Deja Vu ...kind of... - Epilepsy Message Board

LJen · 01-27-2007, 05:14 PM

I have been experiencing a very strange sensation for the past week. I am 24 year old female and have no history of any illnesses. However, last Sunday my mom was visiting and I had an overwhelming feel of deja vu, but it was very confusing. It felt like I was trying to remember something or like I was trying think of a memory word associated with my deja vu. Since then, I have had this happen from 1-3 times a day. It only lasts for 2-5 seconds. A very short period of time. It feels like I am just about to have deja vu or like I am trying to remember a certain memory, but it gets all confusing and fuzzy all of the sudden, and then it is over. It doesn't really make me have any sort of emotion, but I do get some anxiety with it just because I am worried there is something wrong with me. Oh and I am fully aware of everything around me and still very intact while this is happening. I have had some panic/axiety issues in the past, self diagnosed, but this feels a little different. My husband thinks that I am just panicking because in the past every time I had the slightest feeling of not being able to remember something I would panic that there was something wrong with me (a bit of a hypochondriac

). I wish that I could describe this in more detail, but many times I can't even remember what the clouded/confusing memory was even about. This has not happened in public yet. I have been under quite a bit of stress with work here lately, and I have just started a very hormonal mensturation--could this have an effect? Also, if you have this...can you have this alone? Or could this turn into having bigger seizures? Thanks.

IMNRVUS · 01-27-2007, 09:32 PM

Sounds to me like (sensory) simple partial seizures... or auras.
How long they last and how they feel varies with everyone.
Confusion and feeling mentally fuzzy is normal.
Anxiety and worry over your health problems is normal too.
Yes, it can happen in public, alone or in a crowd.
Stress, and monthly periods are only two of many triggers for this.
Infections, surgery, new or change in medication, breathing trouble,
sleep apnea, smelling or hearing something that makes you
remember (deja-vu), florescent lights, computer monitors, strobe or
flashing lights, sirens, alcohol or drug use, etc. etc.
Yes, it is possible to turn into other seizures.
That's why it would be in your best interest to see a neurologist ASAP.
Try to find one that is associated with a university or learning facility.
Keep a journal of everything about these feelings... what you did that day, what you ate, drank, thought of... etc. It will help the doctor.

You're not alone... Lots of people on healthboards are going through what you describe... It's worth the doctor visit to find out for sure.

lamac · 01-29-2007, 07:29 AM

My Deja vu/simple partials sound like they may have been a lot like yours. I would try to remember something or someone doing something...it would be so familiar and I may have been able to see it in my mind but not really...I would be close to remembering it and it would be gone...then a little bit of a roller coaster stomach...this happened to me for 20 years before I had a tonic clonic seizure...I didn't know they were seizures...I didn't know I had epilepsy....

Lamac

IMNRVUS · 01-29-2007, 08:48 AM

Depending on WHY people have seizures is important. You can have a seizure disorder WITHOUT having epilepsy. I have never been diagnosed with epilepsy... just a seizure disorder.

lamac · 01-29-2007, 11:51 AM

IMNRVUS...that is an interesting comment...about the epilepsy/seizure disorder...according to my neuro...anyone who has seizures...whether they are controlled or not...has epilepsy...and epilepsy and seizure disorders are one and the same. She says...epilepsy in and of itself is the condition of have seizures...the condition can be for a wide variety of reasons...but most often it is not known why...Anyone else hear this???

Lamac