Brain Stutter/Lockup - Merely Panic Attacks?

[DragonTU84]

Hello Doctor(s). I had a rather frightening episode last week that has left me baffled and confused about the past diagnosis of suffering from merely "Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder" as most of my previous doctors have claimed, and left me to question what REALLY is going on with me…

Let me tell you a little about myself.

AHEM.

My name is Crystal, and I am now 24 years old. All of my symptoms started on October 31st, 2006 when I experienced a bout of severe chest pain and what felt like heart palpitations and lightheadedness, and points where it felt like my heart "stopped." It caused me to PANIC thinking I was having a heart attack or something, since I didn't know what the heck it was, and it lasted for maybe 1/2 hour to 45 minutes off and on.

Well, after that first day I had chest-pain related attacks every day.

I was admitted to the ER and ran tons of blood-work for blood count, blood clot, thyroid and who knows what else, as well as an EKG and a chest CT which all came back normal, except for the blood clot which is why they issued a chest CT to check for pulmonary embolism which came back fine.

I do have minor Mitral Valve Prolapse and Tricuspid Regurgitation, but they said this was not causing my symptoms and it was just panic attacks and injected me with 2MG of Ativan and after all the tests came back negative sent me on my way.

I went to my GP, who put me on Toprol XL, which I am now on 50 MG a day, and it has helped for the chest pains and increased heartrate/irregular heartrate, yet I still was getting attacks, so my doctor put me on Zoloft since it was at this time she suspected Panic Attacks/Anxiety, yet it only made NEW symptoms appear and my life more of a living hell!!

CONTINUED....

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I can't make a diagnosis online but from what you have said, all of the evidence does point to anxiety/panic attacks. the brain symptoms you describe are quite common with this diagnosis..the fact that a strong anti-anxiety medication helps you is further support..I recommend that you go beyond the medication and start talking to someone about what is going on in your mind, not your brain. You are a young adult, leaving home and starting your adult life..that in itself is a stress worth talking about.

[DragonTU84]

HELP??

[DragonTU84]

Hello Dr. Gould,

Thank you for your response. There is one question I do have though (I dunno if you read into the prolonged continued response), but I also have a Vitamin D deficiency. Do you think that the two are somehow linked? And if so, what is causing the Vit. D deficiency and my myriad of panic attacks, anxiety, and other neurological and physiological symptoms? And if not, what else could be causing my Vit. D deficiency? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Somebody mentioned to me pseudohypoparathyroidism (my birth mother gets panic attacks, but she has not had the same myriad of symptoms I have had - mostly just the chest pains, heart palps, heart racing, fear/panic, lightheadedness, anxiety, etc.), but I just dunno....they indicated that because of my panic attacks and vit. D deficiency.

[DragonTU84]

I was admitted to the ER and ran tons of blood-work for blood count, blood clot, thyroid and who knows what else, as well as an EKG and a chest CT which all came back normal, except for the blood clot which is why they issued a chest CT to check for pulmonary embolism which came back fine.

I do have minor Mitral Valve Prolapse and Tricuspid Regurgitation, but they said this was not causing my symptoms and it was just panic attacks and injected me with 2MG of Ativan and after all the tests came back negative sent me on my way.

I went to my GP, who put me on Toprol XL, which I am now on 50 MG a day, and it has helped for the chest pains and increased heartrate/irregular heartrate, yet I still was getting attacks, so my doctor put me on Zoloft since it was at this time she suspected Panic Attacks/Anxiety, yet it only made NEW symptoms appear and my life more of a living hell!!

I started getting head electrical surges that would surge through my brain, up and down my spine and cause my entire body to tremble, I would feel light-headed, my vision would go blotchy at times, the electrical surge would radiate up and down my spine and even into my arms and legs at times, I would have parathesias (basically one side of my body would feel numb, including my face), and of course I would start to panic since my heart would also race releasing adrenaline into my body and only making the symptoms worse. I eventually quit the Zoloft cold-turkey after a month after my doctor finally became convinced it was causing my new onset symptoms, but that was a HUGE mistake on her part, for now I had to go through a worse living hell.

I would wake up in the middle of the night SCREAMING because it felt like my brain was going entirely haywire-PHYSICALLY SPEAKING, not emotionally. I cannot even describe it. It felt like I was about to go into convulsions or something, but never did. God it was horrid. I had no control over the sensations, which passed in a few minutes or 10-30 seconds at the most.

