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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 A.Ox on Fri, 2010-03-19 - 12:03

Hi,

I'm just looking for some advice and maybe somebody knows what i'm going through or what it really is? I'm a 17 year old male and i use to smoke a fair bit of dope and have taken numerous drugs before recreationally, i dont think this has anything to do with it but it might help to know. I also moved from the U.K to here Australia last august were i went through alot of stress from leaving my close friends and girlfriend behind, But this was over 6 months ago now so i dont think it has anything to do with it.

This is what i experience..

- I dream everynight and i can remember it in great detail the next day and even days after.

- I get Deja vu around once every three days, usually more actually, these experiences are very realistic and the more i get them the more i feel there leading up to something bad? Wow that sounds nuts but it's true. 

- I get eye spasms often

- Most of the time I feel im living in a cloud, things don't seem real. I guess it's a kinda high feeling? living in a bubble? hard to explain..

- I often daydream/zone alot out

- Ocasionally i think i can hear a really high pitch pixelated grainy noise, sometimes really loud?

Iv'e had experiences when i would bolt out of bed hearing this noise and felt like i was in a trance, i felt like i had to balance the light in the room i was in? It's really hard to explain but it's happened a couple times to maybe it's related..

I dont have a clue why any of this happens and iv'e never spoken to anybody about it, do you advice that i should? I really don't want to end up going to get tests done and just given some medication to take..If theres anything wrong with me in the first place?

The worst is the deja vu, its been happening much more recently. These feel incredibly real and feel like there leading up to something bad. I've always had deja vu moments that i can remember but now there really often and much more intence.

Before the move to Aus 6 months ago i was not getting the Deja Vu this intence, but the rest of the experiences remain.

 

I would be extreamly grateful if anybody knew what i was talking about in any part of that so i know if i need to undertake tests or not. 

Thank you!!

Hi,

I'm just looking for some advice and maybe somebody knows what i'm going through or what it really is? I'm a 17 year old male and i use to smoke a fair bit of dope and have taken numerous drugs before recreationally, i dont think this has anything to do with it but it might help to know. I also moved from the U.K to here Australia last august were i went through alot of stress from leaving my close friends and girlfriend behind, But this was over 6 months ago now so i dont think it has anything to do with it.

This is what i experience..

- I dream everynight and i can remember it in great detail the next day and even days after.

- I get Deja vu around once every three days, usually more actually, these experiences are very realistic and the more i get them the more i feel there leading up to something bad? Wow that sounds nuts but it's true. 

- I get eye spasms often

- Most of the time I feel im living in a cloud, things don't seem real. I guess it's a kinda high feeling? living in a bubble? hard to explain..

- I often daydream/zone alot out

- Ocasionally i think i can hear a really high pitch pixelated grainy noise, sometimes really loud?

Iv'e had experiences when i would bolt out of bed hearing this noise and felt like i was in a trance, i felt like i had to balance the light in the room i was in? It's really hard to explain but it's happened a couple times to maybe it's related..

I dont have a clue why any of this happens and iv'e never spoken to anybody about it, do you advice that i should? I really don't want to end up going to get tests done and just given some medication to take..If theres anything wrong with me in the first place?

The worst is the deja vu, its been happening much more recently. These feel incredibly real and feel like there leading up to something bad. I've always had deja vu moments that i can remember but now there really often and much more intence.

Before the move to Aus 6 months ago i was not getting the Deja Vu this intence, but the rest of the experiences remain.

 

I would be extreamly grateful if anybody knew what i was talking about in any part of that so i know if i need to undertake tests or not. 

Thank you!!

Re: Deja vu and Epilepsy

Submitted by Phenomenon on Mon, 2010-03-29 - 10:15
Hello, I am really relieved to find that there are people who suffer from the same thing as I do ... Thanks for posting your expriences! About 1 year ago, during a flu, heavy déjà-vus started. They got me several times per day, and after the flu was over they keep coming back in roughly a once-per-week pattern, no matter whether I am having a time of stress or wheter I am on vacation. When I have my "phenomena" day (more often than not I know before they occur somehow that it is time for such a day again), I am going through 1 to 6 episodes. They come always as the feeling that something I am seeing, thinking or otherwise experiencing was part of a dream I had the previous night, even when it is quite clear that this can't have happened. Afterwards I feel a little dizzy, I am sweating and my pulse rate increases. In the evening I feel quite exhausted. No other symptoms. Well, twice I got unconcious, the awakening being somehow awkward; it was really hard to come back to the real world. As most of you I had an MRT, without pecularities. A short EEG and stroboscope test didn't raise any epilepsy suspicions, which doesn't say too much, as you know. At the moment I am not so sure whether or not to undergo any further steps. It seems from what some of you have written (and thanks again!), that a medication could bring it to an end. But since the fits aren't that bad, I am reluctant to manipulate my brain chemistry ... But I will check out this page regularly, share my experiences and look for yours. (Male, 45)

Re: Deja vu and Epilepsy

Submitted by coolstone08 on Wed, 2010-10-13 - 16:27

Hi

 

I have had this since i was about 12, In fact just had one a moment ago lol, I was in the shower and all of a sudden as everytime I had a feeling come over me id start to feel dizzy and it will get stronger and stronger i look around and everything is as i imagend it," what i mean is if I have one in town everyone around me and anything that happens would feel like ive seen it before" It will last 20 secounds or so then nothing, Ive been to the doctors about this many times and always told its nothing to worry about or they will ecg me and it shows nothing.

 Its just the not knowing really ,I wouldnt want to take medication for it as it happens now 2 times a year less then it did when they first started anyhow Im not sure if its down to stress I woke up this morning with sleep paralasis and my sleeping has been rubbish the past couple of weeks so it could be that.

 Ive never been able to get an mri from my doctor most just say its nothing to worry about or they may if i persist give me an appointment for an ecg that always come back normal other then a slight iregular 3rd heart beat. so for a while ive been thinking about going private for it least that way i can get the help i want.

 

Hi

 

I have had this since i was about 12, In fact just had one a moment ago lol, I was in the shower and all of a sudden as everytime I had a feeling come over me id start to feel dizzy and it will get stronger and stronger i look around and everything is as i imagend it," what i mean is if I have one in town everyone around me and anything that happens would feel like ive seen it before" It will last 20 secounds or so then nothing, Ive been to the doctors about this many times and always told its nothing to worry about or they will ecg me and it shows nothing.

 Its just the not knowing really ,I wouldnt want to take medication for it as it happens now 2 times a year less then it did when they first started anyhow Im not sure if its down to stress I woke up this morning with sleep paralasis and my sleeping has been rubbish the past couple of weeks so it could be that.

 Ive never been able to get an mri from my doctor most just say its nothing to worry about or they may if i persist give me an appointment for an ecg that always come back normal other then a slight iregular 3rd heart beat. so for a while ive been thinking about going private for it least that way i can get the help i want.

 

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