New symptom for me

I had the strangest thing happen to me today. I was driving home and an overwhelming feeling came over me. I felt very “spaced out”, really out of it. I drove home and sat down for awhile. I don’t know how to describe how I felt. I guess I felt “detached” or foggy, just plain spaced out. I am alittle worn out today. Maybe that’s the reason. I have never felt like that before. Do you think it is my medicine doing it? (Verapamil?) I have increased it over a week or so ago. I don’t think it could, but I don’t know. I still feel kind of out of it. It is like when people talk, you can’t really concentrate on what they are saying. I am hearing them, but not listening. It feels so freaky. Has anyone ever felt that way before?

Feeling worried,

Nance

Nance, I have experienced what I call “feelings of unreality” and wonder if that is the same thing. For me it is a really weird feeling - as if I’m not there. There is a psychological term for it and I’m not sure what it is, may be depersonalization. If that is not the right word, someone else might know what it is.

I’ve had this off and on in the past and know of other people who have also. My worst time with it was when I was on zoloft (one pill only and never again will I take it). I experienced this for 24 hours. It was terrible. I felt like I wasn’t there, everything was so odd. I called the doctors office and the nurse said, “oh that’s normal.” I don’t think so!!! If it was, no one would be taking zoloft.

It may or may not be your meds. If it is what I am talking about it isn’t serious but it is very upsetting and scary.

Bookworm -

That is exactly what I am talking about. You described it perfectly. I can feel it going away but not fast enough, Things still seem “odd/unreal”. I’m glad I’ve never tried Zoloft. It would be my luck to have that happen to me too. You are right, it is scary. Is it common? I thought no one would know what I was talking about. I wonder how I can tell if it is MAV or my medicine.

Nance

I don’t think it is MAV. People with MAV may have this but I don’t think it is a symptom of MAV. It is more likely to happen to people who are under stress or feeling anxiety or depression. It could be the meds or it could be stress related. You’ve been on the verapamil for a while haven’t you? That makes me think it may not be but if you have just increased your dosage it could be, especially if it is lasting longer than a few minutes. It really is hard to say. I remember so well having this with the zoloft. I had to keep giving myself reality tests all day - asking myself what is my name, what is the date, where am I. It was terrible. The good thing is, it doesn’t last forever.

It sounds like what you are describing is depersonalization / derealization, and it is very much a part of Migraine.

Google it and you will get a better understanding of it, also, if you do a search here on “Migraine Aura” you will see it listed there too.

I was misdiagnosed with “panic attacks” more than 20 years ago because of these episodes. I know exactly what you are referring to, and they can be extremely frightening if you don’t know what it is. Preventative treatment (propanolol) helped to take them away for me).

Kim

AZDizzy,

I want to start out that I am only being humorus when I say you suck. Not another aura that I have been expereincing as far back as I can remember. :cry:

What I feel is like a major spaced out feeling, my vision becomes more focused on the perrifial instead of the central vision, kind of like the opposite of tunnel vision. I honestly don’t know if it is a feeling of not being there, or mayber a feeling of being there and not being there at the same time. People have seen me do it and accused me of having petite mal seizures. I know a guy who gets petite mal’s and that is definitely not what I expereince. I can sort of carry conversations with people, and more specific, I can remember everything when I snap out of it. As a kid, I had no control over it. As a teenager I actually taught myself to trigger them and snap out of them bored at school. I can’t trigger them at will anymore but I can snap out of them at will when they come on. Typically they last for 30 seconds to a few minutes.

“Brain fog”, as I call it, has been my most problematic symptom. My first neuro thought I had epilpesy and I spent a year on lamictal (stopped working after I was at the maximum dosage) and keppra (its side effects were bad). I think my current neuro may be right with the migraine diagnosis. The nortrypline has helped the headaches somewaht but I still have the brain fog (the brain fog is not quite as intense now but lasts longer than when the episodes first started. The neuro is not convinced the brain fog is related to migraines, but I suspect it is as a panel of blood tests failed to show a physical cause (B-12 deficiency, thyroid, etc.). I’m considering the hormone replacement route (dzugan method), but its a lot of money that is not covered by health insurance. It would be helpful to hear from any others who have had similar experiences. Good luck to all.

Brain fog or dissassociation /disorientation have all been part of my issues as well. It comes and goes in intensity and longevity. I will say that when I first started Effexor, it was much worse. I am still titrating up on Effexor and it has gone back to my “normal” intensity and time. It is very disturbing and I was alarmed until my Dr said that it was yet another symptom on this horrible syndrome.

I’ve had this for a long time (since the MAV got from bad (unable to travel by car) to HORRIBLE (unable to WALK outside). It was at its worst during my week of xanax withdrawal (was on Xanax XR 2mg for two weeks, then 1mg for one week, then zero). At that point I honestly couldn’t figure out if I was dreaming or not.
Since then, the episodes almost (perhaps not just almost) ONLY appear when I haven’t slept enough. When I’m much too tired, I feel derealization (not depersonalization, though, which from what I understand is more like feeling as if you’re watching yourself, being someone else). My feeling is a bit like dreaming. I don’t have trouble following what people say, except perhaps for the first seconds. These episodes last from… well, I don’t know, I think they fade slowly. At least a few minutes but up to hours.

Hi Everyone,
My inner ear doctor just diagnosed me two weeks ago with MAV. I’ve been having symptoms since March 2012. I have those unreal feelings and it’s very scary because it feels like you are not here and in some sort of coma or bad dream. How did you get over these feelings? Is your medicine helping take them away? If so, please let me know what medicine you are on. I cannot drive in fear of passing out and I have a two year old little girl that I want to be able to enjoy my time with more.
Thank you,
Nicole