Nightmarish Deja-Vu and anxiety attacks. What's going on?

Wow. Good to know I'm not the only person going through this. I was starting to think I was just losing my mind. Mine started a couple months ago. The first time it happened, I almost passed out. The second time, I jumped up and went to lay down because I knew I was probably about to pass out. And the third time, which was about 30 minutes ago, I got really sick to my stomach and almost threw up. And for some reason, the only time this happens is when I'm sitting at the computer. Weird stuff...

Oh, and I've also noticed that while it's happening, about 30 seconds into it actually, I realize that I've stopped breathing and have to force myself to breathe again. 

I cannot believe how many people have written about this! My doctor looked at me like I was crazy and said it may be menopause (I'm 37!) I had 5 "spells" last week, all on the same day between 1 to 1 1/2 hours apart. Nothing seemed to trigger them...the first was when I was walking down the hallway when I got up....I was overcome with this horrible feeling, only described as a "deja vu" feeling, like I had this AWFUL feeling before. I got butterflies, I could hear my heartbeat in my head with loud buzzing/"whooshing" noises, felt like I was "surreal" or "looking down" on everyone, had chills then awful swetas/ turned ghostly pale and then flushed from neck to ears. The worst part was the awful deja vu/overwhelmingly awful sad feeling...to the point I would start to cry (no pain/just felt like complete misery)...then it was gone and near impossible to describe. If anyone has any answers, I'd sure love to hear them! On the positive note, it's nice to know I'm not crazy!

I've done a little bit of research on it, and the closest thing I can find that sounds like the symptoms I have (and seems like everyone else on here, too) is a form of epilepsy. I don't think it's anything serious, like having seizures. It's like your brain just misfires for a few seconds, and you go into this dreamlike state. I actually see and hear things when I have an attack. And they always occur when I'm on my period or a few days before or after. I've had them several times over the past few months and it's a very scary feeling and hard to describe to people who have never been through it. I tried telling my boyfriend and he tells me "It's just deja vu. Everybody gets it." No, I've had regular deja vu before. This is deja vu on steroids. The past few times it's happened to me, it's got a little less scary. It's just a little detour my brain has to take for a few seconds, so I just go on that ride and I know everything will be okay. I also keep track of every time it happens, and I recommend everyone else do the same to see if there is any pattern you can find. Writing about it afterward (as I'm finding out now) helps to relieve the anxiety that comes with it. I tend to get very upset after it happens, but it's getting easier to handle.

I get these too, but maybe they're different. Six years ago it started, it started out as just abnormal deja vu and l thought nothing of it. Then it started to get worse and i confronted my parents about it. We saw a doctor and he couldn't see anything on the surface about it. Then l started having seizures. Those were bad sometimes, l remember one time l fell asleep while we were in the hospital (because of the seizures) it felt like l was sleeping for maybe five minutes, but when l woke up i was actually seizing for 4 hours. So they put me on medication for it, l forget the name of the pills but they stopped the episodes which was great. Over the next two years they weened me off the medication and all was fine. But, over the last eight months or so they returned. It feels like such an extreme deja vu l can almost predict what someone will say or what l will respond with when they say their next sentance. Lately l've been wondering if maybe it's not deja vu but maybe l'm hallucinating, thinking l know what they're going to say when really l'm just staring blankly into space in real life. l'm 17 now, and l'm afraid if l ever get one of these episodes when driving l could lose control and hurt someone, could hurt someone badly. There is absolutly no pattern, one month l'll have only one or none at all, but then sometimes l will have two in the same week. l really hate it. l just wish it would stop. l hate wondering if l'm still sane or in control over my mind. Nobody seems to understand what it's like, they'll say "Oh wow, l think l had a moment like that once!" and then describe something totally different and smile and think that we are similar and that my problem dosn't really exist. Other people know what l'm talking about sometimes or at least try to understand as they were there when l had a seizure once in the middle of class, which l can't seem to remember. l can't remember a lot of things it seems lately. l just hope the seizures don't come back, it really scared everyone. Also they come with extremely bad headaches, l can't describe them too well, they're just, really bad. l just want them to stop.

i get the same, but get a massive elation. It feels like someone has stuck an epinephrine pen in my chest but there is no increase in pulse rate during the 'attack'....I quite enjoy them. I vaguely seem to think that they are dreams that i have forgotten, but as quickly as i remember them, they are forgotten again. The next time i have one i'm going to get someone to check my glucose levels. I'm glad you had the MRI & EEG cos i can now cancel them out.
I'm semi retired and have no financial concerns, so i find it hard to believe they are related to anxiety.

they are not anxiety attacks...it's elation...you just havn't learned to 'jump' to the parallel place yet

Im a 24 year old male, i have also been experiencing these deja vu like "panic attacks" if u will. this is the first ive heard or tried to read about it.

