Seizures and...Solar and Geomagnetic Activity?

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I think I had a seizure in my sleep last night, but it may have been a dream. I remember waking up and thinking I should write down in my journal that I had a seizure cause I'd had one, but I don't remember it very clearly except a feeling that I'd had one...

There was a huge wind/electrical storm last night. So I wouldn't be surprised. I'm going to write it down anyway.
 
Check them daily, seriously...all 4 of those websites. I'll bet you notice some solar or geomagnetic 'trigger'.

This seizure of mine especially seemed triggered because the series of seizures began and ended with that p-r-o-l-o-n-g-e-d C flare. It wasn't a quick up and down jaggedy line on the Solar X-Ray Flux graph, but rather a gradual, but eventually very sharp increase that occurred over hours and hours that day.

With regard to your seizure last night, today it's showing an S1 solar radiation "proton" storm, and I believe it started last night. Also, a huge active sunspot is coming around the bend, so trouble might be on the way...
 
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Geomagnetic activity -- yes!

I've been trying to keep track of the possible effect of weather/barometric pressure changes on my seizures for months, now -- but hadn't found the NOAA charts you've given us links to before. I used to have catamenial seizures before menopause, and now my complex-partials seem tied to stormy/windy weather. Mine are mostly nocturnal -- and I had a big one (complete with a fall) the night of February 25.

Thanks so much for starting this conversation.
 
I LOVE those 4 websites, and I've been checking them every day for years now, several times a day, even before I knew I was having seizures. I noticed a definite correlation between Space Weather events and my Lyme Disease symptoms, so why not my seizures, too?...that was my thought process.

My boyfriend still kids with me because many times I've been able to predict a change in some solar or geomagnetic 'something' before even looking at those websites, just by monitoring my symptoms - especially the pressure I feel at the base of my skull and the 'magnetic pull' in my lower jaw.

Don't just check the Space Weather Archives and Space Weather Sunspot Page though just because the other pages look pretty unchanging most days, or at least too hard to evaluate...I made that mistake in the beginning. Sometimes those boring charts can surprise you and go 'haywire' and indicate solar or geomagnetic activity long before the other pages do. It may also indicate subtle changes that the other pages might not ever mention.
 
Geomagnetic seizures

Hey guys, i'm a bit of a conspiracy theorist and was researching the earthquake in japan recently. Unfortunately I haven't kept a seizure diary in a while but started again march 2011. Mind you not as thorough as yours Liz.
Anyway, I came across an article regarding haarp if your not familiar with the name check out YouTube. Anyway it got me wondering if there was a conennection between seizures and geomagnetic activity; which led me to your post. I had a seizure mar 1st. And mar 9th this year. In both cases 2 days later there was an earthquake. I would be curious to know Liz with your detailed diary is there a pattern of earthquakes approximately 2 days after yours or anyone else's seizures.
Thanks for your post
Cashesin
 
I actually check for earthquakes daily, too. Here is the website I use...

http://www.usairnet.com/weather/maps/special/earthquake/

But since I live in PA and there aren't many earthquakes here, I can't really say if there is any connection between earthquakes and my seizures.

I can say, however, that when there are earthquakes in states close to PA, I often feel better. Specifically, I often feel agitated and tense, and this constant tugging sensation in my lower jaw increases prior to these quakes. But once they hit, my symptoms lessen for some reason?
 
Not sure if this was indeed a seizure or not, but since I sensed something was up last night 'geomagnetically', I thought I'd post my event...

6) Thursday, April 7, 2011 8:00pm – 8:30pm – a somewhat distracting flashing geometric ‘arc’ appeared to dance in my right eye’s field of vision (peripherally), followed later by a left-sided frontal headache; no alteration whatsoever in consciousness. Severe insomnia followed.

- 3 sunspots
- 1 coronal hole
- C flares
- Magnetic Field Component was 'positive' for much of the day, and the Dynamic Pressure was up - at least until late when the Dynamic Pressure dropped to '0' and the Magnetic Field Component went 'neutral'...always a problem for me.
- A "tormented" and unstable magnetic filament was snaking around the sun on the 5th, 6th, and 7th and apparently erupted during the early hours of the 8th into the farside CME mentioned below.

http://spaceweather.com/

FARSIDE ACTIVITY: NASA's STEREO probes are monitoring strong activity on the far side of the sun. A spectacular CME erupted during the early hours of April 8th apparently from old sunspot AR1176. This is the second day in a row that the active region has hurled massive clouds into space.

