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Deja vu and Epilepsy

Sat, 09/06/2008 - 19:09

Ok I'm going to give a short version and a long version, as the long one might be too long for many...

SHORT:

-I'm 23, have had 5-6 deja vu episodes in 3-4 weeks. Daydream alot and have fleeting thoughts of normal things seeming weird or funny (but not necessarily unfamiliar). No family history, no grand mal, no head trauma. What's the likelihood of TLE? What else might it be?

LONG:

I'm 23 and have experienced five or six very strong feelings of deja vu in the last 3-4 weeks or so, which was enough to tip me off to possible temporal lobe epilepsy after searching around a bit. They generally last about 10-20 seconds and are not accompanied by the same dread, or stomach discomfort, or fear, or happiness that seems to be common with many TLE patients, but they're also momentarily quite strong (and frustrating!) for me.

I also have been having these thoughts every once in a while that ordinary things, objects, words, concepts, etc. (could be anything depending on the concept) seem somewhat silly or different than they normally would feel. In a way, I feel like I'm processing the world differently, almost a bit, yet not entirely, detached from it for just a few seconds or so. I'm not quite sure it's jamais vu since it's never had any sort of emotion or gut-type "feeling" that deja vu has, and I know what I'm looking at/touching/hearing/etc fine and not actually forgetting anything about it. As an example, it could be as trivial as say looking at a phone or hearing the word phone (or whatever else) and thinking "hm, what a funny thing with a funny name. never thought of a phone that way, i know it's a phone, but it seems kinda silly. kind of weird we use them" and then snap back into it and realize a phone is a phone and i've been using it and familiar with it my whole life. It feels like I'm a permanent stoner or something. Sorry if that sounds a bit nuts, just a quirky thing that I'm wondering if it's related to possible TLE or something else.

I also tend to have some issues fairly regularly with daydreaming or forgetting for a second what it was I was doing or wanted to do (momentary memory, basically), but I've always attributed that to lack of sleep, being a space cadet, or whatever else might cause it, and I'm not too sure if it's symptomatic of TLE.

In any case, I have never had head trauma, have no family history of epilepsy, and obviously never had a grand mal or anything like it. I saw a neuro who took history and notes before referring me to a specialist who's going to take a month to schedule an appointment and for an MRI in the meantime. He mentioned that there are psychological theories but no other neurological explanations aside from TLE to explain having 6 deja vus along with the other quirkiness. Obviously then, it would be frustrating if the MRIs and EEGs, etc all come back fine with no diagnosis made as I could be stuck with these spells (which are affecting my work right now).

That said, I'm wondering a few things:

1) What is the likelihood of TLE (given age, no family history or trauma, symptoms)? Also, what is the likelihood that someone non-TLE has 6 dejavu episodes in a 3-4 weeks timeframe?

2) What are potential alternative explanations if not TLE?

3) What can/will be done if everything comes back okay but I'm still having symptoms?

4) Would stress/lack of sleep cause the symptoms, or do they actually trigger the epilepsy which in turn triggers the symptoms?

Obviously any answers to any of the questions are much appreicated. Thanks and look forward to the discussion!

-Mikey

Comments

Re: Deja vu and Epilepsy

Submitted by Rix on Fri, 2010-02-26 - 21:03

Its interesting reading where other people are trying to explain what you have been trying to describe for years. I also have the Deja vu auras. My thoughts often are of the same situation , often something as simple as mowing the same area of my yard. As unuasual as it sounds I enjoy the feeling also. I am aware what is going on and know they will end in a short time frame. After I rejoin the real world I am very relaxed .  I actually had one of the sezures during one of my EEG tests. The extra electrical impulses are coming from my left Frontal lobe.   The majority of the time it is when I am very tired due to lack of sleep or just waking up in the morning.  If I miss a dose of meds I will have a series of auras the following day after I resume the drug. They will happen 3-7 times within 3 hours. They do turn into mild sezures with normal symptoms like confusion and tight chest , I have to actualy remind myself to breath.

My sezures may have been caused from a career competing in martial arts (countless blows to the head) and maybe a few from the wife also.LOL     No signs of any damage on cat,pet or mri's though. Problems didn't start till 10 years after I stopped fighting.  I also have grand mal sezures if off medicine for any length of time.

Its interesting reading where other people are trying to explain what you have been trying to describe for years. I also have the Deja vu auras. My thoughts often are of the same situation , often something as simple as mowing the same area of my yard. As unuasual as it sounds I enjoy the feeling also. I am aware what is going on and know they will end in a short time frame. After I rejoin the real world I am very relaxed .  I actually had one of the sezures during one of my EEG tests. The extra electrical impulses are coming from my left Frontal lobe.   The majority of the time it is when I am very tired due to lack of sleep or just waking up in the morning.  If I miss a dose of meds I will have a series of auras the following day after I resume the drug. They will happen 3-7 times within 3 hours. They do turn into mild sezures with normal symptoms like confusion and tight chest , I have to actualy remind myself to breath.

My sezures may have been caused from a career competing in martial arts (countless blows to the head) and maybe a few from the wife also.LOL     No signs of any damage on cat,pet or mri's though. Problems didn't start till 10 years after I stopped fighting.  I also have grand mal sezures if off medicine for any length of time.

Re: Deja vu and Epilepsy

Submitted by Mimi145 on Fri, 2009-08-07 - 15:26

Wow ,you have it for sure. I have been trying to discribe this for  40 years. I started calling them "My funny feeligs" because at 12 that's the only way I could discribe it. I sometimes have these Deja vu feeling and along with it my body aches ,I would say I feel it in my chest and feet like a compression it's not a hurt or a mucsle pain it's more of a ache. I just wondered if anyone else felt this.

You also said you try to distracte yourself to get them not to happen I do that also and I found I can stop them from happening some of the time. Have a friend touch your arm ,hand,knee, and it stops . I just say I'm having a funny feeling they touch me and wa la. Sometimes it works. Good luck.

Wow ,you have it for sure. I have been trying to discribe this for  40 years. I started calling them "My funny feeligs" because at 12 that's the only way I could discribe it. I sometimes have these Deja vu feeling and along with it my body aches ,I would say I feel it in my chest and feet like a compression it's not a hurt or a mucsle pain it's more of a ache. I just wondered if anyone else felt this.

You also said you try to distracte yourself to get them not to happen I do that also and I found I can stop them from happening some of the time. Have a friend touch your arm ,hand,knee, and it stops . I just say I'm having a funny feeling they touch me and wa la. Sometimes it works. Good luck.

Re: Deja vu and Epilepsy

Submitted by lstott1 on Sun, 2009-08-16 - 20:21
This is exactly what I experience, followed by a migraine....

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