This is very very similar to what l experience, they always do happen in familiar places, as well, l find they happen more often with lack of sleep. I have not experienced one that feels nightmarish, I doubt l would be able to cope with one, as lately l am beginning to lose grip of reality, and my sanity due to the attacks. I am wondering lately if l am hallucinating while the episodes occur, and thus have made me question reality on a regular basis. I wish there would be some answers for me as to what this is, because in a couple of years l do not question the fact that l will lose every link in my mind towards the real world.

 im a 24 yr old male and have been having these "episodes" for about 2 years now. usually this is happening in familiar places like work and recently in the weekend mornings laying  in bed. which leads me to believe it is your brain picking out a memory or emotion that u have experienced, and connecting it to ur current situation/conciousness. these subliminal outbursts of memories could be related to emotional memory, like remembering how u felt during a certain "period" in high school or something. but sometimes my episodes leave me feeling overheated and almost "prickly skinned" almost like an adrenaline rush. im starting to think its part of a process and way ur mind adapts to the evolution of human conciousness.

My answer.

I have had these symptoms for at least 8 years now and have followed both the mental health and the biological route in finding help and these are my findings.

My symptoms:
I feel it coming on few seconds before an episode/attack.
I freeze (not my muscles I just zone out so much I stop what I'm doing).
Light lightheaded.
Nausea.
Disorientation and dissociation.
Overwhelming déjà vu/jamais vu.

Followed by:
About 5-10 mins nausea but rarely vomit.
Tired for between 15 mins to 2 hours and feel like I could just sleep for ever.
Feel very pale and washed out.
Complete loss of appetite.

Frequency is about 3 a day at most and then I can not have one for months.

I had quite a few traumatic events in my youth so I decided to first follow the psychological route and apart from a few obvious issues was mentally sound so next I described my symptoms and told the doctor a few things I thought he should know. Firstly the fact that I was having this strong déjà vu (I was concerned the doctor would think it was something to do with my mental health but he heard me out) and that I had experimented with several drugs in my past, currently smoke weed and all my other symptoms. My doctor asked me a few other questions and then refereed me to a Neurologist. The Neurologist told me that he wanted to run some test to see if I wasn't having Absent Seizures (a type of epilepsy) so we did a few MRI scans a couple of EEG's and a couple sleep deprived EEG's. What they needed to do was do the scan and if I had an absence while in the scanner they would see a spike and they would be able to confirm the seizure. Unfortunately no absence but no surprise as they are so random. I spoke with my neurologist and he said the next thing he could do is give me some medication and if it help then fine and if not then we would need to try a different medication till we found the right one. Then he asked me how much this was affecting my life and if I wanted to go onto medication. I thought about it and although it isn't nice for me (as I have heard it can be for some) I can live with it and decided not to go onto medication but said if it got worse that I would let him know immediately.

They still come and go and today I had a strong one, and I got home I had a joint (btw never had an attack when high (some people can get déjà vu when high but this is different)) and thought I'd have a look online for some more info on it and found this forum and loads of people have the same thing which is great (and not great :D) I then was looking into it in some more depth and stumbled upon something new. I had looked up absent seizures and things didn't fully match up, no mention of déjà vu and it was all a bit vague so I looked further into it and found an article on "Complex partial seizure" and bam. Sounds like we all have complex partial seizure aka Focal (partial) seizures and these are the symptoms from the national epilepsy website:
Flushing, sweating, going very pale, having a churning feeling in your stomachSeeing things as smaller or bigger than they really areSeeing or hearing something that is not actually happeningSmelling non-existent smellsTasting non-existent tastesFeeling frightened, panicky, sad or happyFeeling detached from what is going on around youFeeling sickHaving vivid memory ‘flashbacks’Having an intense feeling of ‘deja vu’, when you are convinced you have experienced something before – even when you haven’tBeing unable to recognise things that are very familiar to you - sometimes referred to as ‘jamais vu’Chewing, smacking your lips, swallowing or scratching your headFumbling with your buttons or removing items of your clothingWandering off, without any awareness of what you are doing, or where you are goingSound familiar. I hope this helps as this looks like I finally have an answer for me.
As mentioned I have found something that does seem to stop these symptoms but this is not something I can do all day everyday and is not necessarily a viable treatment.

I still think it is worth going to the doctor to get yourself scanned just in case it's something else because the internet is not a doctor.

Good luck everyone.

Here is my story<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

It started when I was 16. I came to the United States to fin High School. i didn’t have friends nor family, this was the most time I suffered from a loneliness , and also I was taking recreational supplements ( the stuff from GNC). 

The first Panic attach what triggered by smoking marijuana, (I had to smoke to make friends in US public schools) that sent me into a heavy dream mode where everything slowed down around me, and I had flashes where everything kept repeated, it feels good all of the sudden then I realize I am in a dream and start to panic. It lasted few hrs. After the drug wore off, I never did marijuana again, but the dejavu symptoms started. It starts with dejavu and there I start to realize I am going in a phase, or panic, I hear words but need time to register the info. The same when I read. Also I felt my stomach was funny, then when  I think about the symptoms,  the problem panic starts  (as if thinking of symptoms was part of the symptom) . I go through a short memory lost, also feeling of loss of interest, and depression. I panicked the first time, but I learned to control myself (at least recognize that I am going through an episode). My IQ went down significantly, (I was willing to be stupid rather than depressed). I can’t prove this, Maybe my excessive thinking was part of the problem. So I stopped thinking as before.

