Deja vu and Epilepsy

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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

This is an old post and I

Submitted by jonsongs on Sat, 2019-06-15 - 11:59

This is an old post and I hope you have gotten answers by now, but in case anyone else with similar questions is still searching here's my experience. I can't and won't try to diagnose you but I can tell you what I have personally experienced with TLE and deja vu. You need to find a neurologist to help you diagnose this, if you already don't have one. I was undiagnosed for many years because I didn't get in to see a neurologist, and I was also scared I might actually have epilepsy. I was having 10-20 deja vus every day while my seizures were active at about 300 per year along with the other obvious seizure symptoms, but I never lost conciousness or convulsed. It was suggested by various friends that I might be psycic, or perhaps a religious mystic, or more commonly with doctors that it was complications of my severe and chronic migraines. I finally found a good primary doctor and referred him to a YouTube video "Obstacles in Epilepsy Diagnosis: If You Don't Ask, They Won't Tell" by Jacqueline French, M.D." and he got me to an epilepsy specialist neurologist. 2 EEGs and 1 MRI were negative but my neurologist is positive I have TLE. Because it is mosly very deep in the brain (Mesial Temporal) he said it is not unusual surface EEGs have trouble picking it up and I also never had a seizure while wired up. What sealed the deal were my specific symptoms and that I had a clear cut positive responce to AED medication; it was an immediate 80%-90% reduction in seizures. I was lucky by having seizures that respond to medication, many do not. Again, I stress you need a good neurologist and you just need to do what they say and be honest about what you experience and don't exagerate or try to say the "right" things. I was happy when I finally got a diagnosis and was sucessfully treated but was soon scared how it would complicate my life. Epilepsy is still commonly misunderstood. Now my seizures are over but I still have 2-5 deja vu experiences each day as well as other neurological problems. My neurologist says that parts of my brain may just be damaged from so many years of untreated seizures. I can say that my seizures were in no way subtle, although you couldn't tell by looking at me, but looking back I think I always knew something was really wrong. The seizure medications can be difficult also, but it's obviously better for me to not have the seizures and suffer some substantial medication side effects instead. Also, the seizures are not necessarily benign because they can cause memory and cognitive brain damage over time so it's important for me to stop them especially at age 65. I hope you, and anyone else, find some good medical help and get a proper diagnosis either way.

This is an old post and I hope you have gotten answers by now, but in case anyone else with similar questions is still searching here's my experience. I can't and won't try to diagnose you but I can tell you what I have personally experienced with TLE and deja vu. You need to find a neurologist to help you diagnose this, if you already don't have one. I was undiagnosed for many years because I didn't get in to see a neurologist, and I was also scared I might actually have epilepsy. I was having 10-20 deja vus every day while my seizures were active at about 300 per year along with the other obvious seizure symptoms, but I never lost conciousness or convulsed. It was suggested by various friends that I might be psycic, or perhaps a religious mystic, or more commonly with doctors that it was complications of my severe and chronic migraines. I finally found a good primary doctor and referred him to a YouTube video "Obstacles in Epilepsy Diagnosis: If You Don't Ask, They Won't Tell" by Jacqueline French, M.D." and he got me to an epilepsy specialist neurologist. 2 EEGs and 1 MRI were negative but my neurologist is positive I have TLE. Because it is mosly very deep in the brain (Mesial Temporal) he said it is not unusual surface EEGs have trouble picking it up and I also never had a seizure while wired up. What sealed the deal were my specific symptoms and that I had a clear cut positive responce to AED medication; it was an immediate 80%-90% reduction in seizures. I was lucky by having seizures that respond to medication, many do not. Again, I stress you need a good neurologist and you just need to do what they say and be honest about what you experience and don't exagerate or try to say the "right" things. I was happy when I finally got a diagnosis and was sucessfully treated but was soon scared how it would complicate my life. Epilepsy is still commonly misunderstood. Now my seizures are over but I still have 2-5 deja vu experiences each day as well as other neurological problems. My neurologist says that parts of my brain may just be damaged from so many years of untreated seizures. I can say that my seizures were in no way subtle, although you couldn't tell by looking at me, but looking back I think I always knew something was really wrong. The seizure medications can be difficult also, but it's obviously better for me to not have the seizures and suffer some substantial medication side effects instead. Also, the seizures are not necessarily benign because they can cause memory and cognitive brain damage over time so it's important for me to stop them especially at age 65. I hope you, and anyone else, find some good medical help and get a proper diagnosis either way.

This is an old post and I hope you have gotten answers by now, but in case anyone else with similar questions is still searching here's my experience. I can't and won't try to diagnose you but I can tell you what I have personally experienced with TLE and deja vu. You need to find a neurologist to help you diagnose this, if you already don't have one. I was undiagnosed for many years because I didn't get in to see a neurologist, and I was also scared I might actually have epilepsy. I was having 10-20 deja vus every day while my seizures were active at about 300 per year along with the other obvious seizure symptoms, but I never lost conciousness or convulsed. It was suggested by various friends that I might be psycic, or perhaps a religious mystic, or more commonly with doctors that it was complications of my severe and chronic migraines. I finally found a good primary doctor and referred him to a YouTube video "Obstacles in Epilepsy Diagnosis: If You Don't Ask, They Won't Tell" by Jacqueline French, M.D." and he got me to an epilepsy specialist neurologist. 2 EEGs and 1 MRI were negative but my neurologist is positive I have TLE. Because it is mosly very deep in the brain (Mesial Temporal) he said it is not unusual surface EEGs have trouble picking it up and I also never had a seizure while wired up. What sealed the deal were my specific symptoms and that I had a clear cut positive responce to AED medication; it was an immediate 80%-90% reduction in seizures. I was lucky by having seizures that respond to medication, many do not. Again, I stress you need a good neurologist and you just need to do what they say and be honest about what you experience and don't exagerate or try to say the "right" things. I was happy when I finally got a diagnosis and was sucessfully treated but was soon scared how it would complicate my life. Epilepsy is still commonly misunderstood. Now my seizures are over but I still have 2-5 deja vu experiences each day as well as other neurological problems. My neurologist says that parts of my brain may just be damaged from so many years of untreated seizures. I can say that my seizures were in no way subtle, although you couldn't tell by looking at me, but looking back I think I always knew something was really wrong. The seizure medications can be difficult also, but it's obviously better for me to not have the seizures and suffer some substantial medication side effects instead. Also, the seizures are not necessarily benign because they can cause memory and cognitive brain damage over time so it's important for me to stop them especially at age 65. I hope you, and anyone else, find some good medical help and get a proper diagnosis either way.

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