Hey folks,
I have a question for those struggling with temporal lobe epilepsy to get some advice. I suffer bad with panic attacks, and do have health anxiety. Last month, though, I was panicking all day over health related anxiety and had this odd thing happen where random flashes of dreams popped in my head. I had derealization at the time, and felt so exhausted from panicking. I wasn’t sleeping a lot.
I saw a neurologist the next day, who ordered an EEG and MRI. The dream flashes happened mid EEG and she said it came back clear and they weren’t seizures. MRI was good, too.
My therapist said it would be good for me to talk to people with epilepsy to get reassurance or advice on your own experiences with EEGs. The doc is great, but I have a hard time trusting them. Would auras show up on an EEG?
I didn’t lose consciousness and others told me my experiences could have been just panic or my brain being exhausted. Thanks so much and I hope you’re all well.
I have temporal lobe epilepsy so I know how it can play games with your emotions and mind, my auras are pure feelings of fear and once the seizure is over and everything I’m always surprised at how real it felt and it’s almost a little funny that I’m capable of those kinds of feelings. Anyways what occurred to me when I was reading your post is PNES. I think they get a bad stigma but they are as real as epileptic seizures and not something someone can fake. The only reason why I’m thinking this is because I believe auras should be seen on an eeg. So if it didn’t show up than maybe it could be you have PNES or epilepsy and PNES ( a small amount of people have both) I’ve heard it described as a software problem ( nervous system) versus a hardware problem ( which would be measured on an eeg). Also it sounds like you’re being proactive with your health! I know it’s hard, I get those feelings sometimes of being overwhelmed. Just remember there are so many who are dealing with the same thing and you’re not alone.
Thanks so much for this
I honestly don’t know if it was PNES but I guess anything was possible. The doc witnessed it and didn’t seem alarmed.. it’s definitely odd. I have a follow up next week so I’ll raise your points. Thanks so much!!