I was told you can't remember a nocturnal seizure

[Beetle218]

Hi.

I'm 28 yrs old. Female. The only potential brain injuries I can think of are 2 minor car accidents...I walked away fine; falling on hard ice and I hit the back if my head when snow boarding, but I seemed fine after that.

Aside from that, I drink alcohol during social occasions. I have blacked out a few times.

I'm stumbled on this page after googling if it is possible to remember your nocturnal seizure because that's what it felt like last night, like I was paralyzed, I was hyperventilating, having a difficult time breathing and I felt like my brain was shaking and that my eyes were rolled back.

That is the first time to experience the shaking part.

Previously throughout the years I've experienced the following: numbing/paralyzing sensation that starts on both hands, creep up my arms, and I already know subconsciously that "IT" is going to happen. I usually hyperventilate, try to scream but I can't, I can't wake myself up, i feel like I'm in between sleeping and dreaming. This paralyzingly feeling is followed by really vivid dreams. A couple weeks ago I was only asleep for 30 minutes.

I already wear a night guard because I grind my teeth...but this issue has only existed for the past few yrs. I grind so hard my left ear and jaw aches and I cracked my back molar.

Last night it felt like I had a seizure but my doctor insists that your brain shuts off during a seizure so therefore you shouldn't be able to remember it. He attributed my experiences to "panic attacks" that happen during sleep. Never heard of that either. Anyhow he prescribed my Ativan, which I plan to only take when I'm really sleep deprived or maybe after a long weekend of drinking. He initially suggested to take Ativan when I feel the numbing feeling in my hands, but really at that point it's just too late. This is happening more often this year. So I'm a bit concerned and would rather err on the side of doing too much rather than ignoring what might have been a seizure.

If anyone has anything to say, I would greatly appreciate it! I would love to hear concrete details, so maybe I can present that to my doctor. Otherwise I just feel like a hypochondriac who needs attention. Really, I just want to be healthy.

Thanks!

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

H, welcome to CWE, I've had 7 brain traumas from the time I was a baby to just 10 years ago, not all at once but several including the back of my head like you. I had a grand mal seizure January 4, 2011 & I was shopping in walmart, next thing I know, I'm in the back of an ambulance, then in the ER. From what I'm told, I was unconscious for several minutes and woke up in the ambulance & a paramedic was staring at me, next thing I remember I was in the ER, so must have passed out again.

I don't remember anything right before I woke in the ambulance and from the report, I did wake before paramedics got there but don't remember. Woke up in ambulance, then ER and had a cat scan. It's normal to have no memory of a grand mal but if you have one where you don't lose consciousness, it's usually a simple partial or a complex partial where only you lose some awareness, not consciousness. In your sleep, they are nocturnal and sometimes those will wake you up. You may remember and may not, depends if you are still having a seizure upon waking. If you wake and don't remember, you can tell if your legs are sore or sometimes you lose bladder control & have symptoms like you.

If you're having seizures, drinking can make them worse and definitely if you're sleep deprived, sleep deprivation is a very common thing to bring on seizures. So you want plenty of sleep and probably stay away from drinking, especially on meds.

I would think it's not possible to have a panic attack in your sleep. I only get them in unfamiliar settings and I get lost. Sounds like seizures, you may want to keep a diary about everything you experience and tell your doctor.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Beetle218, welcome to CWE!

It can be tough to know if you are having a nocturnal seizure. It can help to keep a seizure/symptom journal where you keep detailed notes of how you feel every morning, and pay special attention to the times when you think you might have had a seizure. You can also look for triggers or contributing factors this way.

It sounds like alcohol is one such factor -- I recommend that you make an effort to moderate your drinking. Try and drink plenty of water and eat foods that will keep your electrolytes in balance.

You might also try taking a magnesium supplement -- it can help with a variety of muscle tension things including teeth-grinding or cramping, and it plays a role in protecting the brain as well.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[no.guru]

Last night it felt like I had a seizure but my doctor insists that your brain shuts off during a seizure so therefore you shouldn't be able to remember it. He attributed my experiences to "panic attacks" that happen during sleep.
Thanks!