...So apparently my 'event' (seizure?) occurred in the hours before this eruption. Oh, how I wish they'd give a time!
 
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I haven't had time to check the site since I last wrote (on March 21), but as I've just gotten my seizure diary ready for a visit to my epileptologist tomorrow, I thought I'd check those sites. I signed in here to get a reminder of the URLs. I was amazed to see what you wrote about April 6 and 7, because my diary records a really strong aura -- longer and more intense than usual, on the 6th, and I noted "possible complex-partial" for the night between the 6th/7th, with a "probable complex-partial" for the next night. My seizures are nocturnal and almost always in my sleep, but I have what I call "neurological nights" of weirdness, lots of bathroom trips, with a sort of sense of fear pervading, and lots of waking up but not coming completely conscious. It's hard to describe, but it's enough to note as probable seizures.

I'll take a look at those websites you recommended again, and I think I'll print out this conversation to take to my doctor. As he's at the Mayo Clinic in Florida, he's pretty "with it" and I have faith he'd take this seriously.
 
I wish I had your doctor then because I'm afraid to even mention this theory to mine. Please let me know what he says.

I've been checking these websites for years though, just recently for what I finally realized were seizures. But before that even, for other symptoms I experience on a regular basis such as severe insomnia, or nightsweats, or a white-coated tongue. My boyfriend believes me now because so many times when I was experiencing a string of horrific days, or conversely, a 'good' day popped up among a string of horrific days, something had geomagnetically changed to trigger the worsening or improvement of my symptoms.

CMEs (coronal mass ejections), even CMEs that are not earth-directed, for example, often trigger a slight improvement in how I'm feeling, though it's often only a short-lived improvement of a couple of hours. And whenever the Dynamic Pressure drops to 'zero' and the Magnetic Field Component goes 'neutral', I feel like death, especially if it remains that way for several days in a row. 'Noisy' sunspots, meaning those that are giving off a lot of radio signals, cause my symptoms to increase.

But more than anything, that blue Electron Flux line on the Satellite Environment Plot graph can either make me or break me. When it goes 'jaggedy', I can seizure, and when there are slight dips and bumps, I feel like death.

Please let me know what he says!
 
Since my first hour-long EEG in December showed some 'possible' abnormalities, I thought I'd compare what was happening on the sun that day to what was happening on the sun during my 24-hour ambulatory EEG in February which came back 'normal'. Wish I still had my logbook from back then so that I could add more details, but I already threw it out. Please see below...

December 28, 2010 - EEG (some possible abnormalities):
- 1 new quiet, but growing sunspot
- 1 coronal hole - SWS to hit Earth January 1st or 2nd
- A flares
- protons density up at 10.0
- magnetic field tipped South (negative) during the early hours
- auroras, ground currents, and intensifying Northern Lights
- K4 and K5 storms

December 27, 2010 - the day prior to possible EEG abnormalities:

- 0 sunspots, but 1 sunspot possibly emerging - sun had been blank for a while - "The Earth-side of the sun has been spotless for six consecutive days."
- 1 coronal hole - SWS to hit Earth January 2nd
- B flares
- proton density 7.7
- magnetic field South (negative)
- gentle auroras

February 10 to 11, 2011 - 24-hour Ambulatory EEG (normal):

February 10, 2011
- 2 quiet sunspots (1 active 'solar tsunami' sunspot just departed)
- 1 coronal hole; SWS to hit Earth February 13th or 14th
- B and C flares
- proton density 2.8
- magnetic field North (positive)

February 11, 2011
- 1 quiet sunspot
- 1 coronal hole; SWS to hit Earth between February 13th or 15th
- B flares
- proton density 5.2
- magnetic field South (negative)
 
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I wish I had your doctor then because I'm afraid to even mention this theory to mine. Please let me know what he says.

I've been checking these websites for years though, just recently for what I finally realized were seizures. But before that even, for other symptoms I experience on a regular basis such as severe insomnia, or nightsweats, or a white-coated tongue. My boyfriend believes me now because so many times when I was experiencing a string of horrific days, or conversely, a 'good' day popped up among a string of horrific days, something had geomagnetically changed to trigger the worsening or improvement of my symptoms.

CMEs (coronal mass ejections), even CMEs that are not earth-directed, for example, often trigger a slight improvement in how I'm feeling, though it's often only a short-lived improvement of a couple of hours. And whenever the Dynamic Pressure drops to 'zero' and the Magnetic Field Component goes 'neutral', I feel like death, especially if it remains that way for several days in a row. 'Noisy' sunspots, meaning those that are giving off a lot of radio signals, cause my symptoms to increase.

