Anxiety disorder symptom of Epilepsy?

[ninz94]

I read online that anxiety may be a symptom of epilepsy, it really scared me as I have witnessed it and had a fear of it since... Apologies if its offensive and crazy but I don't know who to express this to as it leaves me feeling scared.
Is this statement true? What does it mean? I had anxiety dissorder for months now and my fear is mostly of losing control. My anxiety has a lot to do with my health, I'm hypersensitive to how I feel, if I feel weird or odd I panic, thinking ill seize or faint or even die... and get all the symptoms... My panic attacks last 10-20 minutes and it does help by breathing.
Does anxiety disorder mean I have/ developing epilepsy? I've been for tests which all came back negative just turned out as stress. Got put on anti-anxiety meds but felt worse a month after taking them. I see my therapist I a few days. But can anyone assure me till then, I'm really afraid. :weep:
Thanks

[ServerError]

I've been for tests which all came back negative just turned out as stress.

Then you don't have epilepsy. End of story. You are in the clear and can throw your epilepsy worry to the wind and let it drift away. You're fine, apart from some pretty severe anxiety.

[GlassPinata]

Seizures are the definitive symptom of epilepsy.
And- correct me if I'm wrong- but I believe the disease usually presents in childhood.
If you're having no seizures and your tests have been negative, I wouldn't worry about it much.

[Sphincterclench]

it can present later in life. but its generally diagnosed earlier and testing blood and dilantin levels are also key diagnostics aside from the obvious seizing.

[Gary A]

Certain types of seizures can present with periods of intense anxiety that generally last from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. The clinical name for it is post-ictal panic. It's a symptom of a type of epilepsy known as temporal lobe epilepsy.

Panic and anxiety disorders are completely seperate from these seizure episodes, as there is an actual disorder there. Attacks that last twenty minutes simply are not seizures. Seizures also cannot be controlled by breathing excersises.

You cannot give yourself epilepsy. Anxiety and panic disorders are not symptoms of epilepsy. People who are epileptic are certainly more prone to anxiety and panic, but this is as a result of their condition and the stress of it.

[MyNameIsTerry]

The symptoms in the many neurotic disorders can overlap with many other things just as physical illnesses have overlaps. Doctors don't just look at a symptom and think this way, which is something HA sufferers struggle with, because they look for criteria that exclude a diagnosis.

Like Gary says at the end, anxiety & panic are nothing to do with disorders in the sense that you have to have a disorder to experience them so anyone going through difficult times can experience them. Cancer patients experience anxiety, panic, depression, etc for very obvious reasons but that doesn't make it a symptom of cancer.

It is possible for anyone to have a Non Epileptic Seizure (NES) and one example of one of these is a panic attack. This doesn't mean you have any form of epilepsy at all, just that some intense period of stress has brought one of these one and you may never have another one in your life. If you've had tests, any neurologist would rule out epilepsy before diagnosing one of these and if they haven't decided that either, they don't believe it has been experienced. This may not be relevant to your thread but I wanted to mention this as not all seizures mean something is wrong in the physical sense.

[Sixpack]

I pretty much agree with Gary A especially about breathing exercises would not help with seizures and anxiety and panic not being symptoms of epilepsy.

By the way--my daughter has a serious seizure disorder. I see seizures often from her. She had 3 since Thursday. So I know seizures. What you are describing is neither seizures nor you 'developing' epilepsy. What you have going is : an anxious mind exhibiting anxiety symptoms and you trying to turn it into something else.

[ninz94]

Thanks for all your replies.
Thanks serverE lol that's true tho.
Gary A your reply reassures me a lot very appreciated. Thank you.
GlassPinata, epilepsy commonly develops in childhood and the elderly but can develop at any age. Besides head trauma, strokes or brain tumor, there are many reported cases of 'idiopathic' adult onset epilepsy, given its completely rare, it is still possible, that really scares me. You're correct about the rest. Thanks.
Thanks for the reply sixpack, I do agree with what you said about me trying to turn my anxiety symptoms to something else as I witnessed seizures in my mother which is what made me develop that fear, whether it is irrational, I cannot convince myself I will NOT have one/lose control, especially during the panic its hard.

