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2132141 tn?1335678074

Is this a seizure?

Can urination or changes in temperature trigger partial (focal) seizures?

I've been having these seizures, or whatever they are, for years. They've been happening for years, but it's never been a problem, so I kept putting off looking into it. I have some time now, so I thought I'd ask.

The term 'head rush' seemed to fit what happens, but a head rush is defined as a sudden blood pressure, which this certainly isn't. If anything, there's an increase of blood flow to my head during these events. I found a better description of these events.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000697.htm

Urinating usually triggers it. Within a few seconds of the urine stream stopping, a tingling sensation of varying intensity will rush to my head. The milder events are just sensations. But they are often more intense, causing the abnormal muscle contraction described in the above link, including forced turning of the head, affecting one side of the body (one eye twitching) and my neck muscles tense up. Thankfully, I don't notice any other symptoms other than muscle contractions and tingling sensations, and the events last only 2-5 seconds.

Another trigger can be changes in temperature. Feeling a draft from an open door or window can trigger an event, although the temperature triggers are never as intense as the urination triggers.

Like I said, these are never a problem. They just feel really weird and I'd like to know if they're a sign of a more serious condition.
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2132141 tn?1335678074
I've actually had a vasovagal reaction before. I was at a doctor getting a few immunization boosters and I passed out during one of the injections. But it seems odd that these two things would be linked. The vasovagal felt like I just dosed off suddenly, like falling asleep without realizing it. It also lasted at least 15 seconds.

But these events are short and intense, even invigorating in a way. It often feels kind of good, like I'm suddenly a lot stronger for a few seconds. I've never had sweating, flushing, nausea or fainting in these events. I haven't tried to check my heart rate in the brief period, but it certainly feels like it goes up, not down.
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Avatar universal
Very interesting!  Have you ever spoken about it with a doctor?  

What you describe does sound like a short focal seizure.  I have heard of urination syncope, where the vagal nerve (10th cranial nerve) gets over stimulated during urination and causes reduced heart rate, sweating, flushing, nausea, and even fainting (a vasovagal response can be triggered by several different things...take a look at Wikipedia's page on Vasovagal Response.) also, you might look up urination syncope... It is usually benign, but it can also have an underlying medical condition that needs to be looked at.

The interesting thing for yoy is that your reaction isn't a typical vasovagal response.  It's a little seizure instead. It is definitely neurological. If your regular doctor hasn't heard of this or doesn't know what to do about it, ask for a referral to a neurologist.
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