1. < Brain & Nervous System

Reeling from a new diagnosis

Posted by justintime86 @justintime86, 19 hours ago

Hi there -

Last week I had my first ever grand mal seizure. It was very scary and there was no warning.

Today I had an EEG. It was an awful experience unfortunately. I was fine during the first portion of the testing but suddenly during the flashing lights part I got super dizzy and disoriented. My foot also started to involuntarily shake.

The neurologist called as I was leaving and informed me that I had epilepsy.

I am sad and reeling a bit.

But I am curious if any of the following events could be related to my condition because I have a follow up with my neuro on Friday and I feel like my head is spinning.

-multiple syncope episodes. One of which resulted in a laceration of my head that required stitches.
-waves of dizziness randomly and a feeling of like a pit in my stomach (I was always told it was anxiety!)
- feeling “off” like not myself
-biting my tongue at night
-jumping or jerking as I’m falling asleep and through the night
-suddenly not being able to remember what I was saying and loosing my place in conversation

Any thoughts? My brain literally feels like mashed potatoes

I do have adhd which I am medicated for 20 years now and anxiety which I I just started an ssri for 6 months ago.

Doctor said not medication related.

Would appreciate any insight!

Here is what the follow up said if that matters at all ;

his study captured during the awake, drowsy and asleep state was abnormal due to findings of:
1. generalized frontal-central maximal polymorphic 4-5 hz spike wave discharges seen lasting 1-2.5seconds

CLINICAL CORRELATION
There were findings of generalized cerebral irritability (epileptiform discharges) which may be consistent with an electrographic tendency towards generalized/genetic/idiopathic epileptic seizures.

Thanks in advance!

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Brain & Nervous System Support Group.

dlydailyhope | @dlydailyhope | 8 hours ago

@justintime86
Did you have a concussion recently or other fall/accident before your seizure? Have you ever had a bad sinus infection? Do you get migraine headaches? Have you had a MRI of your brain/spine? Have you had Covid or another virus recently? Have you had a recent vaccine? I understand Covid has caused some issues with the nervous system.

My teen son has adhd and anxiety. His father also has adhd and high anxiety but both do not have seizures but son gets migraines with aura (visual changes/lights/floaters/blindness at times).

A very close family friend had a really bad sinus infection that caused an abscess on his brain which caused a stroke at age 37 and temporary paralysis on his one side of his body. After his stroke, he became epileptic and needed medication which made him sleepy. He couldn’t drive anymore. One time he had a seizure while shopping and fell face first and needed surgery on his nose. You really need to be careful while in public or alone. Wear a medical bracelet to let others know in an emergency that you are epileptic. You need to be really careful not to take baths and use caution around flights of stairs/positions you are in so you do not fall/injure yourself or block your ability to breathe freely.

My hope is you get answers on what has triggered this and treatment options.

REPLY
1 reply
justintime86 | @justintime86 | 7 hours ago
In reply to @dlydailyhope "@justintime86 Did you have a concussion recently or other fall/accident before your seizure? Have you ever..." + (show)
@dlydailyhope

@justintime86
Did you have a concussion recently or other fall/accident before your seizure? Have you ever had a bad sinus infection? Do you get migraine headaches? Have you had a MRI of your brain/spine? Have you had Covid or another virus recently? Have you had a recent vaccine? I understand Covid has caused some issues with the nervous system.

My teen son has adhd and anxiety. His father also has adhd and high anxiety but both do not have seizures but son gets migraines with aura (visual changes/lights/floaters/blindness at times).

A very close family friend had a really bad sinus infection that caused an abscess on his brain which caused a stroke at age 37 and temporary paralysis on his one side of his body. After his stroke, he became epileptic and needed medication which made him sleepy. He couldn’t drive anymore. One time he had a seizure while shopping and fell face first and needed surgery on his nose. You really need to be careful while in public or alone. Wear a medical bracelet to let others know in an emergency that you are epileptic. You need to be really careful not to take baths and use caution around flights of stairs/positions you are in so you do not fall/injure yourself or block your ability to breathe freely.

My hope is you get answers on what has triggered this and treatment options.

Jump to this post

Thank you so much for your reply!

In August I had an episode which resulted in me fainting and getting a deep laceration on my head that required staples. I’ve fainted several times in my life but now I wonder if it was actually a seizure. My head is spinning a bit.

I also saw the immunologist because I kept getting sick - sinus infections constant and every virus back to back
Most recently the flu. We didn’t get far because I had my first seizure the day of my appointment last week and it’s been a whirlwind since 😔

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.