Epilepsy & Seizures Support Group

Epilepsy (often referred to as a seizure disorder) is a chronic neurological condition characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. It is commonly controlled with medication, although surgical methods are used as well. Seizures (or convulsions) are temporary abnormal electrophysiologic phenomena of the brain, resulting in abnormal synchronization of electrical neuronal...

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Brain & Nervous System
/ Epilepsy & Seizures Support Group

seizures or anxiety

deleted_user
deleted_user
I asked this question on the stroke site but haven't gotten any replies so I thought I might have better luck here. I need to talk to someone who may be able to help. I had another episode last week and I haven't felt right since. The doc. can't figure it out so they call it anxiety. i do not know if I agree. i had hit my head the day before i had this episode and I've had a headache since. i have four cavernous malformations on my brain and i've had two bleeds. O.K. here's what happens first I start feeling funny like I'm getting weak I feel like I need sugar. I get weak in the knees and kind of shaky inside. Then I start feeling light headed this is when I know to stop whatever I'm doing because somethings coming. My hands and head will start to shake and my eye twitches. My whole body will start to shake like a grand mal seizure kind of but I have never passed out. i know what is going on around me but I have no control over my body. I can talk but it's very slow to come out. It's like i have trouble saying the words or so i've been told. i prefer to keep my eyes closed because I am dizzy although i can open them. I quit going to the neuro. because I'm tired of them treating me like I'm a crazy person because I disagree with them. I get very tired afterwards and usually sleep for a while. Then i just feel like i'm out of it for a few days. i cry sometimes and the neuro. just said see why are you crying? It's not showing up on the eeg, it just shows slowing whatever that means. Can anyone out there help me?
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hey there,
Same with me! Usally I have peanuts M&M and cracker. I had eeg 1 in month, nothing! Do you take anything for anxiety?
deleted_user
deleted_user
No i'm not on any medication except ibuprofen. i have been on meds. for anxiety but they didn't work i was still having these episodes. I quit taking them and it has almost been a yr. since anything has happened.
deleted_user
deleted_user
So....perhaps they have stopped....a year is a good lenghth of time.......great...!
deleted_user
deleted_user
This is NOT a seizure.......because you don't lose consciousness......
this is being caused by something going on in your mind that you're not aware of.......it an ' event' ....an episode......not epileptic in origin....so......how about seeing a complementary health practitioner.....eg acupuncture/massage/aromatherapy......
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hello, pa777van- there are about 40 different kinds of seizures, and I do lose consciousness when I have a grandmal. jessd: please see a different neurologist... maybe another neuro will be more compassionate and look a little harder to make a firm determination. Please let me know...
deleted_user
deleted_user
They had stopped for almost a yr. until last wk. I knocked myself in the head pretty good and about 24hrs. later I had one, while I was driving down the road bringing my kids back from the bike park. Of course I pulled over and let it pass, but that was the longest drive home ever. I just haven't felt right since. yes I do see my family doc. for this and high blood pressure. I have an appointment Fri.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Oh I also saw a second neuro. and when he got my medical records he went with the first doc. oppinion and said he'd be there if I needed in the future if I had another stroke.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Have you studied on tremors?But please don't eliminate the possibility of seizures. I have tremors but I am also convinced that I have reflex seizures and possibly others. It takes a long history of episodes sometimes before an accurate diagnosis is made. In the mean time educate yourself on seizures.these are my favorite web sites on the issue
http://wikpedia.org/wiki/aura_(symptom) and http:www.epilepsyontario.org?client/EO/EOWeb.nsf?web?Visual+Ref...
have you considered migraines or vertigo our symptoms sound alot alike.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I have had sever grand-mal seizrures since i was 17. I am 25. I am "concious" or awake through every one of them. I am verbally imparied however. I cannot speak once i go into them. I have a warnng signal, like an aurora. I usually have a few miinutes before it kicks in. ENough time to find a calm quite place. Hope this helps
deleted_user
deleted_user
Errm, I had the same thing nearly exacaly the same...Nothing showed up on the eeg or the mri. My phocoatrist thinks it is a phycological siezure, i think its called a psudio seizure or somthing...check it out...it may help. I hope yuo ar eok x x x x
deleted_user
deleted_user
I haven't tried a new neuro. but my family doc. put me on a new med. that my sister says they use to stop a seizure. it's in the same class as valume. i have had one since but there is no way i can take a pill during these episodes. my son had to help me take one afterwards even. i didn't realize how much they put me out of order when it happens. my coordination is off big time and my thoughts are sluggish. i will do some more research of different seizures, thanks cherbear! I've also realized that my memory is screwed when these happen to me. For my husbands b-day his parents took us out to eat and was talking about a time we went to this big church and watched a show they were putting on and my youngest was in front of the stage dancing his heart out and the preacher called him the little salt shaker and invited him on stage. Later on i had a seizure and people came to pray for me in the hall way. i remember none of this. i can't find it in my memory no matter how hard i try. i would like to remember my son dancing up there. I can't remember movies I've seen before etc. If it's all in my head then why am I having early altheismers as I like to call it...LOL!
deleted_user
deleted_user
Are you on a daily dose of this medication to prevent seizures or are you supposed to take a pill only when an episode comes on?

