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Panic Attacks or Partial Seizures?
Wed, 01/28/2015 - 11:50Hello All,
I am new to this site and have joined mostly because of a question that has bugged me for a while. I am a 25 year old caucasian male and for the last 11 years I have occasionaly suffered from what I originally thought were panic attacks. I have had 15-20 of these over the last 11 years. The symptoms include:
-Amplification of noise
-Change in how I percieve time (speeed up/slow down)
-staring/ "zoning out"
-Change in how I percieve distance
-difficulty thinking/focusing
-General overstimulation/sensory overload
As I said, I orginally thought these were panic attacks, until I realized in college that there was no panic/dread that accomapied these episodes. In fact, during them, I am quite calm and the fear that people describe with panic/anxiety is not present. I can generally gather myself enough to remove myself from wherever I'm at (leaving class, pull over while driving, etc.) and then it passes after about 3 minutes. I have gotten them in both stressful situations (tests, presentations, etc.) and non-stressful situations (just hanging out, working on computer, etc.)
I should note that these began within months of the first time I experienced my first migraine (with visual aura). These occur far more frequently and I usually get 1-2 a month, while the episodes occur maybe once a year. I have seen doctors about the migraines, not about the episodes.
I have wondered recently if these could could actaully be a type of seizure that I experience, because they do not seem to be panic attacks. Could anyone weigh in on this? Has anyone experienced the same things? Should I see a doctor?
Any input is appreciated! Thanks!