many of you have to do with your Epilepsy.
By the way I didn't lose the Dog in the fire he was my roomates, but I think the stress of practically being homeless for 3 months lowered his immune system and he wasted away from cancer in a matter of 2 months, he was a good boy.
Anyways, I wanted to put my two cents in, I grew up with very bad asthma, as a kid I had coaches in school and friends who would often tell me things like my Asthma was all in my head. For some people I believe that asthma can be psychogenic, however it doesn't stop it from being able to kill you. Evan in my adult life Ive had to deal with close friends who think Im just having an asthma attack for attention or to get out of work. I really wish it was that simple. I am fortunate that in the last several years it has been extremely managable, because my enviorment changed drastically at home.
I had a house fire that got rid of really cheap carpeting and paint and lost a dog that shed profusely, it still gets bad from time to time and that when I have to really examine my life to see whats changed, much like many of you have to do with your Epilepsy.
By the way I didn't lose the Dog in the fire he was my roomates, but I think the stress of practically being homeless for 3 months lowered his immune system and he wasted away from cancer in a matter of 2 months, he was a good boy.
RobinN
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You might consider how food allergies, asthma, seizures, neuro issues, can go hand in had for some.
FYI - Psychogenic seizures are not faked. The brain just shuts down. The ability to stop them takes "work", to find the stressor.
I can understand why you would not want to tell your personal story in front of strangers. Hard enough to do it with a caring physician. I hope your VEEG gives you some answers. Just understand it might not.
I highly recommend though you do google searches of all of your symptoms. You might find interesting information to share with your doctor.
FYI - Psychogenic seizures are not faked. The brain just shuts down. The ability to stop them takes "work", to find the stressor.
I can understand why you would not want to tell your personal story in front of strangers. Hard enough to do it with a caring physician. I hope your VEEG gives you some answers. Just understand it might not.
I highly recommend though you do google searches of all of your symptoms. You might find interesting information to share with your doctor.
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AND one of the symptoms of gluten sensitivity is seizures and myoclonic jerks. How many people would you guess are diagnosed with seizures or mental illness\pseudoseizures who are reacting to gluten?
:mrt:
Abynorml
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I think someone might of misunderstood my point, I wasn't saying that psychogenic seizure's were fake at all. I was trying in a poor attempt to relate my experiences in life to peoples treatment of asthma as a psychogenic disorder, I don't know if there is any real proof of asthma actually being psychogenic, but I have known people who have had asthma that said it was... course eventually there back on an inhaler or some drug again at some point.
My point being even the people who profess that there asthma was psychogenic had episodes where they were hospitalized and could of died, so would it matter if the disease was psychogenic?
I know Im kinda comparing apple to oranges.
theres an interesting article from 1941 on the psychogenic factors in asthma
its old but its interesting. Id post a link but cant, its easy to google though.
My point being even the people who profess that there asthma was psychogenic had episodes where they were hospitalized and could of died, so would it matter if the disease was psychogenic?
I know Im kinda comparing apple to oranges.
theres an interesting article from 1941 on the psychogenic factors in asthma
its old but its interesting. Id post a link but cant, its easy to google though.
Abynorml
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Actually got me reading on the subject, its interesting that some people with asthma may have what is believed to be allergic asthmatic symptoms and psychogenic symptoms, kinda like some people have both epileptic and psychogenic seizures.
Im kind of rambling now. Sorry.
Im kind of rambling now. Sorry.
Ruth
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Hi Abynorml
You were not rambling and you do not have to be sorry. I welcome you to CWE. It is great to have you here. You are reading and learning about epilepsy. That is important.
I believe you are right, some epileptics have both epileptic and psychogenic seizures. How asthma plays into the picture, I do not know. I would have to study that.
You were not rambling and you do not have to be sorry. I welcome you to CWE. It is great to have you here. You are reading and learning about epilepsy. That is important.
I believe you are right, some epileptics have both epileptic and psychogenic seizures. How asthma plays into the picture, I do not know. I would have to study that.
pseudo or not?
My little sis has had seizures for over 10 years now. Things have gotten really bad for her in the past few months. She is now seeing a new doc and he believes she may have pseudo seizures. Here is why...when she has a seizure she grips her stomach or her arms above the elbow so forcefully that she bruises and cuts her skin to the point of bleeding. The doc said he's never seen patients hurt themselves like that during a seizure. She has petit mals frequently and has had about 6 grand mals since the first one 10 years ago. Does hurting oneself in this way validate pseudo seizures? He wants to start all new tests (eeg, mri, etc...) because he said she was labeled epileptic and he wants to make sure the diagnosis is correct. He also wants her to see a psychiatrist for her severe depression. She is on lamictal and zonegran, both mention depression as a side effect. I'm gald they are looking into things again but it seems insensitive to put all this on her, maybe it's all the toxic drugs they keep trying on her making her depressed? Does anyone else hurt themselves in this way during a seizure? Any advise or info would be much appreciated.
My little sis has had seizures for over 10 years now. Things have gotten really bad for her in the past few months. She is now seeing a new doc and he believes she may have pseudo seizures. Here is why...when she has a seizure she grips her stomach or her arms above the elbow so forcefully that she bruises and cuts her skin to the point of bleeding. The doc said he's never seen patients hurt themselves like that during a seizure. She has petit mals frequently and has had about 6 grand mals since the first one 10 years ago. Does hurting oneself in this way validate pseudo seizures? He wants to start all new tests (eeg, mri, etc...) because he said she was labeled epileptic and he wants to make sure the diagnosis is correct. He also wants her to see a psychiatrist for her severe depression. She is on lamictal and zonegran, both mention depression as a side effect. I'm gald they are looking into things again but it seems insensitive to put all this on her, maybe it's all the toxic drugs they keep trying on her making her depressed? Does anyone else hurt themselves in this way during a seizure? Any advise or info would be much appreciated.
HA. Why
doesn't that doctor take the time to ask the witnesses to my seizures how it is that I have broken bones and furniture, for that matter, and not known it, because I do them IN MY SLEEP? I've broken bones in my neck, back, and who knows where else. We won't even discuss the things I've managed to break during a seizure. And the BRUISES and the completely-bitten-through-on-both-sides tongue? :soap: Sorry, I'm off my soapbox now. :bigsmile:
GOOD GRIEF, that guy is nutty. I think perhaps it is time your sister does some doctor shopping. Sure, the doctor merry-go-round is a pain in the arse, but I think it may be worth it in this case.
WHEW. I haven't gotten that lit up in a while. Sorry.
Meetz
doesn't that doctor take the time to ask the witnesses to my seizures how it is that I have broken bones and furniture, for that matter, and not known it, because I do them IN MY SLEEP? I've broken bones in my neck, back, and who knows where else. We won't even discuss the things I've managed to break during a seizure. And the BRUISES and the completely-bitten-through-on-both-sides tongue? :soap: Sorry, I'm off my soapbox now. :bigsmile:
GOOD GRIEF, that guy is nutty. I think perhaps it is time your sister does some doctor shopping. Sure, the doctor merry-go-round is a pain in the arse, but I think it may be worth it in this case.
WHEW. I haven't gotten that lit up in a while. Sorry.
Meetz