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My tests came back clean but something is obviously wrong. please help me!
Sun, 11/18/2018 - 15:47Topic: Teen Zone
hey, i’m new here but i’ve been researching and maybe someone can help me.
i’m a 15 y/o female and i have these blackouts. they last for a second or two and then it’s back to normal. my vision will go all black, a flash of white, back to black, and then normal.
the blackouts are triggered most when i am sitting, looking down and using my hands. i have to write notes at school and i’ve found that my blackouts are triggered when i write. one time i was painting my toenails, and a couple happened.
i went to see a neurologist a couple times. i got an eeg and an mri, but they both came back normal. the blackouts started in january 2018, when i went back to school. i was homeschooled for a while. i got glasses on the last day of school, near the end of may. i didn’t have any blackouts during the summer. but once school started again, they were back. i have had migraines before but only due to extreme stress. i got my eyes checked out (i forget the name of the type of doctor) and again everything was normal. the neurologist thought i might be having mini seizures.
i started counting how many blackouts i had during school hours, the highest was 13.
i looked up seizures and stumbled across partial seizures. it’s kinda like what i’m experiencing. i don’t want to self diagnose, i just want to know what’s wrong with me.
if anyone has any ideas or needs more information please contact me! i’m desparate.
Comments
How long was your initial EEG
Submitted by Amy Jo on Mon, 2018-11-19 - 16:41
How long was your initial EEG? Was it sleep deprived? If your current neurologist says the test was clear so no epilepsy, get a different neurologist (one who specializes and has additional training in epilepsy). If your current neurologist gets that tests can be clear, talk to them about a longer EEG. EEGs can be clear in people with epilepsy. Longer EEGs have better yields in people whose seizures are not too deep.
Something similar happened to
Submitted by brinaa on Fri, 2019-01-04 - 00:33
Something similar happened to me. Im 17 now but I was nine when they first started. I would black out and largish chucks of time would disappear from my memory and it would take me a second or to come back to the task at hand. They also happen when I am focusing on a task or when I have an extreme emotional event in my life or when I am overwhelmed.My family started noticing them more and more and so when we went to the neurologist and got and EEG they diagnosed me with Petite Mal seizures , AKA Absence seizures. My first EEG was a sleep EEG where I had to stay up all night and then sleep, My most recent EEG was where I had to have my cognitive behaviors monitored and I had a strobe test. Keep going to the neurologist. Advocate for yourself. You know something is wrong. I believe you. Sending support - Sabrina
That sounds like you might be
Submitted by Z-81 on Tue, 2019-01-15 - 06:11
That sounds like you might be experiencing absence seizures. They last for a few seconds, some can last about 20 and then people suddenly come round - like a light switch has been turned on. Absence seizures can affect your vision and can be brought on by stress. You say you didn’t have any in the Summer but then had some again back at school...it could be nerves starting back again. All of our emotions unfortunately have the power to bring on seizures, most common though is stress. Perhaps doing something after school every day to relax for an hour might help, and definitely try having some ‘me’ time before you head off to sleep at night...so don’t use your phone - relax, maybe read a book but nothing that requires any ‘real’ thinking. We have an epilepsy support group for young adults and have lots of information about epilepsy and seizures. You’re very welcome to join: https://m.facebook.com/groups/542711486233707?ref=share
Not all seizures show up on
Submitted by Epilepsy survivor on Sun, 2019-02-10 - 15:04
Not all seizures show up on EEGs
try magnesium, either (2) 250
Submitted by dickey890 on Sat, 2019-03-09 - 21:49
try magnesium, either (2) 250 mg pills a day or it comes in a spray bottle. spray it on your stomach area and with your hand, spray it on and rub it into the back of your neck. magnesium is a requirement in our bodies but no doctor wants to talk about it. it helped me https://www.everydayhealth.com/epilepsy/guide/
I'm not familiar with
Submitted by birdman on Sun, 2018-11-18 - 20:35
I'm not familiar with seizures that would cause visual distortions. But I'm reading a new book, Brainstorm (O'Sullivan, Suzanne) which tells of the many ways epilepsy can present itself. Starting on page 36 she writes about Amy who has visual distortions and a "rare manifestation called hippus". I hope that someone visiting this forum can share with your experience, but you may also find reading Brainstorm as well as several other epilepsy books helpful. A much older book, by Schachter is Epilepsy in our Words which has many short, true stories of different epilepsy experiences. Reading these has proven interesting for me and it may help you ask your doctor better questions to help you in your search for answers.