My dad was diagnosed with MS around 1957? Maybe three to five years later he had his first "black out", and our car went off the road (no serious injuries). My mother said his eyes were open, but he seemed to be unaware and was unresponsive to her hollering. It only lasted a few seconds, and he had no idea what had happened, didn't remember my mother trying to get his attention.

He suffered a few more events like that..maybe a half dozen? I was a kid, so my memory on that is fuzzy. At the time, the doctors at the VA said they were seizures related to MS.

Years after, another doctor told him they had "probably" been TIA's. I questioned that and asked my own PCP how likely it would be to have TIA's and not eventually have a stroke in the next 40 years. He thought unlikely.

We'll probably never know for sure, but when he had these "black outs", they were usually accompanied by other symptoms and were most likely exacerbations.

I'm glad you're getting checked out thoroughly to rule out anything serioius. It sounds as though you are aware that you are "doing it" and kind of snap yourself out of it. Does it feel like a focus issue? Like in school, when you didn't notice that you'd stopped reading your social studies book and started daydreaming?

It's strange......I'm totally awake and conscious throughout the "spell". I don't think they last that long. Just seconds to maybe a couple of minutes. The one time I really noticed it was when I got up to tinkle in the middle of the night and realized later that I was just sitting on the potty staring at the wall!

I hope it's nothing serious. The Neuro's office didn't seem to think it was 'cos I'm not scheduled to have my test until next Thursday. I'm anxious to see if there's any activity going on up there in my head!

Oh, carp. You guys making me a little nervous. . This happened to me once when I was driving with my son in the car! After it happened I had a few seconds of disorientation and wasn't sure where I was. I knew I was in my town but didn't recognize the street I was on .

I told my son that I wasn't quite sure where I was and he said we were a couple of blocks from home. I always have my gps on to help me. I explained what happened and asked.if I was driving okay. He said to.calm down because I was driving just fine. I was extremely stressed out before this happened.
I think this was about a year ago and it hasn't happened in the car since. I'm terrified of not being able to drive .

Good luck, K. . Please let us know how the eeg goes.

kitty,

i'm glad you called your dr and they're going to to the EEG.
please let us know how it goes.

i've never had that, that i know of.

how many x's a day does it happen?

good luck. i'm with you.

a bit of a timely thread for me. I do not have exactly what you describe but I can relate in that there are times when I just sit for moments. DH always wants to know what I am doing. I do not lose time when I do it.

But...I did have some sort of episode about a week ago. And the neuro is going to order an EEG, both awake and asleep. Then an MRI to see if I have new lesions lighting up in my brain.

I had some sort of fall. I have almost total amnesia on it. Last thing I remember is looking down the hallway and watching DD and DH in conversation. I must have gone into the bathroom. They heard the fall and came in to find me face down on the ground. Slurred speech, no muscle control.

What happened? My guess is that after the EEG and MRI, with my pocket less $500, I will be told it is inconclusive.

Isn't that how it goes?

I know, Aarcyn.......and it'll just be one more thing for me to worry about!

One thing I thought of yesterday is the cost of this test. Medicare only pays for part of it.....and I'm responsible for the rest. I'm calling the Neuro's office this morning to see......in fact, I'm on hold right now while they check.

Okay, she just checked and my portion will be roughly $122 but that is subject to change if Medicare decides to allow more or less (not sure what that means). Ugh.......now I'm wondering whether to get this done right now or wait. I might just wait to see if our SSDI checks are affected by the government debt problems.

I seem to just 'tune out' as well - I wonder if our brains are so tired trying to input all of the sensory information around us, it just needs a bit of a break. I am often caught out, particularly when I am tired, staring off into space, almost 'trancelike'.

Sometimes when I am driving, I just 'arrive' (without incident) at my destination and even though I have driven past people I know, or missed picking up my husband or kids when they are walking home, I am not aware of them. Just focussing on the road and nothing much else.

Embarrassing admission, but I get home and don't remember specifics about the trip - I just think 'wow, I am here already'.

Lyn

I do it too. sometimes I find myself sitting on the potty at night and wondering how I got there. or I will just leave. I did it a few times while I was driving, and had to pull off the side of the road. I simply felt like I wasnt in my body anymore. like an out of body thing was happening. After a few minutes it passed and I was fine.

I hope you get your answers.

((hugs))