Mental pauses?

[BrianC77]

Hello, I am a 30 year old male that gets very brief "mental pauses" (10 seconds) at a time arond once a day. This is very hard to explain, but what happens is, I may be talking to someone, or just sitting somewhere, etc. and I kind of space out to the point where I cannot respond to someone if they are talking to me when it is happening. I remain fully aware of what is going on around me, no loss of vision, hearing, etc. It has happened many times where I may be on the phone and it happens. I can't speak to the person until it is over with. I remain aware that they are talking to me and comprehend what they are saying to me as well. This all started about 2 years ago, and was first very rare, maybe once a month, but has increasingly become more frequent, about once a day now. I really want to know what is going on with me. Please help if you can understand what I've described.
Thank you.

[Joyce K Lee, MD]

Dear BrianC77,

Thank you for submitting your question.
I will answer your concerns to the best of my abilities, but please be informed that I am unable to offer a diagnosis based on your history and list of symptoms.
I am limited in not having the opportunity to perform a full neurologic examination on you, nor am I able to review the pertinent imaging.
This is solely for educational purposes and should in no way be a substitute for a formal evaluation by a certified physician.

From what I gather, you have been experiencing these "mental pauses" for the past 2 years, now increasing in frequency.
In addition, you have intermittent L facial paresthesias (abnormal feelings.)

To be honest, yes I agree with the other commenters on the possibility of seizures.
It is difficult to categorize them without obtaining more details.
If I had to favor one type over the other, I would chose "absence seizures" based on the limited information you have provided.

Please allow me to give you a brief educational segment on absence seizures.

Absence seizures are brief episodes of staring.  Another name for them is petit mal.  During the seizure, awareness and responsiveness are impaired. People who have them usually don't realize when they've had one. There is no warning before a seizure, and the person is completely alert immediately afterward.

Simple absence seizures are just stares. Many absence seizures are considered complex absence seizures, which means that they include a change in muscle activity. The most common movements are eye blinks. Other movements include slight tasting movements of the mouth, hand movements such as rubbing the fingers together, and contraction or relaxation of the muscles. Complex absence seizures are often more than 10 seconds long.

What argues against this diagnosis is your age -- absence seizures usually occur in children aged 4-14.

Seizures are fascinating -- they present in a myriad of ways.
Some have the typical thrashing about that I'm sure you've seen on TV at one point and others have 1-2 seconds of staring.

I am not comitting you to a diagnosis of seizures however.
Some people have spells like yours that end up being sleeping disorders (narcolepsy) or even boredom.

Either way, I think that you should see a neurologist and undergo an EEG.
An EEG (electroencephalogram),records brain waves and can point towards abnormalities within the brain.

Hope this helps,
JKL, MD

[brandoneast]

I am getting the same thing and it occurs for a few seconds - I feel like I got stupid for a few seconds - I just blank out.  Maybe a couple times during the day I also can't seem to choose the right word when it is at the tip of my tongue. I am also experiencing a slight tingling from my top ear/temple down my cheek to the middle of my chin on my left side. I am wondering if I am clinching my teeth / tmj? Do you wear a mouthpiece during the night? I am wanting to go to the dr. or dentist - hoping its nothing serious.

[jenoz]

Hi Brain, Ive had this on and off for most of my life, it's distracting and upsetting, feels as what some may describe as a simple
pacial siezure (epilepsy)
I have finaly been diagnosed with basilar artery migriane,or
silent migriane(with out pain,)just the neurological stuff happens,
it is also called migriane variant, or bickerstaff syndrome.
at first I never had migriane aura, but now i do.
you might want to look it up.
good luck jen
http://professionals.epilepsy.com/page/migraine_variants.html
http://search.healthcentral.com/query?q=basilar+artery+migriane&st=s&ver=migraine&x=10&y=9

[caregiver222]

Those are characteristic of what are called Petit Mal epileptic siezures. They may or may not be a cause for concern. The significant problem is the development of a full blown siezure and the effect on your driving or operating machinery. These petit mal events can be caused by chemical exposure or LSD exposure. Years ago the U.S. army has a chemical weapon designated BZ, what was designed to be inhaled and disrupt enemy activity through induction of these "lapses". You need to be evaluated by a siezure specialty center. There are  medications that may help. The reasons for epileptic type events is not clearly understood. One theory is that there is a theshold of sensitivity, that once reached causes random electrical activity disrupting the though processes. Often a flickering red light or flashes of sunlight can cause the problem. It can happen with ordinary healthy individuals. It happenw tih light aircraft pilots looking at the sun through a spinning propellor or a helicopter pilot when the sunlight is interrupted at a regular interval by the blades. Iften the symptoms do not progress, but sometimes they do. People suffering such problems have frozen on the railroad tracks. A death I investigated years ago involved a 20 year old male who froze in front of an AMTRAK train while crossing the tracks. He had a history of similar "mental pauses". So don't get overly worried, but do get a complete evaluation by a center that specializes in siezure disorders. Sometimes, after a period of treatment, the problem disappears. Other times it remains chronic. You have been luck in the fact nothing life threatening has occured. Needles to say you should not drive a car, bus or truck or operate dangerous machinery.

