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"Gazes" getting scary...

Thu, 06/22/2006 - 08:56
Good Morning - I had a question about my staring episodes... Growing up I've always had the habit of my eyes getting stuck in a gaze for about 30 seconds or so. I've always remained completely aware of my surroundings during these 'gazes', but I become slow in my speech and anything i'm doing with my hands, and it would always happen during class or at my desk at work - mostly I guess when i'm bored or tired. And in a weird way, these gazes are relaxing for me because that's the way my entire body responds - just relaxed. And although I am able to force myself to "snap out of it", I hate to do that because the harder the gaze, the harder it is to snap out of it. But recently, it's been happening A LOT while i'm actively doing something and it's becoming a little scary. It ALWAYS happens now while i'm driving which is no good because I can still move the wheel but my eyes are stuck in one place and I can't really pay attention to the road like I need to. And like i said, it's getting harder and harder to snap out of it (not because it hurts or anything, but as I mentioned before, it makes my body so relaxed that it's like I almost don't have the energy to snap out of it). I've read up on Atypical Absence Seizures and it kind of sounds like what i'm experiencing, but this never happened THAT MUCH as a child, and I always have recollection of what went on (when I'm around people and i start to gaze, I actually say "hey look, my eyes are stuck again" so I know I'm fully aware of what's going on) *I'm here at work and I just caught one of those gazes and since I had to force myself to snap out of it, I feel like it's going to happen again because 'I interrupted it'...feels like my brain is still stuck on wanting to get...stuck!** Should I see a specialist about this? Any advice would help...thank you all...apologies for the lengthy post!

Comments

Re: Re: Re: "Gazes" getting scary...

Submitted by illforgetit on Tue, 2006-07-04 - 08:29
Do you know those pictures in the Sunday Comics called "Magic Eye"? Well, that's how it is for me. There's a certain "unfocused" way in which you have to look at the picture to see it. That's how my gazing spells are. Well, imagine my Neuro's response when I told her THAT! Gotta find a new Dr. Anyone in the Baton Rouge, LA area? Or perhaps Jackson, MS? I AM scared to drive at times, especially since I work nights and am sleep deprived quite often (single parent as well).

Re: Re: Re: Re: "Gazes" getting scary...

Submitted by yon on Wed, 2006-07-05 - 12:39
try shaking your head from side to side - that works for me

Re: Re: "Gazes" getting scary...

Submitted by Deb833 on Wed, 2006-07-19 - 09:21
Wow, I've had those kind of "spacing out" for most of my life. I always thought it was just that, spacing out. Someone mentioned to me once that I did it in the middle of a conversation, when I was talking. I didn't think anything about it at the time, but now that I'm having these other kinds, I'm starting to wonder. I've done it while watching tv and we don't notice til I fail to fast forward through commercials (tivo!). I wonder if these are part of my seizures too. As far as I know, I haven't done it while driving, or have I? I may have to start paying better attention.

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