[raptorsfan89]

Prior history: I first experienced dpdr roughly 10 years ago after trying a very small amount of ecstasy. I went through numerous tests at the hospital and everything came back clear. I eventually was not bothered by it and lived somewhat normally for years without even thinking about the term depersonalization or derealization. It was always there but not enough to be the forefront of my thoughts. I think I may have just gotten used to it.

Current situation: I have a condition that requires frequent surgery under general anaesthesia. My condition started roughly 3 years ago and I've had roughly 8 surgeries. All surgeries went absolutely fine without any issues EXCEPT this most recent surgery I've had in September 2020.

Symptoms: I remember throwing up right after leaving the hospital and I was unable to hold down even water for 2 days straight. I had extreme sensitivity to light and sounds. The nausea and light/sound sensitivity has lifted.

I am now experiencing SEVERE dpdr like never before for the past 3.5 months since surgery. Along with feeling intoxicated/drugged, things not appearing normal, perceptual issues, feeling like the world is an "optical illusion", etc,

I am also having dizziness when I tilt or turn my head, check my blind spot while driving, looking at fast moving objects, tv transitions, turning or moving images, etc. When I even switch my sleeping position I feel my head spinning inside.

I have left my job and graduate program due to this. It is extremely strong and permanent, 10X worse than my original experience.

Can someone please tell me what is going on? I have the surgery records of March 2020 and September 2020.

I am still attempting to get my records from the several prior surgeries. The doctors claim that both records show different variations of anesthesia used but nothing significantly different.

Side note: The two most recent surgeries included injections of a drug called avastin. I had no side effects from this in march but I did experience side effects in september such as tingling and numbing throughout my limbs.

 

[35467]

There are some indication that a central core in the change of consciousness and self-expericerence central in DP/DR is a change in a structure in the brain called "precuneus" and "posterior cingulate cortex" -they are closely related and together called postoromedial cortex. This is a brain area that turns of under general anesthesia but also changes frequency to different drugs link cannabis, ketamine. In some scans it has been shown to be overactive in depersonalization like a PET study from 2000 but other studies have found the area larger in depersonalization indicating that it is more active compared to normals. Here is an article about this region.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2731-9

I can see that the "Nature"article requires login to the full article. It is published in full length here for free.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7553818/

I can see that you live in Toronto. There is a research center there that should be relatively open to residents in the Toronto area. It is under the psychiatrist/researcher, Jonathan Downar and his team. It is one of the leading rTMS research teams in the world into depression. They have access to EEG and fMRI scanners too that they combine with rTMS. I know a women with depersonalization who tried two locations there with rTMS a year ago without any benefit. Had the impression that Downar might not be so aware about depersonalization. He might have given it some thoughts sice and that research article points towards postsromedial cortex as central from 2020 could be that he is open to give it a try from that angel . Try to write to them and they might take you in as a case study and do some examinations on you. You could link up to the "nature" article in your request to them. They should have rTMS equipment that could likely affect some of this area as they are a research facility.

Link to the lab is here.

http://rtmslab.com