Alcohol Withdrawal Seizures?

[billj]

Hey I'm new here.. got a question,. If you get seizures from alcohol withdrawal, what are the chances you will get them from other well known triggers such as flashing lights, etc..? As far as I know that is the only thing that has triggered my seizures (abt 5 in the last 5 months.. just figuring this out.), and I don't like looking away from the TV when it flashes or fearing that i'm going to have another one.. Any feedback appreciated "D
*btw these are grand mal seizures and from what i can remember happen the day after i was drinking

[Nakamova]

Hi billj, welcome to CWE!

Only about 5% of people with epilepsy have photosensitive epilepsy. One way to see if you're in that 5% is during an EEG test -- there's usually a portion of the test with a flashing strobe light to see if that triggers a seizure or abnormal brainwaves. Have you had an EEG done?

Another way to see if you're photosensitive is simply through experience. If you feel discomfort around flashing or flickering lights, or fluorescent lights, that would be a sign that you might be sensitive, especially if you get headaches or feel nauseous,

Seizures from alcohol withdrawal depend a bit on the kind of withdrawal. There's a difference between seizures caused by the DTs, and seizure that occurs when you are hungover. Which kind were yours?

Best,
Nakamova

[valeriedl]

If you generaly had these seizures after drinking then I'd stay away from alcohol.

I might have a drink every month or two, if even that often. I was never a big drinker to begin with.

Over the summer I went to a picnic and there was a large cooler with iced tea in it. After having about 4 large glasses of it someone told me that it was the "adult" iced tea, meaning it had alcohol in it. Somehow I didn't end up getting drunk but I did have 2 pretty bad seizures the next day.

[billj]

Thanks for the reply No I have not had an EEG done, but I've always liked flashing lights and stuff growing up and never had a problem lol soo hopefully i'm just being paranoid..

I don't know about the DTs... I havent been hungover most of the times i've had a seizure, usually only have a shot here and there to keep a buzz going i don't really like consuming enough to get a hangover.
But from what I can remember they do happen the day after drinking usually later in the afternoon.. (I do usually feel more twitchy than normal those days, and lightheaded sometimes but that is usually all i can remember about those days..)
I've only had one time where someone witnessed me having one and went to the hospital and it cost like $5000 so I dont think I will be goin back there lol. They said it was a grand mal seizure though.

[billj]

o dang thats not good i never had problems with seizures since before about 5 months ago though and i used to party alot but i read that it can come out of nowhere like that..
my question though was if i've only gotten seizures from alcohol, are there likely to be any other things that can trigger a seizure for me (any more than the avg. person)? like would it be possible that alcohol would be the only thing that will trigger seizures in me?
i know i can't get a 100% correct answer especially on the net but i deff. can't afford a doctor for a while lol it would be nice to know if there are any known cases like that or something.. thanks again for the feedback

[RobinN]

Sugar imbalance , health of liver , overall ill health can all cause seizures.
We each have a seizure threshold. Your threshold is lower and one way you might raise it, is to stop drinking alcohol. Perhaps you should take the seizures as a warning. They are a symptom to something that is going awry in your body. Work to improve your health.

[Nakamova]

would it be possible that alcohol would be the only thing that will trigger seizures in me?
i know i can't get a 100% correct answer especially on the net but i deff. can't afford a doctor for a while lol it would be nice to know if there are any known cases like that or something.. thanks again for the feedback

It seems unlikely that you are photosensitive; I think you can relax about that until proven otherwise. But as the others suggest, work with what you know. If alcohol seems to cause your seizures, drink as moderately as you can, or avoid it altogether. There are things related to alcohol consumption -- dehydration, fatigue, and electrolyte imbalance for example -- that can all be potential seizure triggers. So... try to get proper sleep and nutrition. Drink plenty of water, especially if you are also drinking alcohol. Take a look at any aspects of your overall health that might be out of whack and see what you can do to get back in balance.

[billj]

ok thanks a lot of good info here but i think i'm not asking my question clearly..
If someone never had seizures, then started having them due to a certain trigger, would that cause them to be more susceptible to seizures from other things that have never triggered seizures in that individual?
Hope that makes sense lol :S

[valeriedl]

ok thanks a lot of good info here but i think i'm not asking my question clearly..
If someone never had seizures, then started having them due to a certain trigger, would that cause them to be more susceptible to seizures from other things that have never triggered seizures in that individual?
Hope that makes sense lol :S

I don't know if this helps with the question you're asking but some of my triggers are stress and if I over do it.

Some of the stress triggers for me for example are if someone in my family gets sick, hurt bad or would end up in the hospital for some reason. When I had to put one of my cats down or things that are going on around the house that I can't deal with. I'm almost guarenteed to have a seizure within the next few days.

If I over do it the day before is another one. I may go to a big event where I'm doing alot of walking around and not getting my nap in the afternoon and there's alot of exciting things going on. I don't know if I'm geting a natural 'high' (I don't know if that's how to describe it or not), but there's just so much going on that it's hard to take it all in. I don't know if you understand what I'm saying?

Alot of times my seizures just come out of no where. As far as I can tell there's no trigger, it's just 'bamb' I'm having a seizure.

I don't know if that helps or not?

Keep a seizure diary, if you don't know what that is I'll let you know or someone might beat me too it.

I also keep a sort of diary too in general. I have a pocket calander and I write down things that I did that day. For example if I went out to eat, visited someone, went shopping, had tests done, went to a dr, went to a concert, a party and things like that. I don't go into detail about what I did just the basics. If you do this you might see something that you did and after it you had a seizure, then you would know that one of these things could be some sort of trigger then.

[Nakamova]

ok thanks a lot of good info here but i think i'm not asking my question clearly..
If someone never had seizures, then started having them due to a certain trigger, would that cause them to be more susceptible to seizures from other things that have never triggered seizures in that individual?
Hope that makes sense lol :S

It might, in the sense that once your seizure threshold is lowered, it can potentially take less of any given stimulus to push you over that threshold. People's seizures can and do change over time, depending what's going on in the brain and body. I used to get to get a kind of migraine aura that was triggered by bright or dappled light. But since I began having grand mal seizures, I've never had that kind of aura again. So I may once have been photosensitive, but I'm not any more. On the other hand, I was never sensitive to low blood sugar, but now it has become a trigger for me.