What kind of epilepsy is this?

[coffeeclimber]

I am a 24 year old female, and the first time I got a seizure I was 20. They always happen the same way, I wake up around 3am and feeling like my nervous system was hit by a truck. I often feel very hot and nauseous and my heart is racing, like an aura and I KNOW how it's going to end, I know what's coming. Sometimes I have a hot, burning feeling in the back of my head and upper neck. I have a few minutes of this horrible feeling before I fall over on my right side and my limbs go stiff. I let out a big sigh when I'm falling and my eyes stay open. I'm "out" for like 30-45 seconds. It feels to me like passing out, and I feel sick for quite a while after I "wake up." It happens rarely, maybe 6 times a year. Before I knew what was really happening, a dr gave me paxil bcs he thought it was anxiety. BAD move, I had 2 seizures in a row after just one pill and never took it again. Also, tylenol pm did it to me as well. A few times I cannot think of a reason for it, and several other times have been the night after a huge fight...it even happened the night my husband came home from deployment!! It always happens when I wake up from sleep, at around 3am. This is absolutely terrifying. I'm waiting to see a neurologist. This has taken me so long to figure out bcs until recently nobody had witnessed this happening to me and I was just telling the drs I was passing out and my heart was going fast and I felt sick. I'm very nervous all the time, wondering why this started in the first place. Can anyone give me any more info about what type of seizure/epilepsy this is? When I regain consciousness I am very confused for a few minutes, nobody's words make any sense. I am scared to go to sleep sometimes. Thanks

[epileric]

I've had seizures all my life but recently I've started getting them in the middle of the night too and very similar to what you described. I either get this anger that I'm having one or this euphoric feeling that I actually enjoy.

You might want to check this out to confirm what kind of seizures your having. There's also some good advice there.Epilepsy 101 - Part FAQ, Part tips and advice

I keep track of when I have my seizures so I've actually started sleeping with a pad & paper on my night table to keep track of them. You might also want to mark down the things that seem to trigger seizures. Right now you only know of a few but you don't know how long that list might get. As well you might want to mark down if you discover things that help. I've discovered valerian tea before bed helps lessen the chances of me having a nocturnal seizure.

[coffeeclimber]

Thank you for the advice. Until very recently I had no idea it was a seizure, just thought I was passing out which is sooo scary! I have no idea what brings it on beyond tylenol pm and lots of stress. THe link you posted is interesting, it seems like a grand mal seizure to me bcs I lose consciousness and fall over for 30-45 seconds and my limbs go stiff and move very slightly. What I'm confused about, is I don't lose control of my bladder or violently jerk around. It is so relieving to be able to make a LITTLE sense of what was so scary for me, at least.

[coffeeclimber]

oh, and also I don't get anger or euphoria. I get VERY intense anxiety and this sense of what's coming next. UGH

[epileric]

Thank you for the advice. Until very recently I had no idea it was a seizure, just thought I was passing out which is sooo scary! I have no idea what brings it on beyond tylenol pm and lots of stress. THe link you posted is interesting, it seems like a grand mal seizure to me bcs I lose consciousness and fall over for 30-45 seconds and my limbs go stiff and move very slightly. What I'm confused about, is I don't lose control of my bladder or violently jerk around. It is so relieving to be able to make a LITTLE sense of what was so scary for me, at least.

Not everyone loses control of their bladder during a convulsion but what you described didn't sound convulsive to me. I have seizures whereby I don't pass out as in go to sleep but a certain amount of time is lost. Something else I do is my head is always pulled to the right during those seizures. More recently (within the last 10 years) one of my legs (my right I think) will stiffen so that I might fall over but for some reason my reflexes will either let me grab for balance or bend my knees so as not to fall. They still aren't considered Tonic/Clonic (grand mal) seizures.

Increased heart rate & breathing are typical during a seizure. During the smaller ones I get I try to control my breathing (not easy) to lessen the seizures.

Something else that many female members here have commented on is that their seizures coincide with their menstrual cycles. You may want to keep track of that too when documenting your seizures.

[epileric]

Actually according to this site what we have is Myoclonic seizures though I would think the ones where I stiffen my leg would be tonic seizures.

3. Myoclonic - Sporadic (isolated), jerking movements

http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/...their-symptoms

[coffeeclimber]

Thank you, you are very helpful My husband says that after I wake him up, he sits up next to me and holds me, but that I forcefully push into him and go stiff and that he thought once I was still conscious bcs my eyes were open but I wasn't responding. I always fall over like that.

[epileric]

My eyes stay open as well, I might even keep doing what I was doing like walking. I'm glad because that makes it easier to hide my seizures. The problem is that I often don't know that I've blanked on a chunk of time unless I notice that I've walked a few yards in the blink of an eye (literally).

You are lucky that so far you've only had them at night because you can go right back to sleep after.

[coffeeclimber]

really? You can keep walking? wow! I always fall over and completely lose control, I can't remain sitting even. I go completely stiff. As for going back to sleep after.... I'm scared to! We've gone to the ER a few times after this, they can never figure it out but it wasn't until recently that my husband noticed my eyes stay open, so now it's a whole different story. So hard to wrap my mind around though!

[epileric]

Mine vary, like I said sometimes my leg goes stiff, other times other things happen like my head being turned but I don't remember them. Occasionally I'll remember a little of what happened a day or so afterwards (a few hours later at earliest), that's the only reason I know my leg stiffened one or 2 times though in reality it probably happened more times than that.

[coffeeclimber]

Yeah, I don't remember much at all ever. The last thing I see is that everything turns gray, and then I wake up and I can't understand anything my husband is saying for a few minutes. But apparently my eyes have been open the whole time.Soooooo creepy!