Since Jan 2009 I have had episodic aphasia, difficulty walking and generalized weakness. My son has seen the episodes a few times and he asked me if I wanted a paramedic and I moaned yes but he thought I was saying no. I always go back to sleep and wake up feeling normal.

A couple of weeks ago I awoke from a nap and I was having trouble walking but my speech was okay. I thought it surely would progress to aphasia and told my son to call 911. The medics got lost when dispatch would not relay my directions to the medics. It took over 45 minutes to arrive; it should have taken 15 minutes.

Besides trouble walking when I awoke I had palpitations, dizziness, dyspnea and nausea. Then I developed lots of anxiety waiting for the medics to arrive and got totally frustrated when the dispatch operator wouldn't listen to me. So when the ambulance arrived they asked me if I had ever had a panic attack. I understand why they would think that with my cluster of symptoms but I nearly always have some level of dyspnea with my asthma, I am often dizzy and think it is a med side effect. I have nausea and other GI problems often so the only thing new was the palpitations. I was not concerned about the palpitations and that was not why I called 911.

Instead of my s/s progressing to aphasia my symptoms all resolved by the time I got to the ED except for the anxiety but it was not out of control anxious but more of pissy, frustrated level anxiety. So naturally the ED doc said she thought stress was the cause of my s/s. So maybe...? Maybe not...?

We all know that folks with mental illness do not have health problems besides their mental illness. <sarcasm>

The thing that made think it was not a panic attack is that when my BF would abuse me and hold guns point blank to my head and chest I never did panic. I always stayed calm and kept thinking to myself, how can I get out of this alive. Even after I shot and killed him and my life was upside down I did not panic. Depressed, confused and dysfunctional yes but no panic. So why would I have a panic attack ten years following the abuse/death? Yes I have stressors now but I am alive and ten years ago I did not think I would live to raise my son.

Panic attack - yes/no?

I have recorded a message on my digital recorder asking for a medic for when I am aphasic again and I sleep with the recorder and phone in my bed. The only person who saw me aphasic other than my son was my psychiatrist. He admitted me for evaluation last month and my first morning there I could not speak when he woke me. He was with me for less than two minutes and left. I asked him the following day if he had recognized my impairment and he said no he thought I was just sleepy and didn't want to talk. Freaking great. I get the chance for a doc to evaluate me and he is clueless.