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Undiagnosed newbie

Fri, 04/21/2006 - 07:37
Hi there. I am brand new to this forum. I found epilepsy.com yesterday while looking up some information. I was diagnosed with depression 2 1/2 weeks ago. I was also diagnosed with an acute anxiety disorder and given some material to read. After going through a self-screening, my next question to my doctor was going to be about a full blown panic disorder. ...and then I saw it. Chapter 2 of the book I was given listed a whole bunch of medical causes for anxiety. Listed there, halfway down the list, was "Temporal Lobe Epilepsy". My oldest sister is epileptic. I have always associated epilepsy with the grand mal seizures she had. I got curious after that term played itself over and over and over again in my mind. I just wanted to know what it was, so I looked it up and found this site. You could have knocked me over with a feather. Simple partial seizures..... I recognized that description so thoroughly I almost started to cry. That happens to me at a minimum of once a week. I've always just thought I go a little spacey and that it's just a personality tick. I never made any sort of connection to epilepsy. I'm currently being medicated for the depression and my dosage goes up tomorrow. I have another doctor's appointment in three weeks. Right now, I'm struggling over whether I should call the doctor today with this information or wait for three weeks. It is, of course, totally possible that I just happen to go a little spacey, but the familiarity of the descriptions of "simple partial seizures" is going to drive me crazy till I talk to him. Especially considering the last one happened last night. The other thing that just killed me was the mood and behaviour 101 page, where it describes the long-term effects of seizures on the brain (ie forgetting words, using the wrong word, and not being able to recall the thing you just watched/read). Again...I thought that was just a personality tick, since it happens to my oldest sister (the one who is epileptic), too. Advice would be useful. I'm absolutely itching for as much information as I can get my hands on. I've never felt so free in a potential explanation for what is wrong with me. I'm not big on self-diagnosis, generally.... it's just that this is such an accurate description of what happens to me.

Comments

Re: Undiagnosed newbie

Submitted by missy_b on Fri, 2006-04-21 - 11:10
I know what your going through. I have partial complex seizure disorder which starts in the right temporal lobe. Doctors new about my epilepsy but didn't know that my rapid heartbeats were seizures as well. They thought they were panic attacks. I knew these episodes were related to my seizures but I didn't know they were actually seizures themselves. I switched doctors several times until I found one that would look into these episodes more. He adimitted me into the hospital and took me off my meds and recored my brain activity via EEG for several days. Thankfully, I had an episode while on the EEG machine and sure enough it was a seizure. There is now no question that I have an anxiety disorder, I don't! If I were you I would demand an EEG to see if you may have a seizure disorder and then go from there. Beware that some Dr.s won't change their sometimes "wrong theories" so you may need to see someone else. Good luck!

Thank you for this. :)

Submitted by fzMousie on Fri, 2006-04-21 - 12:30
Thank you for this. :) Rapid heartbeats are also related to seizures?? That's *extremely* interesting. I was diagnosed with 'tachyocardic arrythmia' about 2 1/2 years ago. That was after I randomly blacked out and fell. It wasn't low blood sugar (the previous scapegoat for my blackouts and falling), since I'd just eaten breakfast. I just blacked out and fell. I remember my ears ringing and hearing faint music playing. The doctor never ordered an ECG or did any follow up work, he just decided that's what it was, since my heart was racing at a glorious 136bpm when we went in to see him. My heartrate stayed elevated for the rest of theday, and slowly came back down by the following day. My new doctor ordered an ECG and discovered that I have a perfectly normal, healthy heart. I also don't suffer from LBS (though I do get headaches when I get too hungry). My new doctor may be more open to this suggestion than my old doctor (whom I really couldn't stand anyway). Though, I don't really know. He sorta stuck me on the celexa and ignored the therapist's suggestion that I get my brain checked out. :P

Hi Hannah and welcome to the

Submitted by coolcanadian on Fri, 2006-04-21 - 20:50
Hi Hannah and welcome to the family. Diagnosis was a two sided sword for me. The 'Oh crap! why me?' part was an easy answer because of a dangerous lifestyle...I had to finally pay the piper. The 'What now?' part is still being figured out over the last six years. With meds, experience, knowledge, new docs and ever changing circumstances, I have to keep altering my approach to keep the sz monster in his cage. And just when I thought I had some smooth road, my first tonic/clonic in 18mos grabs me. But I never let myself get sad or frustrated. There are so many of us here who have it oh so much worse. I'm able to gather a ton of strength from them. And I firmly beleive knowledge is power when it comes to life with E. Especially with the MDs. They know a lot. But I know me better than they do. I hope this helps in some small way. If you want to e-mail me directly, by all means please do. Keep smilin' -marko

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