Epilepsy

[vergil96]

How to distinguish non-obvious epilepsy from a panic attack? From sensory overload often triggered by pulsating sounds or lights, I feel like I'm having a panic attack, I'm sweating, shaking, and I vomit and I often can't speak in a meaningful way and concentrate on hearing what other people are saying, because I have bad hearing and it's always hard for me (motor abilities are intact, so is knowing what is going on and what to do). I feel agitated and like I need to get out.

To me it seems like a panic attack, but my doctor seeded some doubts in me. I don't faint unless after vomiting and losing a significant amount of fluid. I also suffer from migraines with aura - a few hours before the headache I have classic aura with light flashes, flying zigzags, beeping sounds, I have read it's present in epilepsy as well, although that one has nothing to so with the meltdowns/ panic attacks. Apparently autism and epilepsy are often co-morbid.

 

[tree]

https://www.epilepsy.com/what-is-epilepsy

 

[vergil96]

I was about to write that it doesn't look like a seizure, because I don't lose consciouness, although I might not respond, because I can't speak and have trouble concentrating enough to hear well (I have bad hearing).

Physical Changes:

• Difficulty talking (may stop talking, make nonsense or garbled sounds, keep talking or speech may not make sense)
• Unable to swallow, drooling
• Repeated blinking of eyes, eyes may move to one side or look upward, or staring
• Lack of movement or muscle tone (unable to move, loss of tone in neck and head may drop forward, loss of muscle tone in body and person may slump or fall forward)
• Tremors, twitching or jerking movements (may occur on one or both sides of face, arms, legs or whole body; may start in one area then spread to other areas or stay in one place)
• Rigid or tense muscles (part of the body or whole body may feel very tight or tense and if standing, may fall “like a tree trunk”)
• Repeated non-purposeful movements, called automatisms,involve the face, arms or legs, such as
  • lipsmacking or chewing movements
  • repeated movements of hands, like wringing, playing with buttons or objects in hands, waving
  • dressing or undressing
  • walking or running
• Repeated purposeful movements (person may continue activity that was going on before the seizure)
• Convulsion (person loses consciousness, body becomes rigid or tense, then fast jerking movements occur)
• Losing control of urine or stool unexpectedly
• Sweating
• Change in skin color (looks pale or flushed)
• Pupils may dilate or appear larger than normal
• Biting of tongue (from teeth clenching when muscles tighten)
• Difficulty breathing
• Heart racing

The bolded ones, but I'm not losing control, I could stop stimming, it would just make no sense, because it buys me some time before vominitng and self-control. I think seeming weird is the least worry in such a moment. The last three are consistent with panic attacks and anxiety.

But not following conversations, staring and stimming is what I do when I'm nervous or tired, it's not something isolated and singled out, people around me are just unaware and oblivious and think I'm rude for, like, barely hearing them, you know... *facepalm* I feel like I could talk about it over and over and nobody will believe that a young person has trouble hearing...

 

[Dagan]

My oldest daughter has seizures. There are the ones where she must sit down and begins eye flutters, tremors and wanting to fall towards her right side. Then there are the absence ones where she looks almost frozen in time and just staring off into space. During either type, she is conscious of everything said and going on around her. Partial Complex Seizures are her current diagnosis, and we're still trying to figure out what her end result medication will be. I can't begin to remember the medicine names at the moment, but she takes 3 of one pill, then 1 of one and another 1 of one and does this twice a day. For now.

 

[Outdated]

It sounds more anxiety related than a physical issue, but it would certainly pay to get yourself checked out.

For quite a few years I thought I had Adult Onset Epilepsy, which apparently is very rare and usually caused by physical brain trauma. I was doing the full pass out, drop like a felled tree and sometimes break bones when I hit the ground. I was usually unconscious for less than a minute and I always came to feeling better.

It was just anxiety attacks triggered by social situations, but what confused me was that my reactions were delayed. Initially it was a day after social stress that I was collapsing. As years went by my fits started happening more and more closely after the stressful events, in the end I was passing out in front of the people that caused me stress.

