Posted by Adam on April 7, 2001, at 15:07:10
In reply to Re: epilepsy?! (long, some ranting), posted by Elizabeth on April 5, 2001, at 8:04:01
I hope they are progressing toward a good diagnosis. That will, of course, be the key to effective treatment.
There was one other, very ideosyncratic, symptom my old g.f. used to complain about that I remember: Mouth noises. Specifically, she simply could not stand other people making them. Chewing gum too vigorously (which I did...I like to chomp), eating a thick PBJ sandwich, you name it. It really had an effect on her, like worse than running fingernails down a chalk-board. Why I don't know, but she insisted it was somehow tied to the TLE.
This is a touchy subject, and I don't mean to open one of those proverbial cans o' worms, but...
Around the time my g.f. was first displaying symptoms of TLE (just starting college), she dropped a doozie on me: She came out as bisexual, to me, and to somebody else, if you know what I mean. I did not make the connection at the time, though the timing was peculiar. I think the idea that one's sexual orientation could, in some circumstances, be linked to a neurological disorder is not without controversy. Years later, though, when discussing that whole period of my life with a therapist, and blaming myself for how I dealt with it, I was informed by the therapist that such changes were actually classic hallmarks of TLE. He really wanted to stress that point. I had read TLE makes one "hyposexual." That is not the word I would have used to describe her. Don't know what to think except that TLE seems to be assiciated with changes in sexual functioning and/or interest in some individuals. College is the time for experimentation, so who knows.
I don't know if any of this sounds familiar, but I thought I would throw it out there.
Again, best of luck.
> Thanks, everyone, for your thoughtful replies. I don't know what to make of the whole thing.
>
> Adam: to clarify, the doctors didn't think that the respiratory episode ("acute respiratory distress syndrome") was directly due to a seizure. Rather, it was due to aspiration, which they thought could have happened as a result of a partial seizure.
poster:Adam
thread:58035
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010403/msgs/59035.html