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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

In my early twenties I began

Submitted by Shellbell88 on Fri, 2018-04-13 - 17:36
In my early twenties I began experiencing strong deja vu a couple of times a week. Never happened me before then. Then it began to occur nearly every day. Along with a strong sense of fear and dread. It was so disablitating and ruined my day to day life as I was always waiting for the next one. It would typically last about 10 seconds. I attributed these to panic attacks or depression. I carried on having these episodes day in and day out for 2 years or more. My gp put me on anti depressants when I explained what was happening to me which didnt help. I didn't know any better because it felt similar to what a panic attack may feel like whenever I had one. Soon after I had my first grand mal seizure. Then another the following weekend. After an MRI and an EEG I was diagnosed with TLE. I was so frustrated that my GP was unable to pick up the fact that I was experiencing partial seizures!! I was on anti depressants for 3 years for no reason at all. Listen to your gut. I hope it isnt the case with you. My seizures are under control and I haven't had one since 2016, my medication suits me and I changed GP. Thank God! Alot of your symptoms sound similar to mine. Hope you get some answers! All the best!

It might be late.But i have

Submitted by Sami2212 on Mon, 2018-04-23 - 12:56
It might be late.But i have that too. And hey go to nurolog and take medicine asap. If you have seazures then you cannot drive at least 1 year. It ruined my life that year

Hey Nichole, I've been

Submitted by Mr. Déjà vu on Mon, 2018-08-06 - 13:32
Hey Nichole, I've been revisiting some post because my situation with the deja vu seems to be getting worse and not any better.  So how have you been?  Have they at least been able to get the grand mals under control?  Hopefully so because those things suck!  Oh and I'm sure that you know this by now but usually the grands are followed by some serious depression and I'm sure that's what the crying was all about.  Mine would get so bad that I'm sure my wife wanted to hit me with a pan a few times.  That whole "life doesn't matter because we're all doing to die anyway" kind of feeling.  My wife called it my asshole period.  LOL  My meds have been able to control my grands really well, knock on wood, and when I did have my last one, well over a year ago now, I had very to little of the after effects of it.  

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