Hello, i am 45yr old male in a good health (well, sort of). For the last 10 yrs I have been suffering from seizure-like spells. This is how they manifest - out of nowhere (no triggers, usually when I am relaxed), I have a weird sensation in my head - hard to describe so I am not going to try. It takes just a moment, a few seconds at most. People around me do not notice - even if I am in the middle of a conversation. This "attack" is followed by a confusion, memory impairment, and general uneasiness that can last from a couple of hours to a couple of days. The frequency of these spells is about 2/month, it varies though.
I have seen by my estimate 20 doctors - some of them very good - and went through a plethora of tests (MRI, 2xEEG, you name it, i tried it). All tests came back negative. The most common diagnosis has been anxiety and/or some mild depression. I tried many medications from SSRI/SNRI to anticonvulsants (Topamax, Depakote, Lamictal) and have not observe any real improvement. Now, I agree that I have anxiety, I even accept that the cognitive impairment that follows can be caused by anxiety or some mood disorder. I just dont buy that anxiety is responsible for the sudden attacks - they are certainly not panic attacks.
What could those spells be ? If they were simple partial seizures, would I not see any improvements from anticonvulsants ? Or is it more likely I have PNES ? If so, how do I treat them ? I recently started seeing a psychologist it's just I don't know what to focus on; I didn't suffer any PTSD or anything like that.
Any advise will be much appreciated. Thank you.
I have seen by my estimate 20 doctors - some of them very good - and went through a plethora of tests (MRI, 2xEEG, you name it, i tried it). All tests came back negative. The most common diagnosis has been anxiety and/or some mild depression. I tried many medications from SSRI/SNRI to anticonvulsants (Topamax, Depakote, Lamictal) and have not observe any real improvement. Now, I agree that I have anxiety, I even accept that the cognitive impairment that follows can be caused by anxiety or some mood disorder. I just dont buy that anxiety is responsible for the sudden attacks - they are certainly not panic attacks.
What could those spells be ? If they were simple partial seizures, would I not see any improvements from anticonvulsants ? Or is it more likely I have PNES ? If so, how do I treat them ? I recently started seeing a psychologist it's just I don't know what to focus on; I didn't suffer any PTSD or anything like that.
Any advise will be much appreciated. Thank you.