Epilepsy symptoms or not?mum of newborn waiting tests

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Hi I'm Lois, I'm 35, have two small kids, and have been referred to a neurologist for tests to see if I have epilepsy. I'm confused about my symptoms and whether they are classic symptoms, although my doctor seems convinced they are

Basically I've had what seem to be various types of seizures for years, since early adulthood, and have been referred for tests several times over the years but til now I've always wimped out of actually going through with the tests.

My symptoms-

-for many years nearly every night I would tense all my muscles, tremble, sweat profusely, and clench my teeth so badly that at times I would wake up and my gums would all be swollen and bleeding

-one night I fell asleep with the light on, woke up in the night, got up to switch it off, then went and sttod by my bed facing the wall and just stared at it, I don't know how long for, it was as if I just went blank, like I was a robot that had just powered down, i just wasnt there anymore, then I remember falling sideways, don't remember hitting the floor, but when I eventually woke up I was lying on the floor in a very uncomfortable position, and I was covered in bruises and the back of my head and neck was sore. This is one of the times I went to the doctors and was referred for tests.

-didn't have symptoms like these again for a few years, but recently, after having my baby who is now three months, I noticed that my eyes have been doing really wierd things, it's like my eyeballs roll back in my head several times in a row really fast, this can happen several times a day. I also get these really wierd feelings in my head, like a wave in a way, then I really struggle to hold my head up and I feel very detached from my environment, I find this very distressing. I mentioned these things to my doc at a routine checkup and that's when he said he would refer me for tests.

I should also mention I have a mild form of Schizo-Affective Bipolar Disorder, for which I'm taking low doses of quetiapine and venlafaxine.

Before I start getting worried I kinda wanted a second opinion, do these sound like epilepsy symptoms, or something completely different?

Comments

The ones you have at night

Submitted by just_joe on Fri, 2015-02-13 - 16:43

The ones you have at night could be nocturlan seizures. Others could be other kinds of seizures.Why did you wimp out of the tests before??? The longer a person goes without medications the stronger the seizures become and they become more ferquent. The 2 main tests will be an EEG and a MRI. The EEG shows th electrical activity comming from the brain. The MRI will show the brain from all angles. Many people will have the tests come back normal. However that does not mean you might not have epilepsy. The EEG reads the output to a certain depth in the brain and your seizure activity could be deeper. By looking at th rain in the MRI they might find something that is not right. It could be a growth in an area that didn't come out right. Then too it could be something like scar tissue. I say that because with me they didn't find anythng in my EEG's and I know I had 20-25. The tests back then you would not want your enemy to go thru. The last test was another MEEG and in that EEG I fell asleep and BINGO they found abnormalities (seizure activity which you can have without having a seizure). By knowing where that abnormalitie came from they then looked closer at the neuro-angeo-gram (MRI of the 60's) and in doing so they found scared brain tissue. That scar tissue was before or after birth back in the 1960's. My current neurologist has done the same tests with todays technology and he went a little farther. The scar tissue is in more then 1 lobe on the left side of my brain. The scar tissue was due to a hemmorage to the brain. The hemmorgae was from a blow to my head between 6-8 YOA. SO when I was 6-8 I hit my head hard enough to cause me to black out if even for a few seconds. He was right. I fell off a ladder hitting my head on the left side spinning it arround and slamming my jaw into a rail knocking 4 teeth out and cutting my tongue and inner jaw which needed about 32 stiches to close. Oh and anybody at any age can have epilepsy It makes no difference rich or poor young or old and any color of the rainbow. Also do inform the people doing the testing that you take meds and exactly what those meds are for. Bipolar is a disorder that also stems from the brain so by knowing that they will see if there is anything in that area of your brain that could also cause your seizures. Relax medications today can control seizures better then they did back when I was diagnosed. I still have seizures but today they are seconds long and I could have one while talking to you and you wouldn't know anything about it unless I told you I had one. I hope this helps and you get the assistance you need Joe

