Is it normal to wake up confused? Please help!

[JustBenn]

Hi,

I have this mad fear about Epilepsy, which started 3 months ago while watching it on tv, I have been thinking about it ever since,

I had a very bad night last night, I was sleeping and there were fast flickering flashes of lights in my eyes, which woke me up, and every time I thought I was about to have a seizure in my dream, I would wake up,
One of the times last night, I woke up and was very confused, I didn't know where I was,
I'm not sure if It was normal or a Seizure, I googled "Is it normal to wake up confused?" and out of know where, I click on a forum and Epilepsy pops up in the comments, :ohmy::weep:

I'm so frightened, as someone with epilepsy, said that I had a seizure,

I never had a head injury, or never had a seizure awake, This never happened a year ago, way before my fear of epilepsy,
the sleep thing happen during my fears, why is this happening!

[Mark13]

If you had epilepsy I think you and your GP would be aware of it by now. As you say you've had no head injuries. AFAIK epilepsy doesn't lay dormant and suddenly surface.

Your symptoms sound much more like medication side effects to me - are you on prescription meds?

[JustBenn]

If you had epilepsy I think you and your GP would be aware of it by now. As you say you've had no head injuries. AFAIK epilepsy doesn't lay dormant and suddenly surface.

Your symptoms sound much more like medication side effects to me - are you on prescription meds?

I'm not on any kind of medication or have been?
Is there something wrong with my brain?

[Mark13]

It's probably just major stress.

It's happened to me on a couple of occasions. Once in a hotel, but I had flu and slept 1 hour, and once at home with my wife. I put that down to a panic attack.

It may be just the latter because you're so stressed.

[JustBenn]

It's probably just major stress.

It's happened to me on a couple of occasions. Once in a hotel, but I had flu and slept 1 hour, and once at home with my wife. I put that down to a panic attack.

It may be just the latter because you're so stressed.

thanks very much, :)
can you please give your thoughts about the flickering lights in my sleep?

[Ronno]

Hi , back in the mid eighties , I was in my early thirties then , confident, fit ,full of life , my nephew eight years younger and already a full blown alcoholic , had his first alcohol withdrawal epileptic fit , total panic !! . A month later I started getting panic attacks . ( post traumatic stress ) . My anxeity then and now centres around my vision , you name it I get it , flashes , sparks , after images.
Worst of all optic migraines , all because I feared having a epileptic fit , I mentioned this to my doctor and explained that my nephews addiction to alcohol ( which eventually killed him ) was the cause and not to worry , but it must be at the back of my mind , but I'm sure the more you focus on something the more symptoms you get , the flashes I think are anxiety linked , waking up confused also can happen with or without suffering with anxiety .
Take care.