FrJackHackett
08-26-2003, 11:57 PM
All right, here is one which utterly mystifies me. At the outset I consider it most unlikely that light will be shed on it but I shall post anyway - you never know.
I am male, 56, health has always been first class and still is. In the ten year period 1993 - 2003 I have experienced, at roughly two year intervals (well, almost exactly two year intervals actually) mental "episodes". What happens is this. I shall be as brief as possible.
I begin, sometimes quite suddenly, to experience what I can only describe as a tremendously intense deja-vu, as if my brain has suddenly begun to cross-reference itself with false, extremely vivid memories. The first one (May 1993) occurred just before we were due to go out to a restaurant and I seriously doubted my ability to go through with the exercise. I sat down in the wrong position at our dining room table, I began using the wrong key to start the car ... various other things like this. It lasted about an hour and really shook me up. In fact though, I returned to normal rapidly and aside from being severely worried there remained only a slight but pleasant weariness.
I saw the doctor the following week, he admitted defeat and sent me to more specialised people. I went through a gamut of all sorts of tests, mental and physical. The diagnosis returned to my G.P. was that probably (emphasis on probably) I had had an isolated hypoglycaemic dip.
Since then I have had "episodes" on 2/5/93, 17/6/95, 18/11/97, 14/4/2001 and 16/6/03. They ALWAYS occur late in the afternoon, about 17:00, and never (yet) at any other time. Notice how they are so striking that I cannot forget the dates. Aside from minor alarm, I have been fully in possession of my faculties during them (except the first, which I think perhaps caused its effects by virtue of shock of the unexpected)I have tested myself during them, and I have been able to solve difficult mathematical problems and play difficult piano pieces during them. My long and short term memory seem completely unaffected.
One thing though - ingestion of a reasonable quantity of honey, sugar or glucose during one does NOTHING at all. It runs its course over an hour or two regardless. Therefore am I right to doubt the expert's diagnosis ?
Obviously, there's no real point in scheduling a whole new investigation. They haven't become more frequent and are certainly no worse - I feel I'd just be wasting everybody's time. I make sure my doctor keeps a note of them but beyond that the whole thing's a mystery.
But why every two years and only every two years ? I've racked my brains for some common thread - something I've done, something I've eaten ... I cannot think of anything I haven't done or eaten at other times.
It wouldn't matter, only these "episodes" are so peculiar, so distinctive, so utterly unlike being in a normal state.
Has anybody any ideas ?
I might add that my family and friends notice nothing unusual about me or my behaviour at these times when I feel so strange. After the initial diagnosis I made several attempts to generate symptoms by not eating, exercising flat out and so on but could not. There is some diabetes in one branch of my father's family, but only in individuals well over seventy years of age. I have hardly had a headache in my life - just don't get them. I am getting slightly shortsighted and have very mild tinnitus - always was there off and on. But no visual or aural problems to speak of. I have never smoked, never used drugs, I take medicine seldom and with reluctance, and enjoy only the occasional drink.
[This message has been edited by FrJackHackett (edited 08-27-2003).]
[This message has been edited by FrJackHackett (edited 08-27-2003).]
I am male, 56, health has always been first class and still is. In the ten year period 1993 - 2003 I have experienced, at roughly two year intervals (well, almost exactly two year intervals actually) mental "episodes". What happens is this. I shall be as brief as possible.
I begin, sometimes quite suddenly, to experience what I can only describe as a tremendously intense deja-vu, as if my brain has suddenly begun to cross-reference itself with false, extremely vivid memories. The first one (May 1993) occurred just before we were due to go out to a restaurant and I seriously doubted my ability to go through with the exercise. I sat down in the wrong position at our dining room table, I began using the wrong key to start the car ... various other things like this. It lasted about an hour and really shook me up. In fact though, I returned to normal rapidly and aside from being severely worried there remained only a slight but pleasant weariness.
I saw the doctor the following week, he admitted defeat and sent me to more specialised people. I went through a gamut of all sorts of tests, mental and physical. The diagnosis returned to my G.P. was that probably (emphasis on probably) I had had an isolated hypoglycaemic dip.
