Has anyone had these.....or know anything about them?

I've been having strange "episodes" recently and wonder if it's some type of mild seizure. DS asked me the other night while we were watching TV if I was okay. Apparently I was starring off - not looking directly at the TV - and just sort of seemed lost in thought. I do not remember this.

I've noticed that I can sit and read for a while but at some point I stop reading and just sit and stare. Probably no longer than 30 seconds to a minute but I don't realize I'm doing it until I "come out of it" and find myself just sitting on the couch with my book in my lap. I'm not confused nor have I found myself wandering around.

I've also noticed that I can be walking through the living room and stop to watch something on the television (I usually lean up against the back of the recliner while doing this) and I'll realize after a little while (seconds or minutes....I don't know) that I'm not even watching the TV but just starring at the wall or the floor but not directly "at" anything in particular.

This is strange and is worrisome to me. I don't feel "out of it" or like I've lost my bearings or anything. I just sort of "check out" momentarily. While I'm at home this seems fairly benign but what concerns me is what if I'm not at home and I do this? What if I'm driving to the store? I hardly ever drive anymore but will go around the corner to the drug store or the grocery store. That's about the extent of my driving and never when my vision is compromised.

Am I just inventing stuff to worry about or if this really a problem for anyone else?

I do this sometimes to Kelly. It's a little bit scary when it happens. I can't recall what I was thinking about or if I was even thinking of anything! It feels like I just "checked out" of my brain for a minute. Very weird .

I do this too Kitty. It happens quite a bit. I'm like you, I know in not losing my mind or anything, it's just like my brain kinda shifts into auto-pilot! And yes, my kids always ask me what I was thinking. Lol. I just say "nothing". Otherwise it would be too hard trying to explain to them.

To tell you the truth, I don't know. I have busy noise going on all the time (TV) and noone is here to miss me when I'm gone, so, I don't know, but I suspect yes.

I get them every so often Kelly. In fact, I still have a couple of months left before I can drive again. I don't get them often, thank goodness. The 1st one kind of freaked me out a bit.

I also get tired afterward and need to nap.

Talk to you neuro about this as there may be something else going on and/or you may need some meds to help.

I called my Neuro and his nurse called me back. She's going to talk to the other Neuro there (mine is out till next week) and call me once he reviews my chart. She asked me alot of questions and I could hear her typing on the computer keyboard so I hope she took lots of notes.

Tricia, now that you mention it I do the same thing......have to nap more, especially after one of the episodes.

I never black out or lose consciousness......but just sort of go into a trance-like state.

Since I rarely ever go anywhere it's not ever happened anywhere but home. I'm thinking that when I'm out - like at the grocery store - there's too much activity going on around me for me to zone out. That's just my uneducated conclusion.

I'd definitely tell the neuro about it...it does sound like what you asked about...let us know how you're doing...

The Neuro's office called me back just a few minutes ago. She said that the Neuro she talked to wants me to come in for an EEG. I have an appointment next Thursday morning. We shall see...............

Good luck, Kelly! Let us know how it goes.

I too have experienced the "missing for a few seconds" that you are describing. I actually was working the 1st time it happened to me. Based on where I was in transcribing I know I was "gone" for 10 seconds and had a ton of spaces on my computer screen as my hands must have gone limp. I was so tired after that episode and finished my work, called my neuro, and took a long nap. The tiredness lasted the rest of the day and evening.

A couple of months ago when it happened again, I wasn't gone for too long but my left eye felt like the pupil wasn't going back to the right size and light really bothered it. I had several in a row. But afterward, I had some cognitive trouble. It took me a few days to recup from that.

FWIW, whenever I have had them done, I have never been able to get in to a deep enough sleep to get the full results, even after being sleep deprived, which they want you to be.

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?