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11ddebb · 02-22-2008, 06:07 PM

For quite awhile now, I've been having these 'episodes'...they only last a minute or two, and there's no physical movement involved. I get this deja vu feeling, like everything that's being said and done around me has already happened, and everythings seems very surreal. I have trouble responding to people verbally if they're talking to me when this happens. I can still walk and function physically. Sometimes this will happen 2 or 3 times in a single day, some days it won't happen at all.
I've read that this is a type of epilepsy...has anyone else experienced this or anything similar?
Before reading about it, I talked to my doctor and tried to explain what was happening, and she said she wasn't familiar with any condition with the symptoms I was describing.
Maybe I'm just losing my mind?
I'd very much appreciate any info or similar experiences you'd care to share...
Thanks so much,
Deb

going2forward · 02-22-2008, 08:28 PM

I have had this happen before. Not very often, but I always think about them being a seizure. And there are times I get confused since it feels like so much deja vu, like I have already had to put up with it before.

PurpleRose · 02-22-2008, 08:57 PM

Hello, Deb. Yes, these identical things happen to me all throughout the day. I have epilepsy. What it sounds like you're experiencing are epileptic auras, actually partial seizures. I urge you to see a neurologist about this if you're able to. PCPs, as yours admitted, oftentimes just aren't knowledgeable enough about this neurological illness to be much, if any, help in properly treating it. Rest assured you are NOT losing your mind. The sooner you see a neurologist, the more at ease you will be. Fear of the unknown is the worst fear really. Keep in touch. I'm routing for you.

momcat4 · 02-23-2008, 12:36 PM

Migraine headaches can also cause symptoms like these. My daughter has these and other symptoms, too, and she has had several tests to figure out what is going on. She also questioned if she was loosing her mind. Of course, she wasn't! The symptoms are real! She is now taking topamax (used for both conditions) and has found some relief. Because the symptoms of some types of epilepsy and migraines mirror each other so closely, only a neurologist can help you determine what the actual cause is. Good luck!

verdean53 · 02-23-2008, 04:03 PM

Hi Deb- Your description sounds just like the simple partial seizures I have experienced. My suggestion to you is get a neurologist involved and ask for a 2nd opinion. You may want to have a neurologist order a battery of tests for you. I had my first seizure 38 years ago and the first 2 Dr.'s I saw agreed I had seizures but didn't have any reasonable solutions. Dr #3 ( a neurologist) order the necessary tests to diagnose my seizures as epilepsy and rule out several other causes. After you have a diagnosis you can move into treatment mode. Good luck

lindalou56 · 02-25-2008, 07:59 AM

sounds like your having auras

lamac · 02-26-2008, 08:39 AM

Yup...I agree with the group here. I was having very similar feelings. I had them for over 20 years before I was diagnosed with Epilepsy. They were very deja vu like and sometimes I actually enjoyed them. Mine were not diagnosed until they generalized and I had some Tonic Clonic seizures. I have met general practitioners who have not heard much about simple partial seizures. A neurologist or Epileptologist (???...not sure if I spelled that right) is who you should see.

Lamac

killer5879 · 02-26-2008, 10:43 AM

I can't say I've enjoyed my partial simple seizures (or 1 tonic clonic). Being in a brain fog zone much of the time has presented a number of challenges. The good news is that they are not nearly as incapacitating as most other forms of eplipesy. The bad news is that, like mine, they can be difficult to treat. One more trip to the neuro and I'm off to see a specialist. Good luck to all.

11ddebb · 02-26-2008, 04:53 PM

Thank you so much, everyone, for your replies! It helps me just to know that I'm not alone in having these experiences!
Now I just need to find a good neurologist...
Deb

JulJul22 · 02-27-2008, 01:52 PM

Deb,

Itâ€™s sounds as if you are having simply partial seizures. I have been having them for 11 years now. Although you will have to go through a battery of tests, MRI, EEG, possibly ambulatory eegs, eng, you will survive and get answers. There are different types of migraines that do resemble SPS though so you defiantly have to get medicated.

11ddebb · 02-28-2008, 10:21 AM

I've been having these seizures for a few years now...sometimes I'll go for days or even weeks without one, and then sometimes I'll have several in one day.
Does anyone know...do they usually progress into more serious types of seizures, or do they tend to just stay the same?
Thanks so much,
Deb

PurpleRose · 02-28-2008, 02:24 PM

Hi, again, Deb. There is no set pattern. For the first 25 years I had partial complex seizures, and for the past ten years I've also had the drop down seizures, where I pass out and fall to the ground, but do not convulse. But I've only had 4 drop downs in ten years. It's hard for anyone to know what may happen, because they sometimes stay the same, and sometimes they vary in people, as in getting worse, or going away (which is less common). That's why it's important to have regular appointments with a neurologist. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

killer5879 · 02-29-2008, 06:06 AM

My experience, as well as those of many others who relate their situation on this board, is that the only pattern regarding seizures is that there often is no pattern. It can be quite frustrating but it seems the only alternatives we have are to be patient, informed and willing to work closely with our neuro.

