Seizure-like episode - previously diagnosed with Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder

Hey everyone,

It has been awhile since I posted here, but I had a rather complexing and disturbing episode last night which has left me dumbfounded and confused.

I have been previously diagnosed with Panic Attacks, previously had Panic Disorder... yet the episode I had last night was more epileptic in origin.

I woke up around 11 pm after going to sleep at 8-8:30. I woke up to find myself in the midst of shaking/convulsing slightly, my eyes/eyelids fluttering, and drooling onto my pillow. I was conscious during and after the episode, whether or not it had been lasting longer prior to waking I will never know, since it happened while I was sleeping, so I dunno if I woke up into a seizure-like spell or woke up towards the end of it. I finally managed to shake myself to and was like, "What the heck happened there??" So I WAS conscious of what happened. I got frightened since I never had a seizure or episode like that in my ENTIRE LIFE, and I dunno what could have caused it? Do I have late onset epilepsy? Is it a chemical reaction to a medication I am on or something else?

Basically, the only things I can think that could be chemical in origin is I had started consuming caffeine since I started a new job that requires me to work in the early hours of the morning, and I also am taking my Lorazepam 2 MG 3X daily, along with my Beta Blocker Metoprolol Succinate ER and my birth control. I am wondering if the caffeine could have caused my body to think the Lorazepam was OUT of my system, since I know caffeine can NULL the effects of Lorazepam, and thus had a seizure since my body acted like it was going through Lorazepam withdrawal... do you think this is a possibility??

I have also had adverse reactions to the generic Metoprolol I was put on. I was given the generic by Ethex, yet both the generics by Ethex and Sandoz have been proven to NOT contain the same ingredients (inactive) as Toprol, nor are they the same size or disposition. It caused me to have onset chest pains again, and lightheadedness and tingling sensations in my chest, arms, head and body. I have heard of all sorts of weird reactions to these drugs, with people having hair loss and of course just end up switching back to the Name-Brand Toprol XL and being FINE afterwards. So could this also have caused my seizure-like spell?

And WAS it a seizure?? Or just something coincidental? It sure as hell seems like a seizure (more Petit Mal in origin), but was it? I have read somewhere of people with panic attacks and panic disorder having seizure like spells. So was it something like that? And what would cause something like this to occur? PLEASE, I am seeking desperately your all's help and advice. Thanks! :)

~Crystal~

[DragonTU84]

Bump. Help please?!?!

[meanemt]

My daughter in law had a similar thing happen to her.  The doctors told her that she had a panic attack hyperventilated and from breathing so fast it it elevated her CO2 level in which caused the seizure.  She says she did remember it though.  My son witnessed it.  She got hot and nauseated before it happened too.  They put her on Lamictal and she has done great ever since.

[DragonTU84]

Thanks for the info. I honestly think it was a mix of my dysautonomia/panic attacks and the bad beta blocker I was taking. It caused all sorts of symptoms to appear. It made me get jittery, paresthesias, chest pain, increased heartrate, heart palpitations, and I think may have caused that seizure like episode I had. Mixed with my messed up Autonomic Nervous System and CNS, I think it just put my body out of wack so it caused a psychogenic/physiological/psychological nonepileptic seizure. Not a seizure necessarilly, just seizure-like. A person can experience what seems to be seizure auras, space out, and go into convulsion like spells, and sometimes may pass out and other times not. It makes the most sense...