Since I managed to get in to social housing and have a guaranteed roof over my head for the rest of my life I am no longer reliant on other people for a place to live. That means no more need to face people that I don't want to, and I haven't had a fit in nearly 4 years.

Be vary careful about getting an epilepsy diagnosis, I'm not sure if it's the same in your country but here if you get epilepsy and you have more than two episodes a year they take your driver's license away.

 

[vergil96]

I don't know

I'm watching a lecture made by a doctor about epilepsy in autism. She says that it's very difficult to tell even for experienced neurologists which are autism symptoms and which are epilepsy symptoms, because a lot overlap such as staring and repetitive movements, not responding.

She said, though, that if you touch someone's nose, the person with autism would respond to it and with a seizure not. Because communication difficulties are present in autism and if you talk to someone with autism they might not respond. I can completely relate to that.

 

[Outdated]

I found it very hard because doctor after doctor told me there was nothing wrong with me, and a couple of them even outright accused me of making up stories and attention seeking. In the end I just gave up on doctors.

 

[vergil96]

I have alwo had that experience with doctors about some other issues. I'm sensitive to all kinds of things, more so than most people. The things that I complain about or find distressing are there, but they're less intense for an average person. But some doctors don't accept that and will go on how I must be exaggerating from anxiety and can't say "There is no illness, it's just feels awful".

It wasn't about this particular thing. The doctor questioned me what it feels like after I mentioned it occuring due to flashing lights and loud pulsating sounds. I'm trying to read about it myself right now, because maybe I could regognize some symptoms that the doctor didn't ask about.

 

[Outdated]

I hope you manage to figure it out soon. I suffered for 15 years without understanding what was happening. It was only when I got true independence and a guarantee of permanent stability that it stopped happening.

 

[vergil96]

if you touch someone's nose, the person with autism would respond to it and with a seizure not.

Or wave in front of their face.

That's the said video. I found it very informative.

 

[vergil96]

I hope you manage to figure it out soon. I suffered for 15 years without understanding what was happening. It was only when I got true independence and a guarantee of permanent stability that it stopped happening.

I need different friends xD That's all. I have other friends, with whom such things never ever happen, because they don't gravitate towards crowded stinky stuffy loud places with flashing lights as if it was something positive and fun. And they're not as abrupt in doing things.

 

[Outdated]

Or wave in front of their face.

Sorry but it would take me hours to watch such a video, I really struggle with hearing and interpreting voice. All of these videos are useless to me.

I would like to better understand your previous comment: "if you touch someone's nose, the person with autism would respond to it and with a seizure not.".

I'm struggling to find a translation for this sentence, do you mean that autistic people don't react to nose touching where as epileptics do?

That's all. I have other friends, with whom such things never ever happen,

I found the same, there's some people that I can spend time with day in and day out and have no issues, there's other people that can completely burn me out in less than 15 minutes.

 

[vergil96]

Sorry but it would take me hours to watch such a video, I really struggle with hearing and interpreting voice. All of these videos are useless to me.

Oh, I'm sorry, I put the video without context. I meant it as not related to our conversation, but to my earlier posts, and I thought it could be helpful for someone reading this thread later to be able to see/hear the video I referenced and found that it offers a lot of information.

I would like to better understand your previous comment: "if you touch someone's nose, the person with autism would respond to it and with a seizure not.".

I'm struggling to find a translation for this sentence, do you mean that autistic people don't react to nose touching where as epileptics do?

The opposite way round - a person with autism would react to waving or touching their nose, someone who currently has a seizure not.

 

[vergil96]

Sorry but it would take me hours to watch such a video, I really struggle with hearing and interpreting voice.

It honestly did take me a few hours...

 

[Outdated]

The opposite way round - a person with autism would react to waving or touching their nose, someone who currently has a seizure not.

I must admit, I don't like things suddenly appearing in front of my face.

Truly funniest time though was climbing up an escarpment in the tropics. Just as I climbed over a huge boulder a large Golden Tree Snake was coming up the other side. It's a python, completely harmless, but we met literally nose to nose on the top of the rock. Both of us were as shocked as each other and we both froze for a few seconds. Then both of us very gently and slowly backed away from each other.

After ducking back down behind the rock and doing a slow count to ten the snake was gone.