Has My Daughter Got Epilepsy?

I just turned 18 and I can somewhat relate to what your daughter is feeling. About a few years ago I started getting an unexpected feeling of detachment. It used to happen all the time, but especially when I was tired. I would be aware of the world around me, I could see, hear and smell yet I could not understand. All I could do was just stare blankly. Fortunately it never lasted long, maybe just a minute, about 5 times a day. But during these 'episodes' if someone asked me my name I wouldnt even be able to give them an answer. Think of it as an extreme feeling of confusion, where absolutley nothing makes sense. You are aware of everyone around you, but you cant form words or thoughts to communicate. Most of the time, the feeling was accompanied by dizziness and usually a head ache afterward.
I never thought anything of it, I figured it was just due to lack of sleep since it generally happened when I was tired. But then a year later I had my first seizure while sleeping. Since then ive had 3 nocturnal seizures and I am on 1000mg of keppra each day. Since I started taking the medicine I havent experiened any more of those sensations.
Although youre daughter may not have epilepsy, its important that she visit a doctor and get tests done. I ignored my problem for years and would still be ingnoring it if I wasnt forced to see a neurologist. It may not be epilepsy, but its a sign of some sort of problem and its best to know exactly what the problem is.
I hope everything works out for your daughter

Sorry to disagree with your friend, but it can be partial seizures from your description. There are over 20 different kinds of seizures. Some just distort the emotions, the senses like vision, hearing, smelling....Perception can be off.....


I hope that she will get to a neuro and get this checked out.

I would have t say... Perhaps your friend was thinking that your daughter being 17 would have some stresses with schooling and stuff. Well stress is one of the biggest known factors as well as lack of sleep to cause seizures. And as far as different seizures go. Epilepsy isnt just associated with grand mal ( loss of consiousness) seizures. I am 22 and I wasnt diagnosed until I was 21... Throught my child hood I had feelings of fear and sensations of guilt for doing something wrong but I wouldnt know what so I would continuously appologise alot. Still to adult hood I do this. I feel that I grew out of my childhood epilepsy and that I was fine neurologically throught my teenage yrs. Until I was 17-18 I began to feel as though my hands were huge and my feet were huge and my body was small.. I got alot of sensations like that. Garlic kind of taste in my mouth. But yeah wasnt till I was 21 that I became aware. When I had my first grand mal. On the 24th of october '03' my meds still arent right. And I have a few seizures a week. Im on 800mg of tegretol cr ( cabramazapine) and 2000mg of epilem ec ( sodium valproate)

i hope that you find your answers soon

I really recommend talking to your daughter's gp and asking for a referral to a neurologist. The gp may be thinking along the lines of a psychiatrist, which she may wish to talk to as well, but the neurologist will most likely ask for tests such as an eeg. It is possible to have a normal eeg and still have epilepsy, but it is also possible for the eeg to pick up some seizure activity.

To me, the symptoms you've described sound very much like simple partial seizures. I get these often, and for me they include shaky vision, dizziness, strong feelings of detachment, sometimes deja vu, odd feelings in my tummy, and they are almost always followed by a nasty headache and extreme fatigue. My epilepsy was diagnosed after I had a grand mal seizure, was referred to a neurologist, and two separate eegs showed temporal lobe epileptic waves.

Temporal lobe epilepsy has a variety of very strange symptoms. Odd sensations is the easiest way to describe it - sensations of sight, sound, taste, smell.. Feelings of detachment, odd feelings in the tummy, senses of deja vu, feelings of doom, anxiety, or even sometimes unexplained euphoria. Its just very different person to person. But because its so varied and odd, it can also look like a lot of different psychiatric disorders to a non-specialist. In fact, I was treated for anxiety before my grand mal a couple of times.

Your daughter is very lucky that you are so concerned for her though. If she is having small seizures, it is entirely possible for them to lead right into a generalized seizure any time. This means she could lose consciousness, which can be very dangerous at the wrong time. Depending on where you live, it could also mean no driver's license for her (which, at 17, could be the biggest tragedy to happen for her )
i hope you two find out what is happening soon and that she begins to feel better!

-em

Hope by now you have a solution. I was diagnosed with partial comlex and abscense seizures about 9 years ago. I am 59 years old. You must have an mri done to rule out any tumor disorder and then have a eeg done and if that doesn,t show anything have a 24 hour one done, painless but ugly, and still not have her have a deprived sleep eeg done. That should either prove a seizure disorder or eliminate it, and also an overnight stay in the hospital for any sleeping disorder. Hope that helps
les