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Schizophrenia vs TLE

Tue, 04/16/2019 - 10:50
Hello all! It's been awhile since I've been here, but the diagnostics have gotten sticky. My diagnosis needs context, and the story is long, but if you've had any experience with a psychiatric diagnosis before your epilepsy diagnosis, I'd love to hear your story and hopefully receive support. Here goes. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1994, just days before my 19th birthday. I had been struggling with hallucinations and religious fixation for years before this. I accepted my diagnosis at the time (because doctors always know what they're doing, right?) I've spent 25 years on antipsychotics that never quite treated the problem, and so was pronounced "treatment resistant," despite graduating 4th in my high school class, being excessively friendly and social, and having incredible focus on art and writing. (I now hold a degree in English, I write reams of poetry and short stories, and am living as a graphic novel artist in an apartment by myself.) Last year, inexplicably, I had my first noticeable seizure. I'm used to hallucinating, but this time I had a strong, sweet, metallic taste in my mouth, followed by intense euphoria. Three minutes later, I woke up disoriented and called a friend who took me to the ER. The CT scan was clean, but my EEG showed sharp waves in my right temporal lobe. I was taken to a neurologist. After loads of medicines with adverse side effects (all of which did stop the seizures), I was recommended medical use of cannabis, which is legal where I live. I was leery. I don't like altering my mind at all, and cannabis isn't known to be helpful for schizophrenia, in fact the opposite. Desperate for relief without allergic reaction or suicidal symptoms, I tried it. Not only did it stop my tremors in my hands (I had the feeling I was always vibrating under my skin for years), the "treatment resistant" symptoms of schizophrenia went away. To be clear, I'm NOT advocating cannabis use here. I'm only explaining the reasons I have come to believe I never had schizophrenia, but have been an epileptic my whole life and didn't know it. Also, it explains the bedwetting issue I struggled with until my late 20s. The problem is, no one has witnessed any convulsive seizures in my life. So begins my journey. I see a neuropsychiatrist soon, and I suspect I have Geschwind Syndrome as well. I'm open to the idea that I may have a comorbidity with schizophrenia, but in light of these other experiences, it seems unlikely. I'm hoping simple anticonvulsants can stop the psychotic symptoms I have, and my doctor is willing to take me off the antipsychotics to see. Meanwhile, I feel very alone in this. Am I a unicorn somehow? How rare is this? Is it possible to just wake up at 43 with your first diagnostic epileptic seizure, even with my history? Have any of you had experience with this? It would be nice to have answers... or at least some support. Thanks. Sorry this is so long.

Comments

Hi Sue, I wish I could

Submitted by Newyorkcita2 on Tue, 2019-05-21 - 10:50
Hi Sue, I wish I could remember where I saw it. But, I read a paper on Psychosis and TLE. So, it is possible that you may have both or that Epilepsy is actually causing Schizophrenic symptoms. Your traits do sound like Geschwinds Syndrome. I would love to hear what you figured out. 

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