[Sixpack]

. Thanks for the reply sixpack, I do agree with what you said about me trying to turn my anxiety symptoms to something else as I witnessed seizures in my mother which is what made me develop that fear, whether it is irrational, I cannot convince myself I will NOT have one/lose control, especially during the panic its hard.



What is interesting about HA peeps or anxious peeps is the equating "fear" of something with "there being a true logical chance of it happening" or "fear makes something real". I see this point of view said often. In actuality your fear has NO BEARING one whether or not something happens to you. Be freaked out about seizures all you want, it will simply not change a darn thing. You fear losing control? Honey, how much control have you given over to your irrational fear?? Said another way every time you find your self in high panic, how much control are you losing?

Yes, no one can guarantee that you will not have a seizure. No one can guarantee that you will not get a brain tumor, or lung cancer or raped or in a car accident or...... Guess what? That is LIFE. We don't get any nice guarantees. Well, the only guarantee we have is that life is finite. Nothing we can do to change that. We have NO CONTROL over that. TRUE STORY.

My mom had early onset RA. Age 32-33. It did a real shitty number on her too. Means I had a better chance of it myself. Do you think if I feared it happening to me, gave my life and energy fretting it, would it change whether or not I got it? My dad got a devastating brain tumor ate age 45. died at 46. Do you think if I said, "brain tumors tumors scare me because I saw what it did to my dad", would that change the reality of my life one darned bit? As I said, your mom having had seizures, your fearing them, makes no difference as to whether you ever have one. so why are you wasting your life fearing such things? It is a waste... of... time.

[Fishmanpa]

:yesyes: Sixpack!

Positive thoughts

[ninz94]

What is interesting about HA peeps or anxious peeps is the equating "fear" of something with "there being a true logical chance of it happening" or "fear makes something real". I see this point of view said often. In actuality your fear has NO BEARING one whether or not something happens to you. Be freaked out about seizures all you want, it will simply not change a darn thing. You fear losing control? Honey, how much control have you given over to your irrational fear?? Said another way every time you find your self in high panic, how much control are you losing?

Yes, no one can guarantee that you will not have a seizure. No one can guarantee that you will not get a brain tumor, or lung cancer or raped or in a car accident or...... Guess what? That is LIFE. We don't get any nice guarantees. Well, the only guarantee we have is that life is finite. Nothing we can do to change that. We have NO CONTROL over that. TRUE STORY.

My mom had early onset RA. Age 32-33. It did a real shitty number on her too. Means I had a better chance of it myself. Do you think if I feared it happening to me, gave my life and energy fretting it, would it change whether or not I got it? My dad got a devastating brain tumor ate age 45. died at 46. Do you think if I said, "brain tumors tumors scare me because I saw what it did to my dad", would that change the reality of my life one darned bit? As I said, your mom having had seizures, your fearing them, makes no difference as to whether you ever have one. so why are you wasting your life fearing such things? It is a waste... of... time.

Thank you for this reply. I really appreciate it. Appologies for any arrogance. Absolute eye opener, thanks again.

[StokieLee]

I suppose the title of this thread applies to me too so I’ll jump on this. I had epilepsy when I was 5 then 15 albeit differing types. Now I’m 29 and have been taking medication ever since and had nothing plus scans gave me the all clear. Since late last year I’ve suffered from anxiety and this week I had this wired brain jolt that scared the crap out of me to which I automatically presumed my epilepsy had come back, I’ve been having these anxious episodes ever since where I get dizzy, ringing in my ears, messing with my hair and my stomach drops. I’m convinced my epilepsy has come back even though the docs said it’s anxiety. I only had absence seizures and it feels slightly similar which triggers me and starts a cycle of worry.