I have had limb tremors, as I call them, where I would have an episode where I would get one of my head-electrical attacks which would then cause the numbness in one side of my body, and a few times either one of my arms or legs buckled up and I could NOT MOVE IT!!! I could only stare at my leg or arm until the sensation in it returned and I was able to move it again and I could feel the arm/leg go "erect" and I was able to move it again.

I started on a multi-vitamin, since I thought maybe I had a vitamin deficiency, and I cannot express how that alone seemed to alleviate 80-90% of my symptoms.

For some reason, though, I stopped the med, but I did start taking Lorazepam for the Panic Attacks and other symptoms I was experiencing, and it has done wonders. Yet now this recent incident has caused me to question the diagnosis of Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder and wonder if something else more neurological or chemical is going on?? I am not questioning that I indeed DO get panic attacks, but is all this panic attack related or just perhaps another symptom of something greater that is causing the Panic Attacks and other symptoms?

I am now working at a store near where I live as a sales associate, and while greeting a customer (please not that I had taken my Lorazepam 1/2 hour or more prior to this), I felt like my brain physically locked up on the left side of my brain near where the vocal region is located, and I could not even say what I was trying to say. Instead I found myself in a constant stutter of where I left off right before the brain lock-up, as I call it, occurred. It passed after about 10 seconds or so, and left me baffled as to what the heck caused it, and I must have looked like a stuttering idiot to the customers, and I want to get this resolved. Could it simply be the new found stresses of work since I had been off for a year due to the panic attacks and neurological/physiological symptoms that aggravated me during that time? Or is there something more neurological/pathological going on that I should get checked out?

Late last year I did get an EEG and regular MRI (without contrast) done as well as a complete neurological work-up when I had the other head-related problems, but all came back fine. I was going to get a 24 hour EEG done, but the tape was ruined so I vouched to NOT get another one done again since I didn't suspect seizures at the time. But now I just don't know what is going on with me. I would have also had an MRI with contrast done, but I barely got the one done WITH contrast since I had a head electrical sensation attack on the table while doing the MRI without contrast, and I was just barely able to get the 4 or so images required to finish it.

I recently got some bloodwork done, mainly for blood count, thyroid, Vit. B12 and D, female hormones, ANA Titer (2nd time taking it, but my doctor went ahead and wrote it up), Folate, Folic Acid, along with others, and everything came back in the mid-range (normal) except Folate was borderline for being normal, and the Vit. D was severely low. The normal range is around 32-100 for the 25 Hydroxy, and mine was 7. They claimed my 1.25 Dihydroxy was low too, but it was not on the charts as being tested, but then again my doctor was confusing the two constantly as "being the same test, not two different tests." -_-' Crazy GP's....and I had a hell of a time just getting them to get me the tests to begin with. *sighs*

I am also having problems since I wanted to get further tests done to rule out any other possibilities, especially after hearing about the low Vit. D. and somebody telling me I should get tested to see if I have parathyroidism. I asked to get my 1.25 Dihydroxy tested, my Serum Calcium levels checked, my Inorganic Phosphate, Parathyroid Hormone test, along with others, but the doctors seem FED UP with me asking for more blood tests and they keep telling me, "you are fine, you just have a low Vit. D. It is normal in women such as you. Can't you just accept that and your symptoms as just panic attacks/anxiety??"

It was like chomping at the bit just to get them to get tested for the Vitamins to see if I was deficient as well as for the hormones and all the other tests. My one GP called it all "pointless bloodwork," but GUESS WHAT?? I turned out to be severely Vitamin D deficient. I followed my gut more than what my GP's were telling me (that all was more than likely fine) and insisted on getting it checked. But due to this they think I am just some hectic/paranoid patient who doesn't want to "listen to their advice" or have a "good doctor to patient relationship" with them (I have two GP's BTW - Dr. Jones and her associate, Deborah). My mom is also fed up with this. I may be 24 but I am still under their house rules until I get a place of my own (and my own insurance). But right now it is like fighting a losing battle on both ends.

I am feeling much better, I must say, but that recent "brain lockup/stutter" incident leaves me baffled, confused, and thinking that more is going on than just "panic attacks" as everyone insists. What is your take on this Doc(s)? As well as the current result with the Vitamin D deficiency? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

~Crystal P.~