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Periods of loss of awareness (apparently)
Mon, 12/31/2012 - 08:37Hello, I'm new here - and I'm not even sure I should BE here either, but last night, my partner revealed something that shocked me. I apparently lose awareness and do not respond to her for up to several minutes. She said it happens at least weekly and it usually lasts 3-4 minutes, though around 2 months ago, she said one episode lasted for 10 minutes and she nearly called emergency help. The shock thing is that I had NO idea of this! Apparently, when I lose awareness, one of our pet whippets goes bananas when it happens, and will push or even nip my partner while looking at me.
When younger (esp in my teens and early 20s), I had strange episodes that I now think match simple-partial temporal lobe epilepsy. I was never diagnosed and didn't even know about TLE until a couple of years back (I experienced nearly all the 'aura' symptoms mentioned). Nowadays (I'm now in my mid 40s), there can be years between each episode so I've had no intention of pursuing it - it's so rare I doubt any tests revealing anything helpful.
But now I'm told I lose awareness and at least weekly! Mostly, she can shake me out of it (apparently). I don't recall ANYTHING of this. She even thought I already KNEW about it (because she knew about the past with what seemed to be TLE - and she had a TLE daughter from a previous marriage who had almost identical symptoms to me). It apparently happens on my 'dead-brain' days when I can't engage my brain on anything due to a heavy fog feel (but I get this with a dull headache a LOT), and she said I often get a bad headache or migraine episode after. What makes it worse is that my sister has started experiencing 'funny turns' that are an absolute match to my old TLE stuff, except she's getting them a lot (and suddenly) and is waiting for a referral from her GP. That's when my partner mentioned my 'loss of awareness' episodes and pondered whether there was a hereditory link.
Does this sound like anything anyone else has experienced? Right now, I would feel like a fraud going to my GP because I honestly have no recollection of these episodes, but as the driver of the family I also have a responsibility to ensure I'm not a danger (it's only ever happened when I'm at my PC apparently - which is about 90% of my day whether working or leisure). I just looked up 'absence seizures' but the description doesn't seem to fit. I've asked my partner to tell me when it happens again so I am at least aware of it, but right now I really don't know what to think!
Comments
Re: Periods of loss of awareness (apparently)
Submitted by medusa on Tue, 2013-01-01 - 20:58
Thank you so much for your reply...
Can I ask if you have any other symptoms with your complex-partial? The reason I ask is that I'd ignored that as a possibility on the assumption that it is TLE (with all the deja-vu, nausea, not-there feelings) but with the addition of losing awareness.
I haven't had the TLE-like symptoms for over two years because I know how to avoid it (don't stare at bold patterns). If I do, my vision distorts and I instantly start to feel all the not-there and deja-vu feelings welling up, the feeling ill and not right etc. So this apparent losing-awareness is happening without any such precursor.
If there is only disorientation as a clue, then what you describe sounds worryingly familiar, like last night when driving my mom home on a route I've used often, and every single day this last two weeks. Suddenly, I realised that I had no idea where I was and slowed down the car. Nothing seemed familiar!! I felt ridiculous and lost, and drove slowly for many yards until the vagueness began to clear and the familiarity gradually returned (I was around 200 yards from her house). Many times I land in places without any idea how I got there (driving). I'm suddenly aware that I'm not in the right place, and have to backtrack. At first I thought I was just on an absent-minded auto-pilot headed in a direction I mostly use, but a couple of days back it was quite the opposite, with me realising I was in a strange area and far beyond where I needed to be. In mid-conversation a few nights back when talking about my home, I suddenly froze and blanked. For a few seconds I tried to speak. Didn't happen, and my mind could not recall my own house at all! It probably took about 20-30 seconds before I could clear my head and grasp memories of my house, by which time I couldn't remember what I was talking about and had to abandon the idea. Again, no other symptoms except like a cold creeping feeling from my head downwards as it happened. No TLE precursors at all.
Does this sound familiar? If so, it looks like I'll be taking your advice and dragging my partner along to my GP. If not, I'm clearly reaching the age of the easily-bewildered and will try to stay indoors more from now on!
Thank you so much for your reply...
Can I ask if you have any other symptoms with your complex-partial? The reason I ask is that I'd ignored that as a possibility on the assumption that it is TLE (with all the deja-vu, nausea, not-there feelings) but with the addition of losing awareness.
I haven't had the TLE-like symptoms for over two years because I know how to avoid it (don't stare at bold patterns). If I do, my vision distorts and I instantly start to feel all the not-there and deja-vu feelings welling up, the feeling ill and not right etc. So this apparent losing-awareness is happening without any such precursor.
If there is only disorientation as a clue, then what you describe sounds worryingly familiar, like last night when driving my mom home on a route I've used often, and every single day this last two weeks. Suddenly, I realised that I had no idea where I was and slowed down the car. Nothing seemed familiar!! I felt ridiculous and lost, and drove slowly for many yards until the vagueness began to clear and the familiarity gradually returned (I was around 200 yards from her house). Many times I land in places without any idea how I got there (driving). I'm suddenly aware that I'm not in the right place, and have to backtrack. At first I thought I was just on an absent-minded auto-pilot headed in a direction I mostly use, but a couple of days back it was quite the opposite, with me realising I was in a strange area and far beyond where I needed to be. In mid-conversation a few nights back when talking about my home, I suddenly froze and blanked. For a few seconds I tried to speak. Didn't happen, and my mind could not recall my own house at all! It probably took about 20-30 seconds before I could clear my head and grasp memories of my house, by which time I couldn't remember what I was talking about and had to abandon the idea. Again, no other symptoms except like a cold creeping feeling from my head downwards as it happened. No TLE precursors at all.
Does this sound familiar? If so, it looks like I'll be taking your advice and dragging my partner along to my GP. If not, I'm clearly reaching the age of the easily-bewildered and will try to stay indoors more from now on!
Re: Periods of loss of awareness (apparently)
Submitted by pkdz on Tue, 2013-01-01 - 03:57
I have TLE, but I didn't start having complex partial seizures until I was 38 years old. For me, it started with a few episodes in which I felt disoriented (driving, yikes). I didn't know why I was feeling disoriented though. Then some co-workers noticed my face go rigid. When they asked if I was okay, I didn't know what they were talking about. I knew I had problem when I couldn't remember how a conversation with a friend ended and I couldn't remember whether or not I took my son into childcare (or did I leave him in the car by mistake). I came realize that this feeling of disorientation followed my seizures. Eventually, the fog would clear and I would remember events prior to a seizure (yes, I did bring my son into childcare and I could remember the conversations with teachers). But the seizures themselves I never remembered; I had lost consiousness. I strongly encourage you to see your GP and get a referral for a neurologist. You could even have your partner join the appointment, as your partner is the one who witnesses them. My husband went to all of my appointments; it helped to have him there. In the end, I had surgery (which has been successful).