seizures and menstrual cycle

[lorianng72]

does anyone ever feel like they are going to have a seizure due to their period? sometimes i feel more prone to seizures at that time. if yes, could someone explain why

[RobinN]

Hello Lorianng72

It is called a catamenial seizure. Very common with women.
You can read up about it here:
Seizures during the menstrual cycle
Ask questions and we will do our best to help you understand this frustrating side of hormones.

[lorianng72]

thank you so much. i thought i was crazy. i have tried to explain it to people before but of course those who have never experienced a seizure dont really understand. i have really bad periods and seem to experience more seizure activity at that time. glad to know what i am feeling is real

[RobinN]

Yes and what I have been working on with my daughter is to figure out why that time period is so sensitive. Nutrition, insulin levels and liver health, so far seem to the top connections that I have found.

[lorianng72]

So do you think there is anything that can be done at that time to help?

[RobinN]

It is my opinion that you can not wait for "that time". You have to work with the total daily balance every day. It is a new way of life.
You eliminate those foods that are high estrogen. You eliminate all neurotoxins. You move towards a whole, fresh food diet, use lemons in your morning water, which helps with clearing liver pathways of toxins.
You could try to talk with your doctor about bio-identical progesterone (the birth control pill was proven in a pub-med article not to be effective.) We did this for a while, but I found that we / she was not consistent in the application, and it was my opinion that that could be more harmful to her system. It was then that I was learning how insulin and nutrition can play a role in hormonal balance.

Understand I am not trying to diagnose, but to tell you what worked for my daughter.

[lorianng72]

I'm clueless. What are some examples of foods that are high in estrogen?

[Nakamova]

Here's a link listing foods that are natural sources of estrogen:

http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedi...d_estrogen.htm

[RobinN]

I thought this was a good article:

How does the ratio of estrogen to progesterone go awry? It may be that you are an “estrogenic” kind of person, one whose body readily converts progesterone into estrogen. It may also be that you are susceptible — as many of us are — to the rising level of xenoestrogens and other endocrine disruptors in our environment. These substances mimic estrogen in the body and can topple your delicate hormonal balance. (Keep in mind you may also have other dietary or stress–related triggers in addition to your hormones). Once you suspect that your headaches or migraines have a hormonal component, you can begin to do something about them.

http://www.womentowomen.com/womenshe...ords=migraines

[lorianng72]

That was very helpful and makes a lot of sense. I'm glad to know what I feel is actually real. I've tried to explain it to others before,even my doctor and he didn't give me much feedback

[RobinN]

If it makes you feel any better, I was told by Rebecca's 1st neurologist that there was no connection between hormones and seizures. Then I found a neurologist at USC that specializes in hormones. She did offer the progesterone, but did not do any of the testing or suggest that frequent testing needs to be done to make sure the levels stay balanced.

There is a pub-med article that is linked somewhere here on CWE that could be shown to your doctor, explaining about the progesterone research.

[sandi]

I know since getting farther into menopause over the last 10 yrs -I can definetely tell the difference that week. I always show signs of more instability and am more reactive to stimulus.Since I treat it the with Xanax -I have a tendency to use more medication and use it longer.

[RobinN]

Something else to consider is adrenal health.

The adrenal cortex is the outer part of an important organ (the adrenal gland) that produces hormones that are essential for the body to regulate itself.

Adrenal Fatigue

[peachy]

If I could take out 4 days during the menstrual cycle and the ovulation time out of my life, I wouldn't be having hardly any seizures. My doc doesn't seem to care and insists that I keep changing around meds and that I have to have surgery. Pretty irritated about that right now...Another doc that I saw said that there was a med that you can take during that time to prevent seizures-diuretic of some type.

[Nakamova]

I would be irritated too! Time for a new doc.

[lorianng72]

I feel the most like I will have a seizure during my cycle. I actually take a little more medicine on those days. That's all the dr will say do anyway.

[jayemar65]

Is there anyone out there that has heard of a 45 yr old only now getting seizures? They do seem to come before my cycle and I have read about Catamenial Epilepsy but everything that I have read talks about women already having seizures and they get worse during that time but I only started getting them in March 2010. Any help?

[Nakamova]

Hi Jayemar65 --

Estrogen fluctuation can be a seizure trigger, and the imbalance can happen at different times with different people. Some women develop seizures during pregnancy, and others become vulnerable at specific times of the month when there estrogen levels are at their highest.

But it's not just estrogen levels that play a role in catamenial epilepsy; progesterone levels are important too. Low progesterone levels in relation to estrogen can also act as a trigger. At 45 you may be just starting perimenopause (even if you have no obvious signs). While it's true that estrogen level start to fall during perimenopause, so do progesterone levels, and the progesterone drop tends to happen first. So that might be the trigger (or one of several triggers) related to your seizures.

This may be of interest: http://www.epilepsy.com/blogentry/979000

[sandi]

I am going to look into the adrenal, right now I'm doing better than over the summer but I also at 52, have not had a period for 2 months. Prior I was havin sometimes reg every 3-4 weeks , so It may very well be the case.

[jayemar65]

Thank you very much Nakamova, that makes me feel alittle better knowing that I am not the only one that has just started having seizures later in life.