Confusion

Was just wondering if anyone has attacks of confusion and disorentation
When I am trying to do something like put clothes away or sort kids school bag out or tidy up, hoover etc, just normal everyday things that take a bit of thought, I can do it for about 10 minutes then I start to get:

confused, I can feel my head tighten and shrink inside, my function then becomes impaired, can drop things, co-ordination becomes very difficult, my brain knows what i want my hand to do but movement becomes very difficult and slower because I have to concentrate so hard to carry out the action, speech becomes more of a stutter and again really have to think hard to speak a sentence, the more I try the worse it gets, then if I carry on, I become shaky, weak, and really spaced out, derealisation I think.
In the end I have no choice but to stop, sit in a quiet place not moving, not thinking (if thats possible) and just do nothing, normally have to put my sun glasses on or shut my eyes so I don’t have to look at anything, or take anything in, it feels like overload but it happens so much.

Obviously my doctor again thinks its anxiety however, these things I am trying to do I want to do, I dont dread them or worry about doing them, they are normal everyday actions, so why cant i do them.

It is so frustrating, and I dont understand if this is related to the MAV or its an actual brain function problem caused by something else.
Really would like to know if anyone else has these same symptoms, what brings them on and what helps and of course if you know that it is related to MAV or not.

I am pretty sure this is MAV. My multitasking skills are now hopeless, especially if there is movement involved. I tend to have to sit down to do the kind of things you mentioned and take it slowly one thing at a time. Otherwise I end up not just dizzy but in a kind of dazed state like a cartoon character who has been knocked on the head and has little birdies flying around!

Hi Karen,

I have something similar happen to me, I don’t know what triggers it but I’ll be in the middle of doing something and suddenly feel extremely confused, weak, and shakey like I’ll pass out. The only thing I seem able to comprehend when that happens is that something is wrong. It’s hard for me to put into words but it’s an awful sensation. Afterwards I feel weak and when people talk to me i can hear them but I can’t process what they’re saying very well or think of what to say back and it all seems a bit surreal. I just stand their saying “ummmmmm.” Anyways I talked to my neurologist and tried to describe these episodes and she said it doesn’t make her change her mind about my diagnosis. I hope this helps, I remember replying to one of your posts a while back, did you ever get a med to try?

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Hi Karen,

I have something similar happen to me, I don’t know what triggers it but I’ll be in the middle of doing something and suddenly feel extremely confused, weak, and shakey like I’ll pass out. The only thing I seem able to comprehend when that happens is that something is wrong. It’s hard for me to put into words but it’s an awful sensation. Afterwards I feel weak and when people talk to me i can hear them but I can’t process what they’re saying very well or think of what to say back and it all seems a bit surreal. I just stand their saying “ummmmmm.” Anyways I talked to my neurologist and tried to describe these episodes and she said it doesn’t make her change her mind about my diagnosis. I hope this helps, I remember replying to one of your posts a while back, did you ever get a med to try?

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Hi bandieboz, thank you for your response, I totally understand what you are saying every aspect of it and agree it is just something you cannot put into words, its a horrible feeling, whilst reading your post I was reliving everything you said and its exactly the same for me, I was worried that it was some kind of seizure, I did see a neurologist but he told me it was caused by anxiety and that I didnt have migraine as i didnt get headaches, needless to say my ENT consultant was hoping mad when I went back and told him and he even knew the name of the neurologist before I mentioned it! I have been prescribed some medication in the last month ‘pitzofen’ I think its called but havent taken any yet, a bit tablet phobic and just cant face any side effects, while all this is so horrible sometimes I feel its better the devil you know and try and work with what you have. Maybe if I was a stricter with my diet and watched my triggers abit more it would become alot easier to live with, acceptance is another factor, and of course having people here to talk to helps get you through.

Hey Karen,

I actually saw a neurologist who specializes in epilepsy, he told me he thought it was anxiety also even though I have no previous history of anxiety. However my current doctor is a neurologist who is a migraine specialist and she is very nice and understanding. It’s so important to have a doctor that will listen and explain. She definitely believes it’s mav and told me anxiety can be a symptom. About the confusion I actually google searched “confusional migraine” and found there’s other people out there who have described similar things. It’s hard when you think your the only one and I question my diagnosis at times because I have problems my doctor can’t explain or I haven’t heard of others having as a symptom (my back randomly tingles, constant right eye discomfort and slight lid swelling, other random neurological issues). Have you looked at any of the pdfs on this forum? There’s one by dr. silver that brought me comfort bc he lists a lot of symptoms including confusion and weakness.

I’m scared of taking meds too but you can start off by taking less than they tell you and you can always stop. You never know unless you give it a try, but if your symptoms are manageable I prob wouldn’t try them either. Wish you all the best!

Linda