Ahem. Make sure your doctor is familiar with partial seizures. They can be physically painful and wake you and you will most definitely remember them, because you are conscious at the time. Your brain obviously doesn't entirely shut down, although that may be the case with tonic-clonic seizures. I'm not sure to what extent the grinding may be related.

My seizures started at 28 as well, although I had one or two as a child. They are partial and have been called intractable by a neurologist. Currently under good control through meds. If my luck holds out 2012 will be the first year I've been seizure-free since 1997.

Don't hesitate to switch doctors if your current one doesn't listen to you or meet your needs.

 

[DavidJames]

Must be Walmart that causes seizures joking of course!! It's where I experienced my first grand mal and my story is almost spot on the same as yours. I think I recall a few seconds in ambulance and then minutes later in emergency and once more lost memory till I was in a triage room.

With the nocturnal seizure I had, i had a few drinks that night and ended up losing the previous 12 hours of memory. The last thing I recall was when I was still very coherent just no idea what happened after until I jumped out of my skin at 530 in the morning.
I suspect I have, but not proven, that I have had a few more the past couple of months. Typically early on in the sleep, 230am on back to back nights. Just a sudden awaking of panic and confusion and feels like you've been sleeping for days. First night I must of wretched my left arm still causes pain a month later. I think unless witnessed you would never know for sure, but if your waking up with injuries it sure is a possible indication of one.

 

[MuayThaiFighter]

You can still be concious during seizures, and what your explaining at night can be a seizure. Im in the hospital right now, on my 5 day eeg, and the last seizure I had was nocturnal. I was told you can't have seizure at night, which I was told the opposite. So things can get really turned around. Sometime during this test they will see if I peak at night as well. I would really get a second opinion about what is going on, ativan might help you at first but it's so habit forming. I hope they can get you helped out and a clear diagnosis.

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

I got a copy of the report for that night I had the seizure to see if I could fill in any blanks and to see if I hit my head resulting in the bleed two months later. It said that someone there witnessed me having a seizure and helped me to the ground and called 911. From what I gather, I woke up either when the paramedics got there and went out again or just before and then woke in the ambulance but don't remember anything before until I saw the paramedic looking at me.

The Walmart here has weird lights, they are solar and will get dim if the sun is bright and bright when there is clouds. The seizure happened at night but their lighting is still different and makes you feel weird at times. I'm pretty sure i've had complex partials in Walmart but that was so long ago, don't know for sure but planning to tell my Neurologist about it at our next appointment. My records say have epilepsy and complex partials. I've had one grand mal & two weeks later saw the Neurologist

 

[DavidJames]

Interesting bit of info about those lights at Walmart.. I've had auras once three months and once a month before I had my grand mal. Plus one minutes before the gm.. My girlfriend was with me at the time I went down and another bystander from her experience was able to tell the paramedics exactly what I was going through. Went and talked to the manager days after to see about getting video of the event but the process was too much of a hassle to get the approval.

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

Frankly I'm not sure I'd want to see something like that. Myself that is, having a seizure. It'd be nice to have more information to fill in the blanks from that night but that won't happen, will be 2 years next January 4th since the grand mal.

You can go to the hospital where you went after the seizure and get a copy of your medical records from that night. I have copies of at least two times I was in the hospital and even a CD of my MRI results. If I got my entire medical records, it would cost a fortune cause they are at least 4 folders & 5 inches each thick. lol

 

[DavidJames]

Video was just for curiousity sake, my neauro has all the files from that visit to the ER. March 18th 2012 was my first grand mal. Oddly enough just like you, I too suffer from ulcerative colitis.

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

My colon was removed in Oct of 2009, couldn't afford meds at the time and it ended up a life threatening situation and not saveable so had to have it removed. Had it 5 years before

 

[Fedup]

Beetle218

You can have nocturnal seizures and remember small pieces, the hyperventilate bit and some more I have experiance of. But you might want to give up the drink. Yes your brain shuts of when you have a seizure, but that does not mean it shuts off completly for the seizure. I think you should consider getting a second opinion. Drink and medication do not mix.