Tonic clonic fun
Hiya, a few people have posted similar stuff to wot I've been having so you can have mine too.
I get panic attacks, I think. I get proper spack out fits every so often, like an epileptic. Except I'm not epileptic. They say.

I've been on propanalol (beta blockers) for a while which don't seem to help - so I'm a bit stuck really. I get no warning at all that the fits are going to happen, the last 2 times were at work and the first I knew of it was waking up with some paramedics around me.

It's weird, wish I knew what it was - if I died from it I'd have no idea.
(Nigella Pussycat picking baked-in hair from creme brulee, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 1:26, 15 replies)

Odd one...
...propanalol can be used to treat anxiety, but if you were having actual fits/seizures/convulsions of some description you would be more likely to be treated with an anti-convulsant such as tegretol or dilantin.
So are they actually fits? Do you lose consciousness and have a confused phase (post-ictal) thereafter?
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 2:21, closed)

Yeah
They wanged me on lamotrigine for a while, but took me off when it seemed to exacerbate things. Yep, loss of consciousness, confused after - if they're not fits then it's a bloody close relative
(Nigella Pussycat picking baked-in hair from creme brulee, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 8:15, closed)

If it looks like a fit...
...and appears like a fit, then it is a fit and I treat it as fit and give midazolam (as long as it's not primarily caused by hypoxia or hypoglycaemia - if so, then treat them first).
Maybe they are trying to tell you that the fits are not specifically epileptic in origin and as such the fits are classed as idiopathic (no known cause).
I've seen a few people have seizures who have later told me that the doctors have ruled out all the usual suspects such as epilepsy, low blood sugar, tumours, etc.
Hope you get it sorted! (BTW - not everyone gets auras or warnings before a seizure).
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 16:41, closed)

That's what the doc said today
About them being idiopathic. That word stuck out.

Thanks :) weirdly I get more concerned about people around me than me when it happens!
(Nigella Pussycat picking baked-in hair from creme brulee, Wed 27 Jul 2011, 17:34, closed)

If it's epilepsy
before the fit, you get a warning. Your perception changes, but it's hard to explain what it is. The common analogy is deja vu, but I'd say that's a piss poor description. It's actually localised random electric impulses in a small part of the brain, if it spreads to the entire brain, that's the full spack-out fits. I once likened it to when you install new graphics card drivers, and your monitor drops to some really low refresh rate and the image jumps slightly to one side. You can see what's going on but something's clearly not right.

If the drugs aren't working, go back to the doctor's and tell him. It will after all, say on the label that if symptons persist then go to your doctor.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 2:53, closed)

That's what they tell me...
But no aura, no feeling, no nothing. They don't seem to know what the cock is wrong with me. Back to the doc tomorrow, will post an update.
(Nigella Pussycat picking baked-in hair from creme brulee, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 8:51, closed)

You a spastic too, sandettie?
I would say that deja vu is exactly correct. I freak out when I feel even the slightest touch of it.
Erm...it's certainly more descriptive than "localised random electric impulses in a small part of the brain", since people know what deja vu feels like.

The hard part is explaining how it feels when the deja vu spreads from your memories to your sight, and thoughts, and intentions, and the whole thing tangles into one jumbled mass where whatever you're looking at expands to surround you and always has been there even though it changes every time you glance panickedly around looking for a soft place to land.
I was once told that deja vu is sensory input temporarily routing through your memory centres. When everything seems to be routing through your memory centres and vice versa, it can get extremely trippy. Then you wake up in a pool of vomit. Ugh.

And you can get a type of epilepsy where you just go down like a sack of spuds, can't you? I've long known to consider myself lucky I get any warning.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 10:02, closed)

i experience this intense sense of deja vu sometimes.
what's more intense is the sensation I randomly get sometimes when nothing feels real.

Its like I see what I see normally, all my senses in fact are working, but it doesnt seem real. My brain seems to think I am just experiencing a memory, and my real body is far away, maybe dead, or something. this can last a couple of seconds, or a full minute. If its a few seconds I just brush it off and carry on, but if it is a long one, it is really uncomfortable can can spark a small-scale panic attack.

I never black out or collapse though. Does this have a name?
(tyrellsOwl, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 11:59, closed)

tyrellsOwl...
...it's just a glitch in the matrix.
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 16:35, closed)

tyrellsOwl - seriously though...
...it sounds like you are having episodes of a 'dissociative state'. (Try 'Dissociation' on Wikipedia.)
It's also really common for people to experience this when given Ketamine - by which I mean patients who have I have given it for severe fractures when morphine doesn't do the trick, as opposed to people taking it for shits and giggles. (Although I guess it might be similar for them too, I've never tried it myself.)
I experienced dissociative states as a kid although I only figured out what they were - and was able to put a name to them - as an adult.
(emadex thinks the world will end on, Tue 26 Jul 2011, 18:27, closed)

Thanks, I will read up on this when I get home from work.

I have never tried Ketamine, nor any other strong opiate, so I have no idea why I would be experiencing them..
(tyrellsOwl, Wed 27 Jul 2011, 13:09, closed)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derealization
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder

These seem to fairly closely describe my symptoms.
"Depersonalization disorder is often comorbid with anxiety disorders, panic disorders, clinical depression and bipolar disorder."

I do have an (albeit undiagnosed) anxiety disorder. I often go around feeling anxious and worried (sometimes for a reason, other times not) and am prone to panic attacks (Though they have gotten better).

I just skimmed these articles now on my lunch break but I will read more this evening.
(tyrellsOwl, Wed 27 Jul 2011, 13:15, closed)

Can you describe how you feel before, during, and after?
Do you have any memory of the fit, or do you black out?
(Stiltzkin, Wed 27 Jul 2011, 11:52, closed)

Not really.....
I know nothing until I'm coming round afterwards. Usually feeling pissed off and very tired. No memory of it whatsoever.
(Nigella Pussycat picking baked-in hair from creme brulee, Wed 27 Jul 2011, 17:29, closed)

UPDATE
Right, saw Doc, and it's back to the neurologist to stick stuff in me, on me and up me. If no answers then they may have to operate.

Cool.
(Nigella Pussycat picking baked-in hair from creme brulee, Wed 27 Jul 2011, 17:31, closed)