I’ve been having some very strange (what I presume are) neurological symptoms today and intend to go to the doc tomorrow for a consultation, but I’m at my wit’s end trying to think of words to explain the symptoms.
(For the record, it’s having a significant thought or memory pop into my head, but then immediately disappears…and as I try to retrieve the thought that WAS there a few seconds ago, I get sensations like those that happen when one is getting ready to faint, and break out in a cold sweat to boot. The whole episode lasts maybe a minute or two, but is horridly unnerving as I feel I’m ‘losing’ my mind).
There’s no pain, nothing seems to precipitate it, and so far today it’s happened four times. It also happened one day about 6wks ago, but as there was no recurrence, I put it down to ‘one of those things that happen’ and didn’t worry too much.
Now it’s back again, and it’s extremely disconcerting to say the least. Any docs or other interested parties want to take a punt?
Shouldn’t be, although the mild dizziness and cold sweat might well be a reaction to the terror I feel when the thought flits through my head then just goes POOF off into the cosmic ether.
I was just doing my usual boring work this morning when it first happened, then a half an hour later…an hour after that at which point I stopped working… THEN again about 45 minutes ago. Nothing that stresses me or that could induce an attack of anything (apart from ennui I guess).
First off, we are finite beings on this spinning ball of rock,with no sense of how we got here or where we are going, and it would be abnormal if you didn’t feel this existential terror every once in a while.
Second thing… you feel that this happens as you are trying (or failing) to retrieve a memory. That is concerning. It sounds like PTSD or the like. I’m no expert but I do think you should pursue professional assistance in uncovering this trigger. Be well.
I’m less worried about the dizziness and the cold sweats. But my (memory) of the memory that sweeps through my head is not a significant memory of anything (if that makes sense). Just mundane stuff for the most part (if my memory serves me correctly :D) but when my mind tries to retrieve it to find out WHY it came into my consciousness…it just disappears.
Nothing PTSD…either I’m suffering from intermittent Alzheimer’s disease, or something perhaps more benign. It’s bloody scary though, I tell ya!
What you’re describing sounds a lot like brain zaps. They are a well known withdrawal effect from many antidepressants. Does your mind feel like it sorta goes blank for a second?
I don’t think it actually causes you to lose the memory–it just completely disrupts your train of thought. And then the process of trying to remember specific that just eludes you always makes it harder to remember–just like when you can’t remember someone’s name or something.
My personal pet theory for this is a loss of signal, caused by the lack of the expected level of serotonin. And losing signal from your balance center can cause brief dizziness. And that causes the sweats because your body is gearing up for having to make you start throwing up.
I don’t want to alarm you, but this was one of the primary reasons I didn’t go out for a long time. It got worse with more stimuli, and that dizzy feeling would last a lot longer. Granted, my anxiety made it a lot worse, but I was much more used to dealing with anxiety.
Most people don’t have troubles anywhere near that bad. But do get to your doctor. The way this is described in the literature is often “paresthesia”–though that also includes tingly feelings in the legs and feet, as well as just phantom numbness.
