Community Forum Archive

The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.

New to this forum...dunno if I have panic attacks or seizure disorder

Sat, 06/14/2014 - 12:54

Topic: New to Epilepsy.com

Hi all. I'm a 70 year old man and Vietnam veteran. I began having what I thought was a recurrance of my panic attacks that I had for several years after returning from Vietnam. Eventually those subsided for the most part but became triggered by extreme stress, e.g. when my parents were dying. Just a year or so ago I began having what I thought/think are panic attacks but one VA doc said they may be some type of seizure disorder. I can't find this doc anymore but am still dealing with these episodes.

I seem to get them in clusters of two or three per day or over several days, then can be free of them for a few weeks. They start with extreme fear and I have to just isolate myself for several minutes until they pass. I'm left with some somatic symptoms: runny nose, urgency to urinate or defecate, confusion, tiredness, elevated heart rate, etc. These after effects last for minutes to hours.

I have had these occasionally in the middle of the night waking me from sleep but cannot recall any dreams. These all vary in intensity and I can feel/sense them coming on for maybe 30 sec or so.

I am 70% disabled with PTSD.

If someone could reply with any suggestions or guess as to what is happening to me I'd be so thankful.. I live in a small town in the Sierras and no neurologist are around...

Thanks for any help

Dogface....aka Mark

Comments

Please seek the help of a

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2014-06-14 - 15:08

Please seek the help of a neurologist. they need to order and EEG and also neurophsych tests. It could be either. Best wsihes

I think the VA doctor was

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2014-06-15 - 11:08

I think the VA doctor was right. Most of what you posted could be different things in some seizures/ Also if you have PTSD what happened to you might also make a difference. A head injury like being knocked out can cause a hemmprage to the brain. That hemmorage can cause scared brain tissue which causes epilepsy or a seizure disorder. Check with your VA and see if they have a neurologist and if they do go see him. The main tests are an EEG and the other is a MRI. The EEG shows the electrical output in the brain. A normal EEG is fine. If it showes abnormalities you have seizure activity in some area in your brain, The EEG shows that area. The MRI shows all aspects of your rain and knowing where in your brain the activity is they will lookl closer in that area to see if anything is different to what it sould be.

How is your general health ok

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2014-07-12 - 10:02

How is your general health ok? Alcohol, caffeine, stress, free?I'm also ex-army (Australia), but I didn't see combat stuff, so no PTSD in my case. But it seems that your PTSD flashbacks are easier to trigger in our old age (I'm in your age group). The lack of dreaming is not true. Every human dreams every night. Most dreams of most people are not remembered.Lack of good sleep is a trigger for panic attacks, PTSD & epileptic type events. In my case, my workaholicism & TraumaticBrainInjury (TBI) created my sleep deprivation. You seem to have your sleep disturbed. So every night, I have my government-provided CPAP machine, plus removal of alarm clocks in the morning. The age-thing is that we are much more knocked over by everyday events that did not bother us so much in the past. So it is only 30 years after my TBI (car accident) that this epileptic stuff seems in the fringes of my life now.I can understand your isolation from medical practitioners. I suggest you check forums on dream therapy, PTSD, VA people, etc.

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.