I haven't heard of memory issues from seizures except while someone has a seizure.

Has any dr said anything about your head being hit? It seems like there's a correlation since you hadn't had seizures for a year prior...
deleted_user
deleted_user
My family doc. said the hit on the head could be related and put me on this med. I was fine by the time I went to the doc. except for a slight head ache so he gave me migrane med.too. The memory problems have gotten worse since the stroke and it was on the top part of the brain that controls memory so that's probably where that's coming from. I recently had another episode again but it wasn't as bad and didn't last as long so that's probably a good sign it's improving again. I got a new camera for christmas with a video so the next one I have if there is anyone around I want them to tape it and I'm going to show my sons neuro. and then maybe he can help me get some answers. One thing I tried to tell the neuro. the first time is that I think I did make it worse at first because I would freak when it happened but now I try to stay calm and it's a little different although I'm still awake. I think in the beginning I just wanted them to fix it so I dramatized it some although it took me a long time to admit it but all that did was hurt me in the long run because now they insist it's anxiety. The neuros. that is. My family doc. disagrees with them.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hi jessd. One of the most common characteristics of having a seizure is feeling sleepy and fatigued afterwards. I've had both kinds of seizuric activity. I have daily 'tremors' where: I remain conscious; my torso, head, and arms tremble (not violently); and I have to keep my eyes open--closing them just sets off another one. I've also had unconscious grand mals where I wake up on the floor, etc. and I have no memory of going into a seizure or how I ended up in such a position. I only know if someone witnesses my seizure or, if I'm alone, I've majorly bitten my tongue twice--one time, to the point where I felt nauseous the rest of the day because I had swallowed so much blood. But other than that, I have not experienced any memory problems nor do I know how common they are in epileptics.

Shop around for a new neurologist. I dealt with a real prick when I was first diagnosed years ago, and trust me, they can make you feel just awful. He was insensitive to me, a scared 16-year old girl, who was being presented with the harrowing diagnosis of epilepsy--I mean, c'mon. I asked around my friends, doctors, etc., and found a great neurologist who is very supportive and really listens. Also, I went to a neuropsychologist--he seemed to have a much better understanding of my epilepsy than either one of my regular neurologists!

What medication are you on, by the way? I agree with yeslech, that you're meds for epilepsy should be daily.

Hope this helps a little!
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hi Jessd, I would just like to add that just because your EEG came out normal, does not rule out seizures or epilepsy. Many of us with seizures have had normal EEGs. I've known a couple who have ONLY had normal EEGs but have still been diagnosed with epilepsy. It can be very frustrating to figure things out when this happens. I've had 2 normal and one extremely abnormal. I went for 10 years after my 1st normal EEG with no further testing because that neuro didn't take it seriously or look any further. All the while my seizures were progressing and getting worse. 10 years later after my 2nd grand mal, my 2nd EEG finally showed abnormal spikes and waves.

Find a new neuro, hopefully a neurophysiologist or epileptologist - one that specializes in epilepsy.

Good luck to you!!
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