Walls, ceiling, and floor are moving. WHY?

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asdf1996

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I'm going to a neurologist on Tuesday to determine what's wrong with me, but I exhibit many symptoms of epilepsy, yet nothing shows up on an EEG.
I already have migraines, but I also have an extremely rare neurological condition called Persistent Aura without Infarction, a member of the Visual Snow entity, which was decided as 'not a migraine complication, but a new disease entity' last year. Basically my vision looks like it's covered in visual snow, except way worse since I'm missing parts of my peripheral vision and experience pretty severe palinopsia I also have ADHD and GAD, and was born with dyspraxia.

So, there's that. But the real problem I'm asking about is that for most of my life, I have had these really strange symptoms that no one could explain to me. It took me just last year to realize that they were all symptoms of partial seizures. Now, whether I'm having seizures or not, I'm not diagnosed with them, so any help regarding this is appreciated. I also understand that asking this online doesn't mean that I will be diagnosed, I just want to see if there are any similarities with epilepsy. Also, I am sixteen, which means I've had PAWOI for three years now.

-Auditory hallucinations. These include music, and ringing noises, like from a telephone or alarm clock. Many times I will go to look for the offending object only to realize that it isn't even on, and when covering my ears I can still hear it perfectly.

-Sometimes things randomly smell like metal and/or strange chemicals. These only last for a couple seconds, and it's almost like I lost my sense of smell since they're so strong. Happens in places where there would be no such smell, like my Spanish class. Sometimes things randomly taste like metal too, but this is less common. Happens to me very often.

-I space out and time will pass without me realizing it. It's almost like time 'skips' forward. Occasionally this will get so bad that I'll blink and be in a different room, and I won't know how I got there. Afterwards I have trouble talking and I get really confused. I know this could be ADHD, but something about this just doesn't seem right.

-Experiencing intense bouts of confusion. I won't be able to remember anything and at most times won't know what I'm doing. It will take me up to 10 minutes to do a simple task, like opening my locker, because I'll forget where it is, or what I'm doing. I get this strange sensation that I'm kind of like in a cloud. It's like feeling "blurry", if that was possible.

-Learning difficulties. I can do advanced math but have trouble with simple calculations. I also write words and letters upside down and backwards. I'm being tested for dyslexia.

-Visual Hallucinations. I know this is a crap-shoot category for me, since the juggernaut PAWOI came through and destroyed my vision, but sometimes I experience colored shapes (mostly squares and circles) moving across my vision, along with metamorphasia, which isn't supposed to be a symptom of PAWOI. Who knows though, it might be. I get it way too often.

-Visual Distortions. This is an incredibly INSANE symptom that I have no control over and is probably one of the scariest things I've experienced. For some reason, I don't really know why, the walls will start moving towards me. Like, actual moving, like I would get out of the way because it looks like it's going to hit me. Then I'll look up and see the ceiling doing the same thing, like it's going to crush me! The floor will start moving, like it's melted and turned into water. Things like windows will become twisted, like metamorphasia but waaaay worse. Things will sink into other things, like they've been melted. Other times the walls will start breathing or curve over me. Sometimes I feel like I was displaced to the left or right, or that my vision is turned sideways or slanted. WHAT IS THIS?! The only things I found that resemble this are Todd's syndrome and parietal lobe epilepsy, and I don't experience most of the symptoms associated with Todd's.

Please help me. I don't know what's wrong with me, and I don't want to be diagnosed with silent migraine. Nobody knows anything about silent migraine and there isn't much I could do except take anti-seizure meds. When I went on topamax these symptoms stopped, along with half of my PAWOI, but it had way too many side effects. Beta-blockers and anti-depressants aren't an option for me. I'm almost positive I have parietal lobe epilepsy but I'm not a doctor and I can't say for certain.
 
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Hi and welcome to CWE!

I exhibit many symptoms of epilepsy, yet nothing shows up on an EEG.
The EEG isn't infallible. In fact many seizures -- particularly partials -- can be too fleeting, or originate too deep in the brain to register. Frontal and temporal seizures can be especially tricky to pick up.

Basically, I'd say if it looks, like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... it's a duck.

If your symptoms are identical to classic simple partials, and have responded to an anti-seizure meds, then epilepsy seems a pretty logical diagnosis. Regardless of diagnosis, if you gained some relief from anti-seizure meds, then you might try again -- there are a lot of different meds out there, and one may be a better fit than the Topomax.

Best,
Nakamova
 
Yep,you hit it on the nail. Topamax. And these siezures are so deep in the brain you never see them in a video eeg. I hear music it shows up. But my friend has those when the wall moves she feels strange and her eyes see strange things. I know since she has been on Keppra and topamax she is doing much better.
 
Hey asdf1996,
I was a lifeguard for years so I have some understanding of seizures and epilepsy, definitely not these deep mind seizures so I can't comment on that. I can however say that these "time lapses" where you end up in a different room sound a lot like absent seizures. Unlike most, these do not consist of rapid muscle convulsion, and the actual "seize." Instead, these most often are identified as a loss of conscious. This loss of consciousness is different, however, and does not consist of a comatose state where you would fall to the ground. It is much more similar to sleep walking, where the subject will space out, possibly stand, staring in one direction, and will walk to a different location for no reason whatsoever. This is often accompanied by subtle, repetitive movements such as pinching at a piece of clothing over and over, and the victim will often respond to stimuli as if they were asleep. The recovery can be scary, as the person will likely be disoriented and fatigued. I would definitely look into this as the person often has no recollection of how they arrived where they were.
I really hope this can shed some light on your situation,
All the best,
-Matt
 
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I have complex partials with impairment of consciousness. I have had simple and complex partials like you are describing. I see and hear people, sense of smell goes through the roof, etc. I have become really tall (like Alice in Wonderland). I have also lost time and "come to" really confused (didn't even know who I was). My EEG's and MRI's have always come back clean. I also tried Topamax - the side effects made it almost impossible to teach. I am now on lamotrigine and gabapentin.

Hang in there!
 
I hear a door shut every freakin morning...over and over again. I have nocturnal seizures and it takes my brain a few minutes adjust when I first wake up so the first 15 minutes of being awake are full of auditory hallucinations. It's the same door and the same sound. Good luck on Tuesday (today?)
 
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