Weird Spells, please help! - Mental Health Message Board

gel2005 · 05-01-2008, 07:19 AM

I am looking for answers for my brother who is now 26 years old. He has these "spells" where his eyes glass over and he go into rants. Mom says that he will do things that are off character for him. He will cuss, he will confess to things and he goes on and on about how he is a horrible person. Some are longer then others and he can usually feel them coming on. He hide them for a while. I think that they started when he was 19 or so. He just had to of these spells yesterday and these were the first ones he has had in 2 years. He has been to Drs and had MRIs and stuff done too. They are very scary and he isn't all there during them. He had one while driving once, but fortunately my BIL was there to get him to pull over so he could drive. I am told that you have to talk to him very calmly and it is very easy to upset him while he is in one of these spells. The one he had yesterday last two hours. He can remember things that happen, but not a lot of what he says or does. He has a wife and 2 young daughters and we are all looking for answers. These spells seem to be brought on by lack of sleep, caffeine and stress. We are all looking for answers and I was just wandering if anyone could shed any insight on any of this. My mom thinks that it could possibly be a side effect of drugs that he took when he was younger, my dad thinks it is a neurological problem. ANy insight that you can give is greatly appreciated!

e847 · 05-01-2008, 08:19 PM

Have you looked at anxiety, ocd or the mania phase of bipolar? They say stress makes it worse. My dad is bipolar and has ocd and lived undiagnosed for a long time. He seemed to have a quick fuse in starting arguments and we had some dandies of blowups over stupid stuff, with him ranting on and on about us, colleges, jobs, the tv remote, how the world wasn't fair, etc. I wish we'd known more then about what he was dealing with rather than just writing things off as "that's weird" or lashing back.

I'm glad it sounds like you and your family is supportive of your brother. That must mean a lot to him. Sorry to hear he does that and everybody has to deal with it. What other stuff does he do?

Best of luck in your search, gel. I hope you find answers.

gel2005 · 05-02-2008, 04:41 AM

The Spells seem to be the big thing. I don't live near him, so it is hard for me to observe myself. He was diagnosed as ADHD as a child and has dyslexia. He also has some OCD tendencies. He is a very skinny boy no matter how much he eats. He it 6 feet tall and weighs 145lbs. He is pretty laid back for the most part and really doesn't talk about his feelings to the family too much. He is always tired, but he works a lot and has some long hours and finds it hard to get a lot of sleep. He did have a Dr tell him once that it was a form of seizure that he has, but they don't know what causes it or how to stop it. I just don't know if I buy that.

e847 · 05-03-2008, 12:22 AM

Does the doctor think he has seizures in his sleep plus the daytime changes? I've not heard of seizures where people could rant and rave intelligibly during them. Or drive. Don't some states have driving restrictions regarding epilepsy? Might be good to check into that if he is for sure having them. Have you gone for second opinion?

Another thing comes to mind - but I'm wary of just throwing it about - is dissociation. I've lost time and doctor thought was seizures at first, but the tests nixed that for us, especially with the other stuff I was doing. Seems like people agree that dissociation happens moer often with extreme stress, trigger? Sleeplessness also could show similarly.

gel2005 · 05-06-2008, 12:39 PM

No, the Dr was trying to say that these "spells" were seizers, but not epilepsy. I really don't think that is the case though, but I am no Dr. No they haven't gone for a second opinion, they have a hard time convincing him that he needs to be seen. I did find out a little more though. He told my sister that when he has one of these spells it is like a puzzle with missing pieces that he can't put together. He also is very depressed and sometimes suicidal during these spells. I have looked at disassociation and I have thrown that idea out there. I have also thought of psychosis. He also is next to impossible to wake up from sleep and he can fall to sleep anytime any place. He has fallen to sleep driving and standing up at a football game. Other then the sleep thing he has not other issues when he does not have one of these spells.