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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: Most often, when one has

Submitted by mhillqt on Thu, 2006-10-19 - 09:33
In my case, I feel like i do have panic disorder(for close to 20 years) but MY MAJOR attacks cause me to faint(some people say it looks like a seizure BUT my doc said that faiting can cause that also) and then I wake up with serious diarhhea or vomiting for hours.....all my doctors, including my current one thinks I have atypical panic disorder BUT still wants me to do the MRI and VEEG....I did the MRI for epilepsy protocol and it came back negative....IM due to go into hospital tomorrow for 3 day VEEG but I really dont want to put myself thru the time/expense since everyone already knows that nothing will probably come up ....... i normally have all the classic panic symptoms....ie racing heart, tremor, blurred vision, shaking, nausea/gastric ALONG with the atypical fainting.....I dont have auras, dont have dejavu, dont smell anything weird, dont have loss of memory........this doesnt sound like seizures, does it? CAN I CANCEL THIS TEST AND JUST DEAL WITH PANIC??

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

Submitted by wickedchick622 on Wed, 2007-03-14 - 20:31
All of this sounds all too familiar to me. I started having "episodes" about 3 and a half weeks ago after not having them for almost 8 years. Then I woke up one day and it started all over again..only this time they have lasted alot longer. The last time it was only for a day or two. The only difference between mine and yours if that I have convulsions with mine. To the point where my whole body shakes and I have no control over it. During the convulsions I pass out. Only for about a minute or so. What made me go to the hospital was I had one on my way to work while I was driving and I blacked out during it. I was admitted to ICU for 2 days. The scary part is I haven't been released to go back to work and I can't drive myself which is all that much more worse simply because i'm a delivery driver and since I can't drive. I can't go back to work. All the test that the doctors have done on me have all come back normal. This has scared the crap out of me and I have no idea what to do next. I am supposed to set up an apt with a neurologist here in my hometown. Just waiting on my insurance to give me the go ahead. (gotta love wellcare) If anyone can help me with any of this or give any advice I would greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry to hear that you are going through all of this,but i'm glad that i'm not the only one going through it. For a while there I felt like I was going crazy and going through all of this alone. Tiffany from Monroe GA.

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

Submitted by Matthew on Tue, 2006-10-24 - 21:48
Your seizures are very different from mine, but I have had a similar frustration with EEGs. I have a temporal lobe leison and have been diagnosed with Epilepsy for more than 20 years. I have had about a gazillion EEGs, and to my knowledge all of them came back normal. I had had two 24 hour EEGs with video monitoring in the hospital. At the time I was sick, and even though I did not have an oughtright seizure, I felt all sorts of weird seizure related activity going on (fuzziness, etc.). It seemed to me that my brain must be pretty well lit up. I couldn't believe it came back normal, even when they made adjustments to try to pick things up better. My epileptologist says that my symptoms correlate very well with a focus in the same area as my tumor. I also saw a neuropsycologist who said the same thing. I don't know why this doesn't show up. My epileptologist seemed to think that it may be because the focus was too deep within my brain, but that is only a theory. About taking your meds. When I was in college I was so sick of my medicine that I stopped taking it. I was ok for a few days but then I had some very bad seizures, much worse than I had ever had before (or since). I think that I got a concussion with one, and I lost a toenail with another. I should have been in the hospital. It is no fun to wake up from a seizure all bloody. I diddn't go back to school the next semester. If you quit your meds you run the risk of getting very sick. If you are "feeling like your old self" I would very strongly encourage you to keep taking your medication. You are very blessed indeed if you are not having seizures and feel good on your meds!!!!!!!!!!! Next to being cured, this is the best thing that can happen. Matthew

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