I do not know what to tell people who are scared!

[Chizwil]

Good day,
For several years (since 2007/08) I have been having episodes of sudden weakness. I'ld be perfectly fine when all of a sudden all my energy drains away like it's leaking or something and I become so weak that people think I've fainted but I'm perfectly conscious only that I'm too weak to show it. Everything becomes an effort and then I just sleep of. I still feel really weak by the time I wake up but I would be able to talk and walk. That is the only constant symptom, sometimes it's accompanied by presyncope, light-headedness and in the last episode, I became so weak breathing became an effort and I began to choke so I was given a sedative to sleep. The doctors have given me several terms which do not apply like hypoglycemia (the last episode, my sugar level was fine so he told me anxiety disorder which doesn't apply), my EEG report says I might have Simple Partial seizure but as far as I'm concerned, I'v never had a seizure and it still doesn't explain the weakness because I can still feel everything and I'm conscious just that responding to any of that is taking so much effort and I just want to "shut down". I have not been able to tie it to any thing like foods or activities or timing, it just happens randomly and nobody knows what to say. the last time, I was even accused of exaggerating symptoms because they kept asking me questions when I could not talk and did not let me rest and the energy I would have conserved to sleep and breathe leaked away and I began to choke, I had never gotten that weak because I usually just sleep of. I've scoured the Internet and nothing fits. Please help

[Chizwil]

but my ECG report is superb and this weakness can last up to 10 hrs, half of which I sleep of

[caregiver222]

Let me go into the relationship between a TIA and a siezure. Anyone who is deprived of oxygen and is subject to brain ischemia can undergo a siezure. If an aircraft suddenly undergoes decompression the passengers may develop siezures.  It is true that a siezure is due to electrical activity in the barin, however in a universe of patients, that "threshold" is lowered by ischemia. This is not to say that all, or even a percentage of siezures are called by oclusion of blood vessels, but this is an avenue to be explored. While medications to alter the "threshold" may be in order, my two cents is that alternative should be square two in making a differential diagnosis.

Another "must" is a flicker-challange. The patient is subjected to lights flickering at various rates and patterns. In patients so susceptible even the flicker of a flourescent bulb can induce a siezure.

[AndRynne]

Could this be a variant of Petite Mal. One way of knowing would be a trial of Petite Mal medication.

[caregiver222]

You have clsassic symptoms of a TIA, secondary to either a spasm of a blood vessel, pressure on a blood vesselm or a micro-clot, that is rapidsly broen down by your immune system. This is a difficult diagnosis, because when they do an MRA/MRI there is no blockage. The ischemia is transient. A common cause of suchy microclots is nfrom the heart...either from infection, atrial fibrilation, or a defect in the valve. You might try a baby aspirin protocol - once a day - which has few contraindications. You need a ptt test, and a hematological consult to determine if your blood is clotting normally. You might try L-Arginine, three times a day, in a gram dose. This will open up the microcirculation. Even with all this, the doctors may n ot be able to identify a cause. They aren't necessarily incompetent. SZmple partial siezures casn sometimes be impossible to evaluate in terms of cause. Before going to anti-siezure meds I would seek to look into the etiology I outlined.