does sleep deprivation always cause seizures

[doihaveepilepsy]

if you dont get enough sleep does it always trigger seizures in people with epilepsy??

[RobinN]

I certainly wouldn't say "always". For some it can be the tipping point.
I also have seen with my daughter that the triggers can be accumulated over time. They can build up. So if you are not eating well, if you happen to have too much stress, and THEN don't get adequate sleep... then ZAP you might be more likely to have a seizure.

Have you kept a journal of your days activities and your seizures? Do you see a connection? Perhaps you need to do more to lower your threshold overall.

[doihaveepilepsy]

i was just asking this because i has a sleep deprived eeg done and it didnt trigger a seizure so i thought that maybe i didnt have epilepsy and it was something else causein the seizures instead??

[RobinN]

Epilepsy is just a label for anyone that has had more than two seizures. To me it is a stupid label. For some reason when you get that label all searching for the reason you have seizures stops.

Of course there is a reason you are having seizure. Unfortunately, for the most part, you have to be your own advocate to find out why. Some can be helped with nutritional changes, some can be helped with simple vitamins and minerals, some can be helped with neurofeedback. Some people have had injuries where medication or surgery is the only answer. But those should be the last resort in my mind. That is my opinion.

[doihaveepilepsy]

i dont have a diagnosis of epilepsy, and i would like it to stay that way hopefully. but i would like some form of a diagnosis that why i am asking the question about the sleep deprivation thing, because i thought that maybe sleep deprivation always triggers abnormal brain activity in people with epilepsy.

[Bernard]

Lack of sleep (or disturbed sleep) can have a cumulative effect. Sometimes it doesn't hit you right away, but it eventually catches up to you (whether it triggers a seizure or not).

FYI:

Time change - Problems with disruptions to sleep patterns

Is there a link between quality of sleep and vulnerability to having seizures?

[RobinN]

I think my answer would still be have to be NOT always. That is why it is so difficult to capture on video EEG. I was told that everyone is l<------------------->l close to having a seizure. It just depends on the triggers. Then I have come to understand the the brain then can learn to manage your stresses in a similar manner which is called kindling. You can retrain your brain through neurofeedback to stop the brain from sending the abnormal brain waves. Utilizing the entire brain in a different way. In essence exercising those muscles that were being lazy. Making the brain distribute the work.

[brain]

if you dont get enough sleep does it always trigger seizures in people with epilepsy??

Sometimes.