My seizures caused a psychosis that segued into an affective disorder of major depression. Following the seizures I didn't sleep for 2 weeks. When I finally did sleep, I had "night terror" nightmares. . I had intense anxiety, dp, dr. I developed a head tremor. I had agoraphobia. I began to suffer frequent ocular migraines which, over the course of 30 minutes, would functionally blind me.
I also suffered frequent focal temporal lobe seizures, which did not render me unconscious. At age 17, I didn't understand any of this. I wouldn't understand any of this for 40 years. Over that 40 years, I made several serious attempts seeking medical help. I saw a neurologist who told me "we have bigger fish to fry". He never offered an EEG which would have shown I was epileptic.
I saw counsellors and therapists who had no clue. At age 57, after taking an early retirement, I discovered language in British Neurological texts and journals which described a case history that matched my own in every minute detail.
So, From high school, I passed a physical for military service. I completed 3 years honorably. I acted my way through my next 40 years of life. During that time, I experienced 5 distinct episodes of major depression which were epic struggles for survival. I would lose 15% of my body weight, and go sleepless for weeks on end, with horrible anxiety.
When I discovered the information which allowed me to diagnose myself, I contacted a neurologist who specialized in epilepsy. I emailed her and she agreed to see me. My MRI was normal, but my EEG indicated I had a history of epileptic seizure. I had "significant" pathlogy in my dominant temproal lobe. I wasn't surprised at the results.
By that time, I knew what to expect. A time study EEG showed that, after 40 years, my seizures had remitted.
I was told I was disabled, and was referred back to psychiatry for treatment of my depression. I had ECT in 2014, which resolved my depressive illness. I still have the occasional ocular migraine, and they are much less intense than they were 40 years ago.
I decided I didn't need an SSRI anymore, and discontinued all psych meds over 2 years ago. I'm fine. It's over, but for 40 years I suffered from a rare epileptic syndrome whose "post ictal psychosis segued into an affective disorder of major depression". My own research has answered every question I ever
had about my illness and strange symptoms. Exploding head syndrome? I experienced it. Dolly Zoom hallucinations? I had them. Intrusive thoughts? Yes. The journal I read suggested I was a worse case scenario.
And yes, a single epileptic seizure can be fatal. A young US movie star just died from one. Epileptic seizures can do strange things. Some idiot-savants claim they are the way they are due to a single temporal lobe seizure in their youth.
It's a brain thing, and medical science is yet to understand it fully. They now understand that epilepsy and migraines are connected. A recent British Research paper is titled "Migraine, the borderlands of epilepsy". My town has a new center dedicated to epileptic treatment and migraine treatment.
I also suffered frequent focal temporal lobe seizures, which did not render me unconscious. At age 17, I didn't understand any of this. I wouldn't understand any of this for 40 years. Over that 40 years, I made several serious attempts seeking medical help. I saw a neurologist who told me "we have bigger fish to fry". He never offered an EEG which would have shown I was epileptic.
I saw counsellors and therapists who had no clue. At age 57, after taking an early retirement, I discovered language in British Neurological texts and journals which described a case history that matched my own in every minute detail.
So, From high school, I passed a physical for military service. I completed 3 years honorably. I acted my way through my next 40 years of life. During that time, I experienced 5 distinct episodes of major depression which were epic struggles for survival. I would lose 15% of my body weight, and go sleepless for weeks on end, with horrible anxiety.
When I discovered the information which allowed me to diagnose myself, I contacted a neurologist who specialized in epilepsy. I emailed her and she agreed to see me. My MRI was normal, but my EEG indicated I had a history of epileptic seizure. I had "significant" pathlogy in my dominant temproal lobe. I wasn't surprised at the results.
By that time, I knew what to expect. A time study EEG showed that, after 40 years, my seizures had remitted.
I was told I was disabled, and was referred back to psychiatry for treatment of my depression. I had ECT in 2014, which resolved my depressive illness. I still have the occasional ocular migraine, and they are much less intense than they were 40 years ago.
I decided I didn't need an SSRI anymore, and discontinued all psych meds over 2 years ago. I'm fine. It's over, but for 40 years I suffered from a rare epileptic syndrome whose "post ictal psychosis segued into an affective disorder of major depression". My own research has answered every question I ever
had about my illness and strange symptoms. Exploding head syndrome? I experienced it. Dolly Zoom hallucinations? I had them. Intrusive thoughts? Yes. The journal I read suggested I was a worse case scenario.
And yes, a single epileptic seizure can be fatal. A young US movie star just died from one. Epileptic seizures can do strange things. Some idiot-savants claim they are the way they are due to a single temporal lobe seizure in their youth.
It's a brain thing, and medical science is yet to understand it fully. They now understand that epilepsy and migraines are connected. A recent British Research paper is titled "Migraine, the borderlands of epilepsy". My town has a new center dedicated to epileptic treatment and migraine treatment.
