Epilepsy Diary

Seeing as how Stacy did not turn in for bed until well after midnight last night and has not been maintaining a good sleep schedule for at least a couple of weeks, I’m guessing that long term sleep deprivation is to blame. Stacy had five (5) tonic-clonic/grand mal seizures this morning:

5:55 am
6:50 am
7:20 am
7:57 am
8:22 am
9:12 am – no seizure, but woke up puking mostly saliva and mucus. She went back to sleep without further incident (so far).

The seizures were all short in duration:

• Convulsions for roughly 20-30 seconds
• Almost non-existant complete shutdown phase (less than a second)
• Resumption of labored breathing for 2-5 minutes before sleep

As far as I know, she has been taking her Dilantin on schedule. She has never had that many TC/grand mal seizures in one day for as long as I’ve known her.

Stacy had another drop attack (atonic seizure) this morning. She spilled some utensils from the dishwasher onto the floor, but did not injure herself.

I was out of town at a conference for the last few days so Stacy missed her weekly neurofeedback session.

I think the excitement of my return, coupled with a late night out for dinner and a movie probably contributed to Stacy’s seizure this morning. We should get back into our normal routine now, so I expect the drop attack seizures to stop.

Stacy had another drop attack yesterday morning. She bonked her head on a door, but did not injure herself. Later in the day she started her monthly cycle.

We watched a movie last night and went to sleep a bit late. This morning Stacy had a big jerk when she woke up and sat up in bed. I think her seizure threshold may be low right now because of her cycle.

Last Friday, Stacy had an odd experience. I’m not sure if it is related to her epilepsy, Qigong acupressure therapy, both or something else.

In the morning (around 10am), she picked up our youngest son and suddenly felt short of breath. She felt pressure or tightness in the chest. She also got a strong sensation on the mouth as if she had a two 9 volt batteries touching both sides of her tongue. We were concerned that this might be an aura – something she has never experienced before, so she rested on the couch for a while. Fortunately, she did not have a tonic-clonic/grand mal seizure.

Around 11am she started her morning work out routine and mid-way through suffered a severe depression attack. She was crying and scared about some of the irrational thoughts she was having. We talked her through it though and soon she felt normal again.

Around noon she experienced a sharp pain localized in the back right lower area of the head. The rest of the day was uneventful.

It’s been just about a full week without anything newsworthy to report. No new seizure activity (thank goodness!).

Stacy had her weekly neurofeedback session today. Monday she is scheduled to have a mapping done to compare to the initial one she had done before starting the LENS neurofeedback.

Stacy did have her LENS neurofeedback session yesterday. She missed two sessions over the last couple weeks, but hopefully is back on track for a regular schedule.

Last night we had some friends over for dinner. Stacy ate some dessert afterwards.

Today, I had to take our son to get some immunization shots. He brought back a couple of Tootsie rolls afterwards. I told him he could eat them after lunch. He left them on the kitchen table.

Well, Stacy found them and could not resist temptation. She ate a bite of one before realizing that she didn’t need the sugar and tossed it in the trash.

About 15 minutes later, she had an atonic seizure (drop attack) while fixing lunch. Fortunately, she did not injure herself or make a mess in the kitchen.

I hope that is the worst fallout from her sugar and chocolate binge that she is going to have.

Stacy is doing fairly well these days. She has had a few infrequent jerks over the last week, but considering circumstances, that’s not bad. She missed her regularly scheduled Thursday LENS neurofeedback session, but is maintaining the rest of her regimen as prescribed.