Possible seizures?

[ShyestofFlies]

Hey all, a friend and I were talking about our fibromyalgia and other health concerns and something strange came up. While we both plan to speak to our docs about this I was hoping to get some thoughts first so our docs don't think we are both Hyperchondriacs.
So the episodes are pretty similar, they start with a feeling of the brain not working. Usually this happens midactivity especially talking/conversing, but has also happened to me while playing games. Then there is like a feeling of distance but still being in your body and not being able to function the only thing you feel is the blood moving in your brain and feeling kind of like jelly. We are conscious during these episodes but cannot function. Then it kind of feels like the brain is pulsating or "flipping." They last about 20 seconds sometimes or a minute others depending on the level of activity we are engaging in. There is a quick recovery afterwards and no or almost no warning leading up to them.
Do these sound like seizure episodes or just migraines or something entirely different? From what I've read they sound like they could be any of the three but before I start worrying about them I just want to see what others think

 

[justy]

I have had something similar. I feel spaced out and vague and then it feels like my brain literally 'moves' in my head while I am sitting still. Then I feel even weirder briefly and then come back to normal. I don't know what it is.

 

[PNR2008]

I have a rest period always during a lot of stimulus, where I just stare for a few seconds usually at a neutral object like the wall or some other background. I am conscious of what's around me and even realize the time passing (about 5-8 seconds) then I'm back to real time and process as before.

This happened a lot in my childhood in school and I thought everyone did it but a doctor-friend was looking at me strange and thought I was having a seizure. I explained to her this happened before and I was aware of her observing me but just needed a few seconds to regroup.

I've had terrible migraines as a child but I certainly did not consider these rest periods nor did these episodes precipitate a migraine. BEAM scan (brain mapping) showed a tendency to seizure and epilepsy but as far as I knew I never had one.

 

[Denise]

Hey all, a friend and I were talking about our fibromyalgia and other health concerns and something strange came up. While we both plan to speak to our docs about this I was hoping to get some thoughts first so our docs don't think we are both Hyperchondriacs.
So the episodes are pretty similar, they start with a feeling of the brain not working. Usually this happens midactivity especially talking/conversing, but has also happened to me while playing games. Then there is like a feeling of distance but still being in your body and not being able to function the only thing you feel is the blood moving in your brain and feeling kind of like jelly. We are conscious during these episodes but cannot function. Then it kind of feels like the brain is pulsating or "flipping." They last about 20 seconds sometimes or a minute others depending on the level of activity we are engaging in. There is a quick recovery afterwards and no or almost no warning leading up to them.
Do these sound like seizure episodes or just migraines or something entirely different? From what I've read they sound like they could be any of the three but before I start worrying about them I just want to see what others think

Orthostatic intolerance can produce symptoms similar to what you describe.
Clarification might be gained from a tilt table test and EEG done simultaneously. (Fwiw - finding places willing to do this can involve many phone calls.)

 

[WillowJ]

From what I hear, seizure doctors don't like to diagnose seizure without a loss of consciousness, but they may be able to treat whatever you have.

OTOH, migraine and seizure have some pathological similarities, and seizure medications can be used to treat severe migraines.

Kind of in like with what @Denise said, migraine also has ties to the cardiovascular system (as well as to fibro, with substance P in common).

Then it kind of feels like the brain is pulsating or "flipping."

I've had this due to noise/vibration. I did not recover quickly after, but the stimulus was quite long, and I was overdoing activity at the time, so pretty close to a bad crash at any time.

I've spoken to docs who thought I had "too many symptoms" and so wanted to make a referral to get me evaluated for conversion disorder, and docs who normally thought I had deconditioning (thanks, CDC*) but when told about my various migraine symptoms, panicked and wanted me evaluated for seizures (which I thought was reasonable--though I can't find a seizure disorder that I neatly fit into, but neither do I neatly fit into any specific migraine category--but the neuro diagnosed as migraines, without any testing).

* [irony alert: this is acknowledgement for source of misinformation, not an actual thanks for help]

 

[tudiemoore]

Azriel--I'll join you on this old thread--I have had many of these, also with variations.
I can't say every one of them was different but lots of variety! I never saw them as a pattern but now I realize they were.
I would describe mine as having my brain go numb. Also, at times I would hear what someone was saying but just be zoned out--couldn't reply, would look around a room and see it almost as if I was observing something in a magazine--"I don't think putting those lamps close to the edge of the table is a good idea." In my own home!

The most intense and memorable one was while in a class in an old building with high, high ceilings. I saw myself sitting in a corner of the ceiling and looking down at everything else. A gargoyle?

After all these episodes I transitioned back to "normal" within whatever setting I was in.
These went on for about two years (not sure) but ultimately I had a seizure with all that that can entail, emergency room, tests, etc.

I am on medication now "for the rest of your life" the MD said. I have had about eight seizures over 15 years, always when under a great of stress.
Take good of yourself-