Since then I have had "episodes" on 2/5/93, 17/6/95, 18/11/97, 14/4/2001 and 16/6/03. They ALWAYS occur late in the afternoon, about 17:00, and never (yet) at any other time. Notice how they are so striking that I cannot forget the dates. Aside from minor alarm, I have been fully in possession of my faculties during them (except the first, which I think perhaps caused its effects by virtue of shock of the unexpected)I have tested myself during them, and I have been able to solve difficult mathematical problems and play difficult piano pieces during them. My long and short term memory seem completely unaffected.
One thing though - ingestion of a reasonable quantity of honey, sugar or glucose during one does NOTHING at all. It runs its course over an hour or two regardless. Therefore am I right to doubt the expert's diagnosis ?
Obviously, there's no real point in scheduling a whole new investigation. They haven't become more frequent and are certainly no worse - I feel I'd just be wasting everybody's time. I make sure my doctor keeps a note of them but beyond that the whole thing's a mystery.
But why every two years and only every two years ? I've racked my brains for some common thread - something I've done, something I've eaten ... I cannot think of anything I haven't done or eaten at other times.
It wouldn't matter, only these "episodes" are so peculiar, so distinctive, so utterly unlike being in a normal state.
Has anybody any ideas ?
I might add that my family and friends notice nothing unusual about me or my behaviour at these times when I feel so strange. After the initial diagnosis I made several attempts to generate symptoms by not eating, exercising flat out and so on but could not. There is some diabetes in one branch of my father's family, but only in individuals well over seventy years of age. I have hardly had a headache in my life - just don't get them. I am getting slightly shortsighted and have very mild tinnitus - always was there off and on. But no visual or aural problems to speak of. I have never smoked, never used drugs, I take medicine seldom and with reluctance, and enjoy only the occasional drink.
[This message has been edited by FrJackHackett (edited 08-27-2003).]
[This message has been edited by FrJackHackett (edited 08-27-2003).]
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pdrq221
08-27-2003, 02:27 AM
My dad is a neurologist. I'll ask him what he thinks.
normorcrazy
08-27-2003, 01:31 PM
I have experienced something like that, but they said it was due to panic disorder. However, before they came to that conclusion a neurologist said it sounded as though I may be having petit mal seizures. Have you looked into that? I understood it as you don't have to have the typical stare like most people. You can actually have them throughout the day and never even know. I wish you luck on finding what's going on. I know it has to be frustrating. Take care and please keep us posted.
FrJackHackett
08-27-2003, 05:48 PM
Thanks for the suggestion, normorcrazy. Yes, I had thought of minor epilepsy at the beginning but assumed that the experts must have eliminated it for some reason. I haven't actually asked anybody specifically why. Perhaps I shall do that next time I have my annual check-up. It's definitely not worth a special visit to the doctor; I don't want to precipitate a round of duplicate tests.
Anyway, I had an "episode" eight weeks ago so I'm 99% sure I shan't have another until around May 2005. Silly, isn't it.
Anyway, I had an "episode" eight weeks ago so I'm 99% sure I shan't have another until around May 2005. Silly, isn't it.
zuzu8
08-28-2003, 01:27 PM
Hi- Your tale is fascinating. The whole concept of deja vu is fascinating and has intrigued philosphers and clinicians (and most of us lay folk!) for centuries.
Given that these episodes of yours are so infrequent and seem to have no sequlae that interferes with your health and life, it seems clear that there is nothing pathalogically serious going on.
But "regular" déjà vu in general, as you must know, is pretty common; in formal studies 70% or more of the population report having experienced it at least once...But I haven't read much about protracted episodes like yours.
A clinical correlation has been found between the experience of déjà vu and disorders such as schizophrenia and anxiety, and the likelihood of the experience increases considerably with people who have these conditions.
But the strongest pathological association of déjà vu is with temporal lobe epilepsy. This correlation has led some researchers to speculate that the experience of déjà vu is possibly a neurological anomaly related to improper electrical discharge in the brain.
Most of us suffer a really mild (ie. non-pathological) epileptic episode regularly (eg. the sudden "jolt" that frequently occurs just prior to falling asleep), and it is conjectured that a similar (mild) neurological aberration occurs in the experience of déjà vu, resulting in this bizarre phenomenon of erroneous "memory".
