A young mother who developed depression after a break-up was shocked to learn that epilepsy was actually the cause of her panic attacks.
Madeleine Dippnall was left crying ‘hysterically’ and gripped by paranoia following the end of her two-year ‘traumatic’ relationship, which saw the 29-year-old move back in with her parents in Cornwall.
In addition to depression, doctors also diagnosed her with anxiety and PTSD.
Ms Dippnall, aged 22 at the time and living in an affluent part of north-west London before packing up, also nearly lost sixth place and vomited constantly, leading doctors to diagnose her with anorexia.
The medications she was given only helped with a fraction of the problems she faced, leaving her unaware if something else was going on.
Madeleine Dippnall, 29, was told by doctors that her panic attacks were caused by depression and PTSD, which she attributed to the end of a traumatic relationship
After having a seizure out of the blue six years later, waking up on the bathroom floor, Mrs Dippnall was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy.
The graphic designer’s symptoms were “literally washed away” overnight thanks to anti-seizure medications.
Reflecting on her diagnosis, Mrs Dippnall said: ‘I felt relief that I wasn’t crazy. Now I know what’s going on.’
About one in a hundred people in Britain have epilepsy.
Temporal lobe epilepsy – a specific type – causes seizures that start in the brain regions of the same name.
According to the charity Epilepsy Action, they are responsible for memory, hearing and understanding language.
Seizures that start in this part of the brain can make you feel anxious, have deja vu, hear things that aren’t there, experience an unpleasant taste or smell, and fidget. This partly explains Mrs Dippnall’s symptoms.
The Cornish graphic designer was diagnosed with epilepsy after having a seizure out of the blue
After suffering panic attacks, she saw a psychiatrist who diagnosed PTSD, anxiety, depression and anorexia, which caused her weight to drop to less than six stone.
Recalling her decision to move back to Cornwall, Mrs Dippnall said: ‘I needed to be by the sea.
‘We had to get away. It was horrible.’
She said of her symptoms: ‘You have the adrenaline equivalent of being on a roller coaster.
‘Everything sweats. I would go to the toilet because I was sick. I would cry hysterically. You have the fear of God within you that something terrible is going to happen.
‘My mother used to hold my head under a sink of cold water.
‘Sometimes I became catatonic. I couldn’t move. I would go to myself.
“But if you looked at me, you wouldn’t really know what was going on.”
Mrs Dippnall, pictured with her husband Christopher, 35, took the medication for about three years and didn’t see much improvement
Since her diagnosis, she has been able to enjoy her life again with her stepchildren, two-year-old son Bo (photo) and her husband Christopher, who works as a carpenter.
Since the diagnosis, she has been taking lamotrigine, a medication to help treat her condition. She said her depression has “literally been washed away.”
Mrs Dippnall took a cocktail of medications for about three years and did not see much improvement, describing it as ‘frustrating’.
One night in April 2023, she woke up with the inside of her mouth bleeding. She had had a seizure.
She said: ‘My body was cramped all over. I had bitten the inside of my mouth. I had a nighttime seizure, a tonic-clonic seizure (where the muscles twitch and start to jerk).
‘The next night I woke up on the bathroom floor.
“I said to Chris, my husband, oh my God, I think I’ve had a seizure.
‘I went to the GP and he sent me an emergency referral. I was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. I felt relieved that I wasn’t crazy.
‘I was angry at all those authoritative people who told me that I had psychological problems. If this was left untreated I could have had real problems.’
Ms Dipnell remembers having a seizure when she was about 19, but says this has not been properly researched
After taking her new drug lamotrigine, she said she is “feeling great” and is building a graphic design business from her off-grid cabin where she lives
Mrs Dippnall added: “My father always had an instinct. He said, “These aren’t normal panic attacks you’re having.”
‘I had a seizure when I was about 19, but it wasn’t properly investigated because of the way I responded to the tests.
‘I felt like something was going on and something was wrong with me. I felt like no one was listening to me.’
Since her diagnosis, she has been able to enjoy her life again with her stepchildren, two-year-old son Bo, and Chris, 35, who works as a carpenter.
She said: ‘Since going on the epilepsy medication I haven’t had a single episode and my depression has literally washed away.
“My husband says the difference is night and day.”