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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Epilepsy / October 2004Episode(s) last night.
Feel free to comment and/or give your opinion if you wish (just a reminder to first timers who may be reading this - my seizures are not yet diagnosed- jury is still out on epi or non epi.) I still need more opinions and comment I think, so I have more solid events to relay to the dr. This is not the first episode of this nature, but this time I was able to identify a trigger and for the first time I am writing it down (aside from a private journal I am keeping to print out to the doctor). Last night I was in a meeting in a fluorescent lit room - the fluorescent lights were NOT flickery, they just were bright and bothersome. Toward the end of the meeting I noticed that the voices of the other people sounded dream-like, as if I am not really here and this is not a real situation. I had to go to the grocery store (it's lit better), and the confusion remained. I walked home and when I got home I kind of blacked out for brief seconds. It was enough to throw me into confusion and required extreme concentration re-orient myself, as to what I was doing. My husband and I had a bit of a prolonged argument over something silly. It bothered me slightly, but after the argument was *over* I suddenly started crying (I was lying on my bed) and then I felt a highly-concentrated emotion (you know, like concentrated orange juice in a frozen can?) and uncontrollable repeated stiffening (arms and legs totally stretched out like someone getting up in the morning, only this was involuntary - and the stretching was not gradual like a morning wake-up, it was quick quick). It lasted for about a minute or 2 and then I felt "ok" but spacy. I felt "inner rumbling" afterwards as I tried to sleep. And woke up this morning slighly spaced, but ok enough to be coherent and carry on my day. I'm slightly confused by what I think is the trigger of a fluorescent light, but I function (relatively) ok in front of a computer. Although I do find I need very frequent breaks from that. Aren't they both "flickery" sources of light? Thanks for listening, NotSure responding to my own post. My husband just reminded me of something. day. > I'm slightly confused by what I think is the trigger of a fluorescent > light, > but I function (relatively) ok in front of a computer. Although I do find > I need very frequent breaks from that. Aren't they both "flickery" > sources of light? I function horribly actually in front of my existing computer, but my husbands computer has a better refresh rate and I do wonderfully in front of his. He's going to get me a new monitor soon I hope. NotSure > I function horribly actually in front of my existing computer, but my > husbands computer has a better refresh rate and I do wonderfully in front > of his. > He's going to get me a new monitor soon I hope. > NotSure You may need a better video card rather than a new monitor, unless the monitor is very old (or unless the maximum refresh rate available for your gear has not been set). Flat-panel (not CRT) monitors have less problem yet with flicker, though... --DR > You may need a better video card rather than a new > monitor, unless the monitor is very old (or unless the > maximum refresh rate available for your gear has not > been set). Flat-panel (not CRT) monitors have less > problem yet with flicker, though... It's a horribly old monitor, handed to my husband from the office, a temporary measure until we could fit a new one with a better refresh rate like the monitor on husband's computer. I don't know much about monitors, as dh is the techie, but I do notice that I feel much better when I use his computer. His monitor is "older" too, but is easier on me. >> You may need a better video card rather than a new >> monitor, unless the monitor is very old (or unless the [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > when I use his computer. His monitor is "older" too, but is easier on > me. If could be both the lights and the monitor, tho you may not notice either. video cards will not do as much for refresh rates for older monitors unfortuately. But if yours is at the max, try decreasing the resultion as it might give you more options. Or, if you are not into graphics work, go from millions of colors to thousands, it also should give you more options for better rates. > > You may need a better video card rather than a new > > monitor, unless the monitor is very old (or unless the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > as dh is the techie, but I do notice that I feel much better when I use his > computer. His monitor is "older" too, but is easier on me. Why not unplug His monitor, move it to your computer, put Your monitor (also old) on his ? :-< G./ The flickering coming from fluorescent lights is not necessarily visible nor is flickering coming from a computer monitor something that is visible. I've noticed (I have photosensitivity) that a lot of visual things can also contribute to the problem, so you kind of have to investigate everything visual. For myself, it seems like I have to be in a seizure mode before the photosensitivity really kicks off at will. When I first started having seizures, they were apparently hormone associated. So certain times of the month, boy, visual stimuli would really cause problems, but in-between those times it didn't bother me much. I also feel, at least for myself, that the length of exposure to a visual stimuli seems to have a role. In other words, your brain can take it for a while and then reaches a point where it can't deal with it anymore. So I think another reason to investigate other sources of visual stimulation is that those other things might be setting your brain up, getting it ready, for the big explosion. To help you get started on your visual investigation, here are things I've noticed over the years that seem to bother me at times. Patterns (walls, ceilings, curtains, upholstery), some colors (bright colors, intense color contrasts which includes black windows at night next to light colored walls), shiny or highly reflective surfaces (metal, highly polished floors), fast eye movement (scrolling bar at bottom of TV screen, reading although it seems to depend on print size, hair blowing over eyes on a windy day), computer monitors (don't have a problem with LCD monitors). You know, I had to give up shopping at one particular mall because the tremendous amount of visual stimulus drove me nuts. Shucks! > Feel free to comment and/or give your opinion if you wish (just a reminder > to first timers who may be reading this - my seizures are not yet [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > identify a trigger and for the first time I am writing it down (aside from > a private journal I am keeping to print out to the doctor). Excellent idea. > Last night I was in a meeting in a fluorescent lit room - the fluorescent > lights were NOT flickery, they just were bright and bothersome. Toward the > end of the meeting I noticed that the voices of the other people sounded > dream-like, as if I am not really here and this is not a real situation. > I had to go to the grocery store (it's lit better), and the confusion > remained. Yeah, a lot of people think that once the stimulus is removed and/or the seizure is over, the person has or will recover. In my experience that's not entirely true because there are symptoms that hang on (at least for me). > I walked home and when I got home I kind of blacked out for brief seconds. > It was enough to throw me into confusion and required extreme concentration > re-orient myself, as to what I was doing. Can identify with the concentration effort. > My husband and I had a bit of a prolonged argument over something silly. It > bothered me slightly, but after the argument was *over* I suddenly started [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > "inner rumbling" afterwards as I tried to sleep. And woke up this morning > slighly spaced, but ok enough to be coherent and carry on my day. Over the years, I'm getting more and more muscle contractions, but I was told it was not related to my epilepsy (I'm taking that news with a grain of salt). The episode with your husband might not have anything to do with your symptoms, but on the other hand there is the "fear" factor with some types of epilepsy. From listening to the folks in this newsgroup and what my doctor told me, there's a lot of variety on how that fear component is expressed. I mean, it could involve a lack of trust in someone or something, and in my experience, it is something that does not go away quickly (in fact, mine was always present to some degree). What do you mean by inner rumbling? > I'm slightly confused by what I think is the trigger of a fluorescent light, > but I function (relatively) ok in front of a computer. Although I do find > I need very frequent breaks from that. Aren't they both "flickery" sources > of light? You might be able to mask the effects of fluorescent lights if you can put a standard light near you so it cancels the fluorescent light flickering effects. If you have a standard monitor, you can change the frequency rate (I don't recall what the number should be) and that might solve the problem. LCD monitors, which I use without problems, don't seem to produce the flickering. Setting my old standard monitor display to neutral colors (beiges or light gray) HELPED me deal with the problems of bright colors or color contrasts on my old standard monitor. Some people also wear certain types of sunglasses when they're in certain situations. Barb > Thanks for listening, > NotSure > What do you mean by inner rumbling? I felt like my limbs were taken over by mexican jumping beans, but I wasn't trembling on the outside.
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