Night seizures??

[SeizetheNight]

Well, this is a bit strange for me. My screen name is SeizetheNight, because I have mostly only had seizures while sleeping (hence, at night). They have occurred on average 5 months apart, and usually I wake up in an ambulance, post ictal and all that. Now, we are getting used to just containing me in the bedroom... Well, my medication has been changed, from Keppra to Topamax (generic) since the Keppra is not working. For the past month or so, I have been waking up at about 3 to pee (nothing new) but now I am drenched in sweat. I didn't think much of it at first, but I have been really sore around my neck and shoulders. I don't know if this could be a new form of sleeping seizure, or just sleeping at a weird position. My wife has not noticed anything, and she was always aware of the others. I am going to mention this to my neurologist the next time I see him, but in the meantime, I was wondering what you all thought of it. Could I be having a t/c in my sleep, and just sleeping through the postictal? Maybe something a little less than a t/c (I always made noise before). Any thoughts are always greatly appreciated. I hope every one is having a great new year so far!!! Mine is good besides this one small thing.

[Nakamova]

Happy New Year to you, StN!

Some meds just make you tense and sweat at night (that was my experience with Lamictal at first), so that could be what's going on with you.

[SeizetheNight]

Do you think that could start to happen even a month or so after starting a new med though? I swithed to Topamax at quite a while before this started to happen, and my neurologist had me do it quite slowly. From the max dosage of keppra, he had me drop a pill a week, and up 25 mg topomax a week for a month. I am only at 100mg of topomax twice a day, and I was at that for a while before the sweating started (and off the keppra).

[Nakamova]

There are other causes of nighttime sweating -- anxiety, hormones (even in men), acid reflux, diabetes -- but if you've ruled them out, then it's probably worth mentioning to your neurologist. You might want to try taking ibuprofen before you go to sleep, to help lessen any neck soreness (assuming that it's okay for you to take ibuprofen). And perhaps try swapping out beds/pillows/blankets/rooms to see if any of those factors make a difference in your sleep.

[Endless]

Hi, Seizethenight,

I'm not on Keppra, I'm on Lamictal and it makes me sweat at night like crazy.

I agree that sweating at night could be a thousand different things. Do you have other symptoms after your seizures that would tell if you've had one at night? I guess it would be pretty hard to see a pattern if they only happen every 5 months.

If it were me I'd go to my primary care physician and have a really thorough physical to rule out all the other stuff that could cause sweating. If those all come out clear, I'd tell my neurologist, but not worry too much about it.