PLease Help Diagnose! - Epilepsy Message Board

Hydroxpl · 08-26-2003, 03:43 AM

Ok this is a serious problem i've had for at least a couple of years now. I am 17 going on 18 years old. At first it was no big deal I guess, but it got worse and worse. I've been to 3 docs, 1 says I have epilepsy, 1 says I have TICS, and the other says i have a heart condition. I am pretty sure that all of them are wrong because my symptoms don't match those of the disorders the docs mentioned. I have no idea what I have and I need some of your help. Ok here is the problem:
Very frequently and I mean very frequently (I am not too sure exactly how many times a day but it's at least 10-20, some days are better maybe 5-10) I would have these feelings in my legs/arms/hand that someone's inside me is forcing me to move them. This isn't some kind of uncontrollable twitch. I feel this coming beforehand, the feeling lasts for about anywhere from 2-5 seconds before the twitch, that time allows me to stop what i am doing and just stay still, sometimes the feeling would linger for a little bit and go away, but sometimes the feeling gets more and more extreme and evetually forces me to move/jerk my arm or start limping with one leg (depending on where it happens, arm or leg). When it happens in my arms, it is a jerk/twitch and afterwards my fingers would be in a werid shape/position. And the feeling afterwards is terrible, it's like i no longer have control over my body and kinda lose consciousness, that only lasts for 1-3 seconds. The problem occurs a lot as I am standing up from a sitting position, or just start moving from a stationary position.(ex. standing up from sitting, raising dumbells after holding them in my hand, start walking from stationary standing position, start running etc. hope you get the idea) It also happens during regular activity at times but not as often. The docs aren't able to have an accurate diagnostic on me because the feeling is extremely hard to describe. The feeling is as if someone is controlling me from inside my body, I know it sounds dumb but that's as close as i can come to describing the feeling. I am trying my very best, so anyone knows of any disorder/condition thats close to this.. please help.... someone PLEASE help! ...

radasjewel · 08-26-2003, 07:31 AM

Hi Hydroxpl
Sorry to hear that this little problem is disrupting your life. I know very little about TICS and heart disorders but I have a very sound knowledge in Epilepsy. What you describe could be classified a form of Epilepsy. That feeling as if someone else is causing your action or if you have the feeling of looking at someone else in your body, well I can relate to that as a part of what they call Auora. Have you been to an actual neurologist and had an MRI or an EEG? These tests can be very useful in picking up signs of Epilepsy if you have it. What you describe could be called a complex partial siezure. Do you ever get really bad throbbing head aches? Especially after an episode? And are you really exahausted after these episodes as if you have run a marathon and want to sleep for a week? Do you know if you ever had a huge bump to your head or was deprived of oxygen for a length of time? Start keeping a log of what you were doing what time the weather and how you were feeling and your stress, tiredness and breathing as all these can contribute to a siezure. It would be helpful information if you went to a neurologist. I recomend going and seeing one as they know a lot more than most GP's (sorry to any gps out there). Hope this has helped if you need anymore advice or just want to chat I would be happy to obblige.
Lori

Hydroxpl · 08-27-2003, 07:24 PM

Thank you so much for responding. To answer your questions:

Yes, I have been to a neurologiest and I have had an MRI done. It showed nothing wrong with my brain (at least according to my neurologist), he showed the scans and explained a whole buncha stuff and concluded that it wasn't my brain. All those symptoms I do not have strangely, I play basketball and workout with great ease (though with the episodes occurring from time to time). But I do not feel extremely tired, just tired as a normal person would feel tired after a workout or basketball. I never have headaches after the episodes either. I do have a bump in the middle of the back of my head, but then my friends have it too so I am not too sure if that has anything to do with it. One thing that mite be related to what i'm having is Social Anxiety Disorder? or something similiar to that. Recently I saw a Zoloft Commercial saying that if you're extremely unsocial in social situations and think that everyone's constantly judging u, you maybe have Social Anxiety Disorder which is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. And I'm just like that... could that have an effect?

[This message has been edited by Hydroxpl (edited 08-27-2003).]

Hydroxpl · 08-29-2003, 12:37 AM

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