If these episodes of yours are indeed some kind of epileptic "event", probably no neurologist would be able to diagnose it unless they were brain-scanning or testing you while you were in the throes of an episode! If they were more frequent, that might be a different story..... I would bet money that in between, all your brain- wave activity etc. is totally normal.
What's REALLY interesting about you is the weird timing of these things. Every two years.
Can't even BEGIN to figure that out!
zuzu xxx
Given that these episodes of yours are so infrequent and seem to have no sequlae that interferes with your health and life, it seems clear that there is nothing pathalogically serious going on.
But "regular" déjà vu in general, as you must know, is pretty common; in formal studies 70% or more of the population report having experienced it at least once...But I haven't read much about protracted episodes like yours.
A clinical correlation has been found between the experience of déjà vu and disorders such as schizophrenia and anxiety, and the likelihood of the experience increases considerably with people who have these conditions.
But the strongest pathological association of déjà vu is with temporal lobe epilepsy. This correlation has led some researchers to speculate that the experience of déjà vu is possibly a neurological anomaly related to improper electrical discharge in the brain.
Most of us suffer a really mild (ie. non-pathological) epileptic episode regularly (eg. the sudden "jolt" that frequently occurs just prior to falling asleep), and it is conjectured that a similar (mild) neurological aberration occurs in the experience of déjà vu, resulting in this bizarre phenomenon of erroneous "memory".
If these episodes of yours are indeed some kind of epileptic "event", probably no neurologist would be able to diagnose it unless they were brain-scanning or testing you while you were in the throes of an episode! If they were more frequent, that might be a different story..... I would bet money that in between, all your brain- wave activity etc. is totally normal.
What's REALLY interesting about you is the weird timing of these things. Every two years.
Can't even BEGIN to figure that out!
zuzu xxx
FrJackHackett
08-28-2003, 08:51 PM
Zuzu,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful post. As well as the two-year peculiarity there is also the question of the time of day - always within an hour of 17:00, usually before dinner, usually after my exercise session, which fact no doubt helped lead to the original diagnosis. But if it is simply sugar level, then it hardly seems likely it wouldn't happen a lot more often and at other random times and dates.
It is extremely difficult to convey in words what I feel during an episode; I can only do it by metaphor. "Deja-vu" is reasonable but the sensation is much more powerful than the normal deja-vu, which I have at many other times as most people do.
Imagine images in mirrors. Imagine that these mirrors suddenly faced one another, which situation is easy to experiment with and familiar to us all, and created multiple, tangled infinite regressions of images. Now imagine that the mirrors are your brain and the images are your thoughts, and you might get a pretty good idea of how I feel during an episode.
I have learned to avoid trying to think into these regressions; that leads to a tangled mess of thoughts about thoughts, visions of visions and, in one or two episodes, made me come close to feeling physically ill. I either lie down and make my mind a blank or engage myself in a demanding task (e.g. playing the piano). So that's another puzzle - it would seem that my conscious mind can still take control.
After an episode I experience an abnormally delicious lethargy and feeling of well-being, but of course this might just be nothing more than relief that it's over.
Thanks again for your interest; I appreciate it.
Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful post. As well as the two-year peculiarity there is also the question of the time of day - always within an hour of 17:00, usually before dinner, usually after my exercise session, which fact no doubt helped lead to the original diagnosis. But if it is simply sugar level, then it hardly seems likely it wouldn't happen a lot more often and at other random times and dates.
It is extremely difficult to convey in words what I feel during an episode; I can only do it by metaphor. "Deja-vu" is reasonable but the sensation is much more powerful than the normal deja-vu, which I have at many other times as most people do.
Imagine images in mirrors. Imagine that these mirrors suddenly faced one another, which situation is easy to experiment with and familiar to us all, and created multiple, tangled infinite regressions of images. Now imagine that the mirrors are your brain and the images are your thoughts, and you might get a pretty good idea of how I feel during an episode.
I have learned to avoid trying to think into these regressions; that leads to a tangled mess of thoughts about thoughts, visions of visions and, in one or two episodes, made me come close to feeling physically ill. I either lie down and make my mind a blank or engage myself in a demanding task (e.g. playing the piano). So that's another puzzle - it would seem that my conscious mind can still take control.
After an episode I experience an abnormally delicious lethargy and feeling of well-being, but of course this might just be nothing more than relief that it's over.
Thanks again for your interest; I appreciate it.