Dissociative siezures

[finallygettingthere]

Hiya,
I am diagnosed with dissociative Identity disorder, EUPD and CPTSD although I've not had dissociative symptoms for many years. I love with alot of flashbacks and grief but I've been very stable and medication free for years.

Recently I suffered a bereavement of a parent figure and have started having siezures that I've been told are PTSD siezures that are non Epileptic. They look like Atonic siezures and last 5 minutes or so...does anyone else have experience or relate to these?

 

[knuckles]

I have reactions that might be labelled seizures, when I strain too hard for too long. It seems to be a reaction primarily to prolonged mental strain/stress, but physical strain can push me over the edge, if I am also struggling mentally. I have no diagnosis for this and can't say for sure what they look like from the outside, but I believe it looks something like this: Arms and legs go weak/limp. My abdominal muscles contracts, something like spasm with prolonged contractions and forces me into a curled up position. I am aware, but have no muscle control and can't speak. After maybe five minuttes of this my abdominal contractions fade away, but it usually takes me a bit longer (maybe 10-15 minuttes) before I slowly regain muscle control, starting with hands and feet. I have tried to force this last part, to get back on my feet more quickly, but that results in renewed abdominal contractions, and thus just prolongs the reaction.

 

[finallygettingthere]

Yes so this is pretty lucky exactly me, my jerk really violently and my eyes roll back repeatedly but the jerking motion is actually from abdominal contractions that propel my body in a fitting motion. I also lose mobility and speech after for 10 minutes or so. I've had a lot of loss of body and memory from the dissociative disorder but fitting like this is new. I don't have a flashback with it or a trigger. It's like I just have a siezure...yet I'm conscious, just trapped in my body unable to stop it from this contracting/twitching

 

[DharmaGirl]

I think you are referring to psychogenic seizures which aren't tied to PTSD. They can happen to anyone, regardless of PTSD. I've looked at several websites and PubMed, and trauma is related to seizures, psychogenic and epileptic, however the websites that use the term PTSD seizures are selling something or looking for patients. From what I understand, non-epileptic seizures are caused by stress.

 

[arfie]

i had to look up enough of your terms to have any confidence, whatsoever, that i am even close to your league, buttttttaaaaa. . . the lion's share of my own psychotherapy took place way back when combat ptsd was still being called, "shell shock." civilians who survived those wars were "just plain crazy."

with a plea for forgiveness if i am only flaunting my ignorance, i wonder if what you are describing is what my "shell shock" shrinks were calling, "dissociative catatonia." i suffered it, big time and did manage to find ways to manage the symptom. further apology if i have connected the wrong dots. i googled the term, "dissociative catatonia" and it did not make it to the internet. nothing new there. . . i started my recovery 20 years before the first worldwideweb connections were available. the names have changed for just about everything since 1994 when prodigy introduced the first internet service. seems to me that the names are still changing faster than a bridezilla's surname.

 

[shimmerz]

It's like I just have a siezure...yet I'm conscious, just trapped in my body unable to stop it from this contracting/twitching

Hi @finallygettingthere . Yes, I had these for upwards of a decade. Mine were a bit different in that I would just lose my ability to move and drop. I used to call them drop attacks. They were definitely related to PTSD and dissociation. It took me a long time to figure out the triggers. Many were benign or even subliminal. I worked an awful lot on getting my baseline anxiety down and that helped quite a bit. Then I got really good at self care. Really good. I was horrible at it. How often do you have these seizures?