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I have migraines, could I also be having seizures

Mon, 06/19/2017 - 14:26
So I'm not really sure how to go about putting this into words or formatting, but essentially I'm concerned I'm having seizures and every time I've brought it up to a nurse/doctor they've completely ignored it and talked over me. I have chronic migraines that are currently being controlled by medication and have gotten me down to about 3 migraine days per month but without medication I was upwards of 15 days per month. My migraine doctor is an absolute jerk who barely listens to anything I say and I've been trying to find a new doctor but have been unsuccessful where I live in two cities and am switching primary care doctors due to turning 21 a couple months ago. With my migraines I often experience auras, but I often experience auras without a migraine. I've been having headaches most of my life but they really started getting bad when I was 18 and I was diagnosed when I was 20. Around the time my migraines started getting really bad I also started to really notice other symptoms such as memory loss in which I would lose large chunks of time from my days where I couldn't remember anything from. Since then it's also gotten to the point where I forget the sentence I'm trying to say while in the middle of that sentence, or a similar thing when I'm recounting a story. Both of these happen quite often, several times a day and when they do I just go completely blank for a period of time, I recognize that I've gone blank but I can't do anything about it and have to be prompted in order to continue. Most of my friends at this point acknowledge it as normal but I do still get the concerned look from time to time, but it generally doesn't last more than 10-15 seconds before I can continue. In addition to this I sometimes have weird muscle spasms, not just the ones that everyone has where a limb will kick out randomly, but also where it feels like someone has a muscle hooked up to electric stimulation and just has it on repeat for a period of time where I have no control, usually just in one limb at a time. I also am fairly photosensitive and can't tolerate moderately bright lights, flashing lights hurt my eyes, and on a similar note my brain goes blank when heavily repetitive patterned things are moving around me. The most concerning occurrence happened a couple of months ago when I was in the shower, I don't really remember what happened but I just remember things tunneling out and seeing black spots and things spinning and not knowing where I was even though it was the shower I use everyday at school and it felt like it went on forever but I don't actually know how long it lasted. It was terrifying when it happened and for awhile after. I think this is all the stuff that makes me think I might be having seizures, the only reason that these weird symptoms even got connected and put in the direction of possibly seizures and epilepsy is that one of my friends at college has epilepsy and migraines and when I was diagnosed with migraines she started watching me really closely and was always recommending that I see a neurologist (thats how I ended up at my current asshole doctor). I also have major depressive disorder, ocd, and generalized anxiety, I've taken a handful of different medications for these that all warn of seizures as side effects but I've been off of all of them for a period of at least three months/have only been on them for the past couple of months during the time the symptoms have been especially present and nothing changed during those times which leads me to believe that they're not the cause. I'm not sure if any of this makes any sense, or if all the doctors are right and there's really nothing I should be worried about but I feel like I know myself and these things are not normal (well normal as in they happen fairly often, not normal as in they shouldn't be happening). I also know that I do need to find a doctor that will listen to me, and I'm hoping that my new PCP that I'm seeing in the end of July will be able to refer me to someone who can help.

Comments

HI, firstly sorry its so long

Submitted by mariet_5926de5df37df on Wed, 2017-07-05 - 07:33
HI, firstly sorry its so long before you've had a reply to your post. I cannot access the internet easily. Goodness you are really having a tough time and it does not help when you are not being properly listened to. I am fairly new to epilepsy but I had  a bleed some years ago and the brain injury resulting from that involved getting used to coping with sensory sensitivity, which I didn't realise and thought I was having some kind of breakdown until I was sent to a brain rehab/job place.Basically I am trying to say mental health issues could possibly be linked in with issues with the brain etc. You might be describing absence seizures, but I am no expert. One thing you can do is log everything, draw up columns for date time, what you were doing before, what happened etc. Also maybe write a detailed account of one episode and get information from those who have witnessed it. Also perhaps summarise your log, with a key and stats. E.g. how many event a day and when, over time etc.Thus when you go to this or a more open neurologist you can offer some hard evidence of what has been happening, explaining that you understand how symptoms can be unclear because of the migraine. I think it can be difficult for consultants to get a clear picture of what is happening. Personally I would think that the headaches plus all your other symptoms should warrant investigation, MRI etc, if only to rule out everything so that you can get appropriate help. Because in addition all the extra stress and worry is likely making it all worse.I wish you luck and do hope to you read this, not sure how it works in the US can you ask the GP for another referral, second opinion.

I finally saw my new primary

Submitted by allipichette on Sat, 2017-07-22 - 22:24
I finally saw my new primary care doctor and she's giving me a referral to a new neurologist for at the very least migraine treatment, but hopefully also to figure out what might be wrong. My pcp seemed surprised that I hadn't had an MRI,etc yet so maybe the new neurologist will think that'll be beneficial as well. Unfotuanately though, my pcp seemed to think that most of my symptoms that I told her about were just a product of my anxiety, which I can understand is a reasonable thought, but I don't know in my mind it doesn't feel like it's from anxiety, especially since my anxiety is at its most controlled point that it's been in my life, and the symptoms don't come and go when I'm more/less anxious. But I'm not a medical professional so how much do I really know other than that it's my own body?I've tried writing down details of the episodes but I either don't remember them by the time I get a chance to actually jot them down in a notebook/my phone and there's no one around me to write it for me, or I'm unable to put into words exactly what happened, there's just no way to describe it that makes any sense whatsoever.Thank you for your response, I was beginning to think I was going mental and that I must just be making it all up in my head

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