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normal eegs....i feel like i'm going crazy

Fri, 10/13/2006 - 01:01
Ok I know this is long, but I really need some help figuring this out. I started having weird symptoms in May of last year. I thought they were panic attacks so I didn't pay them much attention, even though I knew they didn't really have the symptoms of panic attacks. After a couple of monthes I finally looked up panic attacks on the internet and discovered I had known of the symptoms. Somehow I got on a page that talked about seizures and it was there I recognized my symptoms in the section on simple and complex partial seizures. I have worked with adults with developmental disabilities for many years and a lot of them have seizures. I never expected that to be my problem. It all starts with a weird sensation that I can't really describe. Then I start to smell a chemical smell. I taste blood in my mouth and then my mind starts racing and I see things. Not like hallucinations but things in my head like a memory of something. It all seems really familiar, but after the spell is over I can't remember what it was that I was seeing I just know either it was a memory or a past dream. Everything apears strange to me as if I'm in a dream. I also get deja vu and a weak feeling. Sometimes I get a pins and needles feeling all over and I feel a little nauseous. When I get the blood taste in my mouth I start either drooling or I will start spitting. I'm somewhat concious of what I'm doing, but its like I don't care. When its all over and I see that either I'm drooling on myself or I'm spitting in the floor I feel really embarrassed, but at the time of the spell it makes perfect sense to spit on the floor. I also have very strong emotions. Its like a fear/panic/depression feeling. Sometimes the emotions are so strong it brings tears to my eyes. I mainly get these spells around the time of my period or when I'm ovulating. I will have several in a day for a couple of days and then nothing for two or three weeks and then it starts all over again. I have problems with my memory after having these spells and then the longer I go without having them my memory starts to improve until I have another one, then I'm right back where I started. It took me having these for nine months before I finally told my doctor. He did a blood test, CT scan, and an EEG. They were all normal so he referred me to a neurologist. The neurologist did a sleep deprived EEG. It was also normal. I didn't really like that doctor so I had my primary care doctor refer me to a neurologist who specializes in seizure disorders. He did a MRI which was normal, so he put me on Trilepital. After three weeks I broke out in rash so that med was discontinued and I started on Keppra. Since taking Keppra I have had no seizures and I finally am starting to feel like my old self again. My new doctor did a ambulatory EEG because he said a lot of times the other EEG's don't last long enough to catch abnormal brain waves. It also came back normal which really surprised my doctor. He said that the medication must be working good for me thats why the test was normal.I feel like I'm going crazy. At first I thought maybe this was all stress related which is why I waited so long to talk to my doctor about it, but if it was stress related the medication wouldn't be helping would it? I don't know what to do. I was thinking of going off my meds to see if the problem comes back. Can someone please help me?

Comments

Re: Re: Re: normal eegs....i feel like i'm going crazy

Submitted by Winston on Fri, 2006-10-13 - 17:11
You are lucky that you are still able to drive. When I got a positive diagnosis from the 24 hour EEG I lost my driver's liscense. That was almost a year ago. I had to leave my job that I loved because it was in a different town which was devestating. I'm now at a job that I'm very overqualified for but it's where my husband works at so we can ride together which works out very well. I never wanted to take meds either and refused the seizure meds for the first few months but was finally talked into it. I have had "impaired" consciousness one time and that is it. I suspect that I may have convulsed a bit in my sleep one time but I don't know that for sure. I woke up one morning with my tongue bitten so badly that I could barely eat for a week afterwards.....when the seizures happen, it can be scary and icky and bleh. Generally though, I see it as an inconvinience because of the driving thing. I am thankful that I don't lose consciousness. I would be much more bothered if that were the case. I'm averaging it happening about every 1-2 months. When it happens though, it happens several times a day and I'm pretty much out of commission the entire day. How about you?

Re: Re: Re: Re: normal eegs....i feel like i'm going crazy

Submitted by Peaches78 on Fri, 2006-10-13 - 21:58
I'm sorry you lost your license. I'm from Arkansas and here you are supposed to be seizure free for a year before driving but the doctors are not required to turn you in to the DMV. I had my last seizure July 31 which was the day I started Keppra. So I haven't been seizure free for very long. This is the longest I have been without them though. When I have my seizures I usually have impaired consciousness. I don't black out or anything, but I'm not fully aware of things. Sometimes I'm aware but its like I don't care about anything. I have convulsed in my sleep a couple of times. Thats what got me to talk to my doctor about seeing a new neurologist. The one I was seeing wasn't very good so I stopped going to him and decided to not do anything about it. Nothing like having convulsions to make you change your mind! When I have my seizures I usually have several in a day for a couple of days and then I won't have any again for a few weeks. Before I was on medication the longest I went without seizures was about five weeks. When I have them the whole seizure lasts about 30 seconds to a minute. I usually recover pretty quickly and go on about my business until the next one strikes. I've seen so many different seizures with my work so I know people have it a lot worse than me. Like you I see it as an inconvience more than anything.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: normal eegs....i feel like i'm going crazy

Submitted by heidi on Sun, 2006-10-15 - 13:53
Hello, I haven't posted on here in awhile, but I still read, and listen, because it makes me feel a little more sane. I have been tentatively diagnosed with TLE, but have had a normal MRI and EEG, and have since lived in limbo. I was put on Keppra, which relieved my symptoms, but gave me so many other nasty side effects they took me off of it. I've been on nothing for the last few months, and now my symptoms are right back. And the reason I wanted to post here is that they are remarkably similar to both of yours. So, if it makes you feel better, you're a little less alone. I know this forum helps me for that reason. I'm going in for another video EEG soon, even though I have little hope it will result in any definite diagnosis. Wish me luck anyway, and hang in there, both of you.

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