 I went to the hospital where they thought I was on drugs. They were surprised to see the test was negative.  Thereafter I started to feel pain in the back of my brain, and this pain lasted few years. It felt like my brain was bleeding all the time. I did an x-ray for my head everything was normal.

Another note that I am an artist and it happens more when I do repeated things, or when I overwork on video editing. Other triggers are when I go through emotional problems (like braking up with GF) . etc

If the reader feels good because he feels he is not the only one. Then I have news for you,, there is no medication that will cure  you fully. I was assigned to a physiotherapist, and he prescribed Zoloft. YES it worked for the short term, but the medication is designed in a way that you will not be fully treated, and the panic attaches kept coming back. Every time they come back I take Zoloft and as soon as I take them  ( within 3 days I feel better). as if its designed to keep you hooked to it.

in 2006 i had my last attach, I have learned about the FDA scam and how they keep you sick, so I decided to go natural. I used 5-htp mostly,   and sometimes SamE, also B12 because doctor told me that my blood was low on B vitamin.

My advice is not to get addicted to Zoloft, the doctors don’t give a sh*t about you, they want you sick to keep making money (ok not all real doctors, but most psychotherapist) Try to get out of antidepressant, when I took the natural cures, it took long time to heal, about 6 months but I never had an episode again since and it’s been 5-6 years now. ALSO when you get these symptoms of depression, you have to SMILE, I know you will be feeling like sh*t, and unable to smile, and trust me it will make a difference after a while.

If you feel like you lost your IQ, then you can retain it by improving your memorization. In our culture we tended to memorize our holy scripture, so practicing to memorize helped. But can’t be sure. because I can’t prove I recovered fully. And GOD KNOWS BEST.

These Deja-vu episodes just started to happening to me followed by feeling anxiety, and a little disoriented...the only thing that comes to mind is the fact that I spend more time on the computer than I use to.  I have heard that this can cause some mild seizure episodes where none have occured before. These episodes are frightening and I think I'll take a computer break and see what happens. Best to all of you.

 

The episodes l have (saying l because they might be different) have been happening to me since l was ten or eleven. Lately l noticed if l sleep more the episodes don't happen as often, it could be because of the sleep or just that they appear randomly, sometimes l'll go a month with out a single problem, and there are some days when l have multiple in the same day. l often feel it coming, a sort abnormal feeling that l recognize as a warning signal kind of. After that l can't really remember on it other than that l feel like l was in that situation before. "My friend is going to say something about a game he played last night and that girl walking by is going to catch her foot on the chair leg by accident" Then it happens. Lately l've been pondering if maybe l am just hallucinating, thinking l know what is going to happen but in real life l'm just staring at a wall. This makes me extremely paranoid after an episode as l question EVERYTHING to be real, including myself. As long as l don't think too hard on that l can still keep my sanity, but the episodes wear down my defenses around my mind and what l can perceive. l'm thinking of seeing a therapist as l also have suicidal thoughts during these times. When l was younger l had these treated, as they brought epilepsy into the picture, but the deja vu still happens. The seizures are gone at least however, but now that l fear my sanity, and my life is at risk l want help.

Extreme deja vu with panic attack has happened to me a couple of times. All under the influence of cannabis. One time I was watching this movie and I felt like I was creating with my mind what happened in the movie. The panic sat in and I got really scared of what was happening to me. Of course the movie took a turn with a scene , in metaphor, where I could literally see my struggle of keeping my sanity. I was so afraid I was going to die.
Another episode was while playing this video game and I felt the oncoming deja vu and fear. This time I convinced myself that it was fine and just relaxed. Then this weird thing as some of you have mentioned happend. I didn't just FEEL the deja vu. I KNEW what was going to happen. I felt I was going to roll a seven with the dice in the game. I rolled the dice and BOOM! A seven! Next, I knew who was going to win the next round out of four persons. A couple of more of this knowings of what would happen happened under the course of the game.
I'm really in to metaphysics and have done a lot of research on the topic and I am convinced that there are more to these "mental" issues than most of us belive. I think in many cases, deja vu is really a precursor to clairvoyance and likes. The same with schizophrenia. There are just too many "weird" happenings going on with these so called "mental illnesses". We are in the dawning of a new age where we are just starting to get a glimpse of whats on the other side of the door. Don't be afraid. It's the fear that keeps us from living.
If you are afraid that something is wrong with you, go see a doctor. It could turn out there is some physical complication. But keep an open mind and don't just brush it off like some weird happening. The ultimate reality lies inside of us.

Take care!

//Seeker