noticing my strange triggers

[vapour]

i have temporal lobe epilepsy (discovered last year in one region slightly by EEG) but recently discovered on another EEG when I was having seizures at the time (was taken to a top notch neurologist to capture this who was considering hospitalizing me due to being left in the ER for hours the night before having constant simple partials...unfortunatly I was so distressed and the the environment making it worse i left and in a way it was good because I found my current neurol) and showed it on both sides and slightly in the frontal lobe region (must have been moving slightly towards that)

BTW the reason I finally left...perhaps mentioned on another post, was due to a lady running in whose husband was outside in a wheel chair having a heart attack and both security and nurses at the desk said it was not their job to help him in....after which 2 other nurses laughed. Extremly distressing, county hospital, I did not want to put my life in the hands of such disgraceful people

Anyway, working on getting it fully in control, not had any complex seizures for a while, just some simple partial ones. Unfortunatly I feel its progressed a little, but Im confidant im just around the corner from being seizure free.

Anyway what I have noticed....is actually very bizarre but after talking w ith my neurologist over the phone the other night and explaining she said it didnt sound strange to her at all, but probbaly would to nearly all neurologists (she specialises in epilepsy)

So these triggers.... following multiple conversations with a group of people around me...(not sure if its conversations or perhaps alot going on around me visually) When Im deep in thought (i often spend time alone thinking about theology and philosophy) i tend to start to feel strange.

I am terrible with organizing my finances and keeping track of them (perhaps a little ADD) but when I start calculating what is going on and keeping a budget or often trying to figure out how to not be overdrawn or balancing check book) .. it totally sets me off. I find it extremly hard to just...figure it out..

Card game a few nights ago.... set it off very bad. Also noticed...seeing the psychatrist and therapist, where we discuss dificult things and I get asked alot of questions which I find hard to understand and need them repeated... sets it off... (maybe this is just stress though) but what accounts to the other stuff setting me off is indeed strange to me I have to ask for silence for 5 minutes .. which is frustrating.. but I just need the silence and no stimulation at all

If I am in an aura (tingling prickling and sinking feeling dazing a bit) and someone touches my affected area that jerks ... it sets it off and I just jump

Realize this thread is a little jumpy but hopefully you can understand and make some sense of it lol

[Nakamova]

Some of the things you describe -- like dealing with finances, or playing cards -- I think of as "left-brain" activities. I wonder if one part of your brain is distracted does that allow the other "bad" part of the brain to start acting up? And as you say stress might be a co-trigger. Or maybe circulation/oxygenation -- if you've been sitting for a bit, maybe your brain is low on oxygen, or you're dehydrated. And there are visual triggers too -- numbers on paper (cards, accounts), and also fluorescent lighting, like in your doctor's office. So those might all be in play.

My seizures start in the right side of my brain, so I have the theory that they start when my right brain isn't engaged enough. Since the right brain controls the left side of the body, I wonder if I did more with my left side (I'm right-handed) would that help? Or if I did more "right-brain" activities (like memorizing, or some music-related tasks), would that help re-program my brain away from seizing?

[RobinN]

Also if you are to your limit stress wise, your adrenals might not be able to cope.

Adrenal Fatigue

[vapour]

yes, flurescent lighting is also another cause that I have noticed. Also with regards to being low on oxygen or something, one of the first things i notice when Im about to have a seizure is that im going to drool, i keep touching my lip on the left side, but I feel like im sinking right down in myself and it feels like my brething is slowing down, i think becuase I feel limp before the jerking and so it feels an effort almost to breathe. During my last EEG when I has having simple partials, hyperventilation really set me off a whole lot worse. After doing it for about a minute I stopped because I felt strange, my neurologist said to continue, and then I just remember stopping, I remember her asking me if I could breathe (i guess I wasnt) and then I remmeber my body just stiffining and all my face was twitching, i could feel it... still aware... not a tonic clonic...it stopped .. i dont know how long it went on for.. probably not long, and then she asked me "are you there"... I said yes. But then i guess I was in confusion, i remmeber banging the wall and trying to push her arm off me.

I will ask about it. Yes robin I am trying my best to limit my stress as much as possible... naps in the afternoon are helping