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Sinking feeling inside the skull - like the brain dropped

Wed, 06/30/2010 - 20:24

Okay, it's been a long time since I was here. So long in fact, I forgot my password, had it emailed to a dead email account and so I've opened a new one.

I was driving home from work and had this sudden twitch in my neck (reminiscent of something I would experience repeatedly for several seconds while in the throws of a seizure). The twitch was just one and it jerked my head suddenly and then I felt this weird kind of 'sinking' feeling in my head - like my brain was sinking a little inside my skull. Impossible of course. 

But when this occurred, I realized I had experienced this sinking feeling before - a couple of times. One time more extreme and the other pretty mild. I did not have any twitches to accompany it. But being that I was driving, I was about ready to pull over and stop to see what happened  - if anything eventuated. My seizures are controlled as long as I'm on medication, so am wondering if this is just a random firing (like a full-body jolt some people get just as they're about to doze off to sleep and they're not epileptic), a nerve getting stuck or if this is epilepsy-related. 

If anyone is familiar with this sensation, I'd love to read your insights and what you experience - whether a seizure occurs or not. I have been toying with the idea of increasing my medication for about a year, since I've been on the same dose since I was 16, with an 18 month hiatus when I was about 26-28. Clonazepam is the medication and I know that over time, the tolerance level goes up - I'm sure mine has, but over all my seizure control is 99.99 % effective. 

I also get strange shooting pains in my head, which I assume to be neuralgia (sp?) - pain for no real reason. My brain is normal (well my father would disagree). The pains are more frequent now, and sometimes come as stabbing pains that repeat several times and then disappear. I also have had a lot of headaches for the past year - I put it down to stress of moving from one country to another and being in a job I hate (because I'm bored, not because I'm overworked), but too scared to jump ship in case the next job is worse - it's not a good economy right now - especially not in the US.

Comments

Re: Sinking feeling inside the skull - like the brain dropped

Submitted by candysb on Thu, 2010-07-22 - 20:05
I am new to this site but have had seizures for 20 years. Was seizure free for about 4-5 years but now have them bad. I have those brain sinking feelings also and I have them with ellectric surges through my head. I also get the headaches and the sharp pains in my head. They are all part of the seizures for me, now. When I was young my seizures were very different. I say its worth calling your doctor about to be on the safe side.

Re: Sinking feeling inside the skull - like the brain dropped

Submitted by Eternal_Howl on Sat, 2010-07-24 - 02:20

Hi Candysb,

Sorry to hear your seizures have worsened. Mine haven't (I mean they have, but I don't get them unless I'm unmedicated), but, like you, I've had a history of seizures for 20 years or more. My history has had a LONG stint without seizures though - but it's never far from one's mind even if they are not occurring.

Thank you for your post. I thought perhaps I was the only one experiencing the weirder stuff (well, incidences that don't really have documentation or fall into the seizure category so to speak).  

I last saw a Neurologist back in 2006 about 3 weeks to a month after my last tonic-clonic seizure. I requested a brain scan (CT or MRI - can't recall which), just to check that everything was normal as I had had successful ovarian cancer surgery the year before, but am aware of secondary cancer going to the brain. All was normal. Now, I do not live in New Zealand, but live in the USA, everything costs money and unless I am critical, I will not go see a neurologist. My diagnosis clear, my medication controls the worst and enables me to live a relatively normal life (something I do not take for granted, as it may not always be this way). 

You mentioned you had electrical surges with the sinking feeling. The electrical surges: are they jolts that physically move your muscles in or around your head, or are they feelings of slight disconnect and sudden reconnect? Just wondering. Always hard to explain how something feels when it comes to the brain, because it's often like there's not a really good way to describe it.

Hi Candysb,

Sorry to hear your seizures have worsened. Mine haven't (I mean they have, but I don't get them unless I'm unmedicated), but, like you, I've had a history of seizures for 20 years or more. My history has had a LONG stint without seizures though - but it's never far from one's mind even if they are not occurring.

Thank you for your post. I thought perhaps I was the only one experiencing the weirder stuff (well, incidences that don't really have documentation or fall into the seizure category so to speak).  

I last saw a Neurologist back in 2006 about 3 weeks to a month after my last tonic-clonic seizure. I requested a brain scan (CT or MRI - can't recall which), just to check that everything was normal as I had had successful ovarian cancer surgery the year before, but am aware of secondary cancer going to the brain. All was normal. Now, I do not live in New Zealand, but live in the USA, everything costs money and unless I am critical, I will not go see a neurologist. My diagnosis clear, my medication controls the worst and enables me to live a relatively normal life (something I do not take for granted, as it may not always be this way). 

You mentioned you had electrical surges with the sinking feeling. The electrical surges: are they jolts that physically move your muscles in or around your head, or are they feelings of slight disconnect and sudden reconnect? Just wondering. Always hard to explain how something feels when it comes to the brain, because it's often like there's not a really good way to describe it.

Re: Sinking feeling inside the skull - like the brain dropped

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