Epilepsy or Not?
Hi folks
I have been doing quite a bit of self-reflection since realising that I probably have AS. One occasional peculiarity which i never really put much thought into before where these episodes I sometimes got which I am now thinking might be similar to Simple Partial Seizures. They might be nothing of the sort and could be that ASMR thing that got posted about or even just a simple rush of blood to the head even but I thought that, if I describe what I experience, some of you who know what these seizures feel like could tell me if it sounds the same...
They seem to be triggered by something happening on TV or by one of my own thoughts and typically last between 10 and 30 seconds. I loose my sense of balance and feel almost out-of-body and depersonalised and like I could be floating. I have the sensation of my brain buzzing/vibrating/wobbling inside my skull and a not unpleasent ticklish sensation inside my brain. I feel as if my thoughts and even my thought process itseld sort of collapses down like a house of cards and my vision looses focus. Although I find these disorientating, they are often accompanied with a sense of happiness or even euphoria but certainly not any pain.
What do people think? Previously I would have just thought I was being melodramatic but then, that's also what I would have said about my autistic traits so who knows?
Thanks
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AQ46, EQ9, FQ20, SQ50
RAADS-R: 181 (Language: 9, Social: 97, Sensory/Motor: 37, Interests: 36)
Aspie Quiz: AS129, NT80
Alexithymia: 137
I had simmilar experiences and in the end it wasn't epilepsy but epilepsy is very tricky. It could be possible and propalby noone can tell you here for sure.
Just with an EEG and other neurological tests you can propably tell if you have it or not. But that's also a bit tricky. So the have to catch one of those situations, it seems you are sensitive to light?
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"I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown." - Woody Allen
Not sure if I would classify myself as sensitive to light. I prefer dimmed lights to work in but I think that is more about limiting visual distractions by darkening the room around me. I wear sunglasses whenever I can get away with it but, again, the lower sunlight is more like a secondary benefit - I mainly wear them to avoid eye contact and interacting with people etc. I just came back from a sunny beach holiday. The wife picked the sunny location but I didnt really mind the sun per se. I guess I couldn't have gone if I was really light sensitive?
_________________
AQ46, EQ9, FQ20, SQ50
RAADS-R: 181 (Language: 9, Social: 97, Sensory/Motor: 37, Interests: 36)
Aspie Quiz: AS129, NT80
Alexithymia: 137
Hm, so far I know in epilepsy those who are light sensitive (those are just 10% so far I know), it is more the light flickering that can start a seizure. Do you have that?
When they thought I could have seizures, it was a combination of a blepharospasm and too much stress.
But I believe nevertheless, that symptoms like that should always get checked by a neurologist.
A girlfriend I had, has epilepsy, so I know some stuff about it, but not that much.
So I would go to a neurologist, just to be sure.
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"I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown." - Woody Allen
I have epilepsy (petit mal/absence seizures). I have also had experiences like you are describing, but they are nothing like my seizures. The seizures are usually triggered by certain light patterns, but also hyperventilation, extreme emotional distress, and sometimes randomly. I have had an EEG and they are frontal lobe seizures (but not the type that are usually associated with the frontal lobe). During an episode, I stop being able to react. I can hear what is going on around me, but it sounds like gibberish and I don't comprehend it. I can see light and color, but I can't see details. I can't respond to people who are interacting with me. I do not have any thoughts during an episode; I can't think--I'm simply aware. If I am talking, I stop. I go sort of stiff and limp at the same time, and very still. When I recover, I'm confused, but I know what happened. I slur my words a bit like someone who's drunk, and I feel very fatigued and out of it for the rest of the day. Strobe lights and tree shadows (while in the car) are the worst--pretty much guaranteed to have one. They are certainly not pleasant.
Aspiewordsmith
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Joined: 2 Nov 2008
Age: 57
Gender: Male
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Location: United Kingdom, England, Berkshire, Reading
Epilepsy is one of those things that simply can't be diagnosed without a brain scan. If you think you are epileptic, then you should see a doctor. They can't even determine by your descriptions--they HAVE to give you a brain scan.
That being said, what you've described doesn't SEEM like epilepsy to me. Petit mal seizures don't make you fuzzy-feeling and euphoric. They are like black outs that you don't even know occur. It is just a couple seconds or minutes or whatever of lost time that you don't even realize is lost. I used to get these all the time when I was a kid.
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Diagnosed with classic Autism
AQ score= 48
PDD assessment score= 170 (severe PDD)
EQ=8 SQ=93 (Extreme Systemizer)
Alexithymia Quiz=164/185 (high)
That is what I thought. That's why I suggested simple partial seizures - I thought those were different and sometimes more along the lines of what I experienced.
I have not experienced this for quite some time now and it has never been a problem per se so I will wait and see if I am actually diagnosed AS first as that would likely affect the odds of it being something I needed to consider.
_________________
AQ46, EQ9, FQ20, SQ50
RAADS-R: 181 (Language: 9, Social: 97, Sensory/Motor: 37, Interests: 36)
Aspie Quiz: AS129, NT80
Alexithymia: 137
I completely agree that they are not "fuzzy-feeling and euphoric." I, however, do remember having them, and realize what has happened. And yes, I've been tested through a brain scan.
Do you remember the actual moments of the seizure or just have knowledge that you've had a seizure? I am fully aware that I've had the seizures, but DURING the seizures (only because of the aftermath--ie. almost falling off a swing and not remembering what happened from when I was happily swinging to when I was almost dangerously falling.) The seizure itself I do not remember at all. If you do, that is the first I've ever heard of that happening.
_________________
Diagnosed with classic Autism
AQ score= 48
PDD assessment score= 170 (severe PDD)
EQ=8 SQ=93 (Extreme Systemizer)
Alexithymia Quiz=164/185 (high)
I probably said that bad.
I honestly don't have a clue but epilepsy is something you need to get checked from a doctor.
Or something i have a friend with it.
Last edited by XsamX on 09 Nov 2012, 2:18 am, edited 2 times in total.
You are wrong. Your statement is easy to disprove by making a one word Google search!
Yep I agree with Gretchyn. My grandmother has diagnosed epilepsy and has been on medication for her entire life (or whenever the first seizure started when she was a young child). She has grand-mal seizures, and as far as I know, that is all she has. My mother (who grew out of her seizures and is not on medication) was diagnosed with epilepsy (she had brain scans to back it up) and only ever had petit-mal seizures. Her former coworker also is diagnosed with epilepsy, which is quite severe: she is on medication, only has petit-mal seizures, and gets them so bad her medication doesn't even stop them from coming about 10-20 times a day (but nope, no grand-mal seizures). I am not sure where you got your info, Sam, but its not correct.
_________________
Diagnosed with classic Autism
AQ score= 48
PDD assessment score= 170 (severe PDD)
EQ=8 SQ=93 (Extreme Systemizer)
Alexithymia Quiz=164/185 (high)
You are wrong. Your statement is easy to disprove by making a one word Google search!
Read if you haven't read yet.
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5018915.html#5018915
You are wrong. Your statement is easy to disprove by making a one word Google search!
Read if you haven't read yet.
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp5018915.html#5018915
Of course you should be checked by a doctor if you suspect epilepsy. But what you wrote wasn't said wrong, it was just wrong. Google "epilepsy" and you can easily find the medical definition. My statement wasn't meant to be offensive; I'm just blunt.