[SadieSunflower]

I just need to correct some of the misconceptions that you have about epilepsy. Photosensitive epilepsy is very rare. Very few people with epilepsy have problems with flickering lights.

"Petit Mal" is an outdated term. They are now called "absence" seizures. BrianC77 could also be having "partial frontal lobe" seizures, which involve less of the brain and can be difficult to distinguish from absence seizures. Absence seizures always occur with memory loss, so a partial frontal lobe seizure is the more likely suspect.

[BrianC77]

Well, I'd like to thank you all for offering your help with this for me. I am currently seeing a doctor who has done some blood tests and following the results of those, may refer me to a Neurologist. I don't know much about medicine at all, but I know what jenoz mentioned about migraine variants don't seem to match what I have. I researched into the condition and it doesn't match. As far as the Petit Mal epileptic seizures are concerned, I don't think that that matches either. I don't ever have any memory loss at all. I cannot also seem to discover any sort of trigger of any sort. It happens at all different times of day/night while I am doing all types of different activities. Very strangly enough, after a long period of time of experiencing this everyday, it has seemed to go away during the past two weeks. During the past 14 days, I have only had it once. Prior to that, it was at least once a day. I am going to look into the partial frontal lobe seizure condition as well. When I hear from the doctor, I will post that on here as well. Thanks again. Any more idea would be helpful as well.

[SadieSunflower]

Don't get frustrated if your symptoms don't match something exactly. Everyone experiences things differently, and if you do research you'll find that various authoritative sources will contradict each other about exactly what the symptoms of such-and-such "should" be.

[drmed]

I get a similar problem with these "mental pauses" although with appropriate medication they can definitely be reduced. I also sometimes lose a couple of seconds, not usually long enough for anyone to notice but very disconcerting when I am in the middle of a sentence or trying to listen. Time appears to suddenly jump forward without my awareness. I have been diagnosed with primary generalised epilepsy. Epilepsy and other neurological problems are often mystifying and affect people in very different ways so don't worry if your symptoms do not exactly match what you've read or heard about. Good luck with whatever your doctor advises.

[kellyknowles]

hmm. i have been experiencing these identical symptoms for a few years now...i first noticed because when i was driving over a particular bridge to go to work every day ( a 3 mile bridge) somedays my trip very fast...though i never felt like i blanked out, in other words, i thought i remembered driving over the bridge, i realized over time that i was missing time or rather, i truly could not recall th drive..more like short term memory loss...also, recalling things i know that i know has become difficult at times and others i can recall too much...a brain scan revealed brain damage and irregular spiking/slowing waves...they tried to get me to take an anti convulsant...i opted out on that of fear of ever having to stop the meds for any reason (loss of insurance/med emergency etc) i figured that long term maybe, it could be bad...i never really could understand the tests results or the nueroligist trying to explain it all to me..also, another sympton, like these episodes...are episodes where things become foggy...like as if you were extrememly tired (like to the point your eyes close on thier own--ya know when your exhausted and you start to nod) you are experiencing everything..but not comprehending what someone may be saying to you... i know conciously that i am not able to focus but am not able to force nyself to comprehend what's being told to me...i have noticed that if possible, i can change activity...like get up and leave the room...and sometimes that can get me back on track....sometimes caffiene helps too and sometimes anxiety or nervousnes can make it worse....wierd? if anyone gets an answer...please share

[mishele75]

I've been noticing the same sort of symptoms.  I'll be listening to someone and I sort of feel as if I couldn't respond.  But I am still aware of what is going on and the person I'm speaking to doesn't notice anything.  I've also noticed that after these "episodes" I become very sensitive to light.  And either during or directly after (it's hard to tell since they happen so fast) a part of my head feels warm from the inside.  However, that last one may be anxiety that these espisodes are really a symptom of a burst aneurysm or something.  

I also do not see any real pattern.  They have happened at all different times of the day and sometimes go away for days at a time.  

Other than that, nothing is physically wrong with me.  My doctor has ruled out any heart or circulation issues.  I'm guessing I should push for more neurological tests.

[wonder08]

for me, they happen at least once a day, sometimes more. I get this feel of being sleepy/tired and then I just stare with blurry vision. I'm aware of what's going on around me, but when someone tries to talk to me I don't respond. they only last a few seconds.

I've had an MRI and I guess the things they found would normally cause seizures because they kept asking if I ever had any and I would say no, just the staring thing.. and that was it.

I'm guessing it's nothing to worry about because no one seemed concerned.

but I hate not having answers. I'm the type of kid that ASKS WHY, if you know what I mean. I've been thinking about getting a copy of my records, neuro report, and reports from my MRI. I feel nuts even thinking about doing that though, since they never told me anything was wrong. ok, done complaining now lol