But more than anything, that blue Electron Flux line on the Satellite Environment Plot graph can either make me or break me. When it goes 'jaggedy', I can seizure, and when there are slight dips and bumps, I feel like death.

Please let me know what he says!
Hi! My periodic visits there (I'm in a pharmaceutical drug protocol (study)) usually entail an hour or so with his research assistant, who was VERY interested in the printout I gave her of this conversation. She said she'd pass it along to my doctor/the principle investigator for the study I'm in. She also said it would be neat for someone to do a controlled study using a large group of study diaries.

We who are in this drug study keep seizure diaries, but the Rx manufacturer has all rights to the whole body of them. My own copies are mine to do with what I want, of course, but we can't get hold of the hundreds from other study subjects.

However, she mentioned that there's now a special version of Google Calendar for keeping track of seizures. Have you heard of it? If we could get a lot of people to do that, we could do something with the data on an unofficial basis.

Best of course, would be to find a scientist who wants to take on this project. Maybe we will!
 
I wouldn't doubt it at all.
I can always predict a thunderstorm, because I have a migraine and usually a seizure the day before and the day of. In fact, I'll tell friends or family, it's gonna rain. And guess what? It rains! In fact, when it finally rains, my eyes will tear up, and the pressure lets off.
I recently moved, though, and my migraines have decreased. I suspect I was living in a low spot.
 
I'd love to be in a study involving solar and geomagnetic storms and seizures. If you find a researcher who wants to study me, let me know...I'm willing. I never heard of the Google Calendar Seizure Diary though???
 
Re: digital seizure recording -- The free magazine "Neurology Now" has an article about mobile recording devices. I tried to post the URL for you but was told I hadn't been around long enough. Google <"Neurology Now Magazine"> and look for the article titled: Going Mobile: Smartphones and other mobile devices can provide real‐time information and assistance for people with neurologic problems

My mailed-to-me issue came just after I wrote about Google Calendar, quite a coincidence!

Elizzza811 -- would you consider contacting me with a private message?
 
Thanks for the info.

And yes, but I how would I do that without posting my email on the web??? Oh, I see...you can PM on here, too? Please PM me.
 
I can't PM you because somehow your profile doesn't have the tab for contacting, whereas mine does. So, maybe you can fix yours to allow for PM or just use the tab on mine.
 
Just an update, as I had a couple of seizures Saturday morning (May 7, 2011) around 8:00am or so. I woke up with severe memory problems and experienced at least 2 episodes shortly thereafter in which I got a funny taste in my mouth and felt dizzy. I was sweating like crazy all day Friday and experienced drenching sweats and severe insomnia Friday night, too. What's weird is that lately I tend to seizure when less is going on solar-wise?

3 quiet sunspots
0 coronal holes
B flares
electron flux
Magnetic Field Component was 'positive'. Dynamic Pressure was 'zero'. (Dynamic Pressure had been mostly 'zero' for 6 consecutive days.)

The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled on days one and two (08-09 May). Day three is expected to be quiet to unsettled for most of the day, with a chance for an isolated active period late in the day. The increase in activity is forecast due to a coronal hole high speed stream (CH-HSS) becoming geo-effective.
 
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It's not weird, it just means that solar activity is not the only thing that can trigger your seizures. Once the brain starts to seize, it can potentially take less stimulus to set it off the next time, and even less the time after that. The brain can "get in the habit" of seizing, and the the seizure threshold lowers as a result.
 
I'm not sure? I still somehow really believe solar activity and the sun's dynamic pressure has a lot to do with my seizures, because when the sun's dynamic pressure drops to zero and remains that way for an extended period of time (as in days, not hours), I seem more likely to seizure. And a lack of sunspots appeared to be another seizure trigger for me in the past, so maybe certain types of solar inactivity is a potential seizure trigger with me?

Also, what I'll call 'electron activity' seems to invoke seizures in me. We've had daily 'electron fluxes' for 10 consecutive days now, and I eventually seizured in there...

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/alerts/archive/archive_01May2011.html

And though the blue line on the Electron Flux graph below hasn't gone zig-zag 'crazy jaggedy' for months (a definite seizure trigger with me in the past), the blue line on the Electron Flux graph below was definitely higher for days preceding my seizure and remained well above the graph's dotted line for that period of time - though it now seems to be lowering and moderating a bit, now that I seized...

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today2.html
 
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