The ones you have at night could be nocturlan seizures. Others could be other kinds of seizures.Why did you wimp out of the tests before??? The longer a person goes without medications the stronger the seizures become and they become more ferquent. The 2 main tests will be an EEG and a MRI. The EEG shows th electrical activity comming from the brain. The MRI will show the brain from all angles. Many people will have the tests come back normal. However that does not mean you might not have epilepsy. The EEG reads the output to a certain depth in the brain and your seizure activity could be deeper. By looking at th rain in the MRI they might find something that is not right. It could be a growth in an area that didn't come out right. Then too it could be something like scar tissue. I say that because with me they didn't find anythng in my EEG's and I know I had 20-25. The tests back then you would not want your enemy to go thru. The last test was another MEEG and in that EEG I fell asleep and BINGO they found abnormalities (seizure activity which you can have without having a seizure). By knowing where that abnormalitie came from they then looked closer at the neuro-angeo-gram (MRI of the 60's) and in doing so they found scared brain tissue. That scar tissue was before or after birth back in the 1960's. My current neurologist has done the same tests with todays technology and he went a little farther. The scar tissue is in more then 1 lobe on the left side of my brain. The scar tissue was due to a hemmorage to the brain. The hemmorgae was from a blow to my head between 6-8 YOA. SO when I was 6-8 I hit my head hard enough to cause me to black out if even for a few seconds. He was right. I fell off a ladder hitting my head on the left side spinning it arround and slamming my jaw into a rail knocking 4 teeth out and cutting my tongue and inner jaw which needed about 32 stiches to close. Oh and anybody at any age can have epilepsy It makes no difference rich or poor young or old and any color of the rainbow. Also do inform the people doing the testing that you take meds and exactly what those meds are for. Bipolar is a disorder that also stems from the brain so by knowing that they will see if there is anything in that area of your brain that could also cause your seizures. Relax medications today can control seizures better then they did back when I was diagnosed. I still have seizures but today they are seconds long and I could have one while talking to you and you wouldn't know anything about it unless I told you I had one. I hope this helps and you get the assistance you need Joe

The ones you have at night could be nocturlan seizures. Others could be other kinds of seizures.Why did you wimp out of the tests before??? The longer a person goes without medications the stronger the seizures become and they become more ferquent. The 2 main tests will be an EEG and a MRI. The EEG shows th electrical activity comming from the brain. The MRI will show the brain from all angles. Many people will have the tests come back normal. However that does not mean you might not have epilepsy. The EEG reads the output to a certain depth in the brain and your seizure activity could be deeper. By looking at th rain in the MRI they might find something that is not right. It could be a growth in an area that didn't come out right. Then too it could be something like scar tissue. I say that because with me they didn't find anythng in my EEG's and I know I had 20-25. The tests back then you would not want your enemy to go thru. The last test was another MEEG and in that EEG I fell asleep and BINGO they found abnormalities (seizure activity which you can have without having a seizure). By knowing where that abnormalitie came from they then looked closer at the neuro-angeo-gram (MRI of the 60's) and in doing so they found scared brain tissue. That scar tissue was before or after birth back in the 1960's. My current neurologist has done the same tests with todays technology and he went a little farther. The scar tissue is in more then 1 lobe on the left side of my brain. The scar tissue was due to a hemmorage to the brain. The hemmorgae was from a blow to my head between 6-8 YOA. SO when I was 6-8 I hit my head hard enough to cause me to black out if even for a few seconds. He was right. I fell off a ladder hitting my head on the left side spinning it arround and slamming my jaw into a rail knocking 4 teeth out and cutting my tongue and inner jaw which needed about 32 stiches to close. Oh and anybody at any age can have epilepsy It makes no difference rich or poor young or old and any color of the rainbow. Also do inform the people doing the testing that you take meds and exactly what those meds are for. Bipolar is a disorder that also stems from the brain so by knowing that they will see if there is anything in that area of your brain that could also cause your seizures. Relax medications today can control seizures better then they did back when I was diagnosed. I still have seizures but today they are seconds long and I could have one while talking to you and you wouldn't know anything about it unless I told you I had one. I hope this helps and you get the assistance you need Joe

Epilepsy symptoms or not?mum of newborn waiting tests

Comments

The ones you have at night

Submitted by just_joe on Fri, 2015-02-13 - 16:43

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