11ddebb · 03-01-2008, 05:20 PM

Another question...have any of you experienced seizures related to certain medications? My doctor prescribed xanax several years ago for anxiety, and even though I can't specifically link the seizures I've had to taking xanax, I don't remember having these seizures before I started taking it. I take a pretty low dose, 1/2 to 1 mg once or twice a day usually.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
Deb

030free · 03-01-2008, 10:32 PM

Hi Deb, I just read about your situations and 2 start there are no specific times or patterns (as previously mentioned) for seizure attacks, unfortunatly seizures come and go as they please regardless sometimes of the meds you take due to other enviromental and personal effects; such as stress, illnesses, drastic changes in your life, hormones, and the list go on. In regards to xanax it can affect the E meds and decrease its effects, at least it did in my case 8 years back. Xanax is a strong med on it on used to treat anxiety but they dont mention its secondary affects like addiction, decrease of the E meds, and many others. After I stop using mine I realized I only needed it while on it, but my mom stopped them and I felt better, anxiety its related closely to epilepsy and spych prescribe meds without realizing they make the matters worst. Speak to your neuro and ask him/her for other solutions. Best of luck

KYGIRL392 · 03-05-2008, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 11ddebb

For quite awhile now, I've been having these 'episodes'...they only last a minute or two, and there's no physical movement involved. I get this deja vu feeling, like everything that's being said and done around me has already happened, and everythings seems very surreal. I have trouble responding to people verbally if they're talking to me when this happens. I can still walk and function physically. Sometimes this will happen 2 or 3 times in a single day, some days it won't happen at all.
I've read that this is a type of epilepsy...has anyone else experienced this or anything similar?
Before reading about it, I talked to my doctor and tried to explain what was happening, and she said she wasn't familiar with any condition with the symptoms I was describing.
Maybe I'm just losing my mind?
I'd very much appreciate any info or similar experiences you'd care to share...
Thanks so much,
Deb

DEB, my daughter has a type of epilepsy called absence seizures. she doesnt drop to the floor and convulse and i am extremely grateful for that. what she does do is daze of into space and get this lost look in her eyes. sometimes she'll talk to you right threw it and sometimes not.she had several indicators,some of them a neuro will tell you is not even a symptom but it is. like sleeping alot, dizziness, deja vue, even hallucinations. there was a time when she would get completely scared, and to be honest it really started to scare me too, but she would see and hear conversations and people who were not there. i know how crazy that sounds but we discovered that her mind was replaying instances that occured while she was having a previous seizure, only her mind showed it to her at a later time. now that to be honest is a scary situation for a 9 year old and for me. i would get checked out for it, also, they do this windmill test, i dont know if they do it on adults but as far as my daughter went she passed it with flying colors, the only reason the doctor did the eeg to begin with was to satisfy me and even told me so. i'm glad that i was persistant because the test indicated that she was having multiple ( hundreds of seizures) within one hour, but like i said, the standard test they do that they tell you will tell if there is presence of seizures was wrong. you just have to know your own body and be very insistant on finding out what is wrong, doctors are not always right. my daughter had the same symptoms for over 4 years before it was found. when i went to the doctor that day i was afraid that after my own research that she may have narcolepsy because of the sleeping, my persistance paid off and probably gave my daughter a chance at a normal life. before that she was miserable and seeing a doctor atleast once a week for her symptoms.

amanda1019 · 03-05-2008, 04:38 PM

Deb,

I too urge you to see a doctor. I was having similar episodes, i called them my dizzy spells. I had them for years even talked to a few docs about it, they ran all kids of tests and came back with nothing. It was so frustrating. I started keeping a diary and noticed they were happening every month around the new moon. This information seemed to make people think i was even more nuts than they already did. Finally one day my questions were answered when i had a grand mal seizure immediately following one. Since then, I rarely get a dizzy spell with out a grand mal

Not saying you too will have grand mals but its a good idea to get things checked out anyway. Make sure to tell your doctors that you suspect seizures or else you are likely to get the same run around that I did for 10 years.

VA_girl · 03-05-2008, 06:32 PM

I had that de ja vu feeling for a few years, and then I would blank out. After having my "episodes" without telling anyone for a few years and they got to the blank out point, I was driving and totaled my car. I was then diagonosed with epilepsy. So it sounds like you have it too. Then after being on meds for about 6 years, the seizures just got worse and worse. This all started about 15 years ago for me.

Riston · 03-27-2008, 07:24 PM

I have Right Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and I have had symptoms like yours. I can be talking to someone or just ridding in a car, suddenly, I will have deja Vu episodes. Like you, I have trouble speaking for a few minutes but then the deja vu will pass.

I have heard that people who do not have Epilepsy also have deja vu so perhaps you should ask your doctor to give you an EEG.

Good Luck,
Riston

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