Has a cause been found for your seizures?

[Endless]

Hey, all. I was wondering how many of us know the cause for our seizures.

In my case, I have IIH (idiopathic intracranial hypertension), and we suspect the seizures could be from that. Hard to know. I also have multiple minor head injuries which might be contributing, too. Also hard to know. Also, we think my father had seizures, so it could be inherited. So, who knows?

[BuckeyeFan]

I have never received a diagnosis beyond idiopathic (unknown source). Though it would not make any difference in my life or treatment, I would be very interested in knowing why this developed.

[epileric]

I was born with my seizures & they were idiopathic until I was 39 years old when they found a lesion on the hypothalamus of my brain.

By that time I couldn't really care what caused my seizures. It was interesting to know but made no difference in how they were treated or how they effected me.

[Nakamova]

A concussion as a kid might have left me with a lower seizure threshold. But as to why I had a seizure 30 years later -- extreme fatigue, low blood sugar, and a ton o' aspartame in my system are my best guesses.

[Loopy Lou]

My MRI didn't show anything, but there's a strong genetic link on my dads side. An uncle on my mums side also has it, but I recently found out that my uncle wound up with epilepsy after being attacked.

[momof3boys]

Well based on what my mom has told me, along with what my pediatric neurologist has said, it's possible its due to when I was about to be born. My heart rate when down to a very low rate right before I was born. The drs at the time, didnt think it was all that concerning, they just gave my mom some oxygen, and rolled her over to her side. But it didnt really help alot. My mom said my heart rate was down pretty low. Based on that, and from what they have seen when i was an infant, and then being offically dx at 18 months with E, my pedicatric neurologist said it could have been caused when I went for so long with the low heart rate and a low oxygen level.

They are not 100% sure, but its one theory they said could possibly be the cause for me having E. We've came up with no other reasons why I would have E.

[hootie]

My son is on the autism spectrum...about 30% of people with autism also have seizures of some sort. He is 11 and started having seizures at about 10 years old (many of the kids with autism have them by age 10 or so)

I think too many carbs cause him to have more seizures. Potatoes of any kind cause seizures, too.

My mom's brother had E starting at age 2 so their may be a genetic component???

[Literophile]

It could have been an illness I had or a surgery I had or even a tumor on my pituitary gland (we're still not sure I have one, but there is a lot of evidence that I most likely do). These all popped up at around the same time. Weird, but true. (Surgery: Mid November 2009, Illness: Late November 2009, Tumor: ???, Seizures: Early December 2009)

[Frink]

TBI from a motorcycle accident at 13, seizures started 2 weeks later.

[Chel]

"Maybe. We have some suspicions, but it's hard to know."

Mine started when I went off The Pill because I was found to be a high stroke risk when I had a CT and MRI for suspected TIA/stroke. The scans found temporal lobe atrophy instead. Turns out I was peri-menopausal, and The Pill was propping up my oestrogen levels.

Without the oestrogen, there weren't enough pathways to fire messages between the reduced neurons (reduced because of the atrophy). Ergo, instant dementia and seizure activity (temporal lobe epilepsy). Through HRT, we almost have the dementia back under control, but I'm a bit unreliable in the cognitive department.

Temporal lobe atrophy possibly caused by coeliac disease or a high number of infections. I was also a forceps delivery, but am missing a key injury for my brain damage to have been caused by my birth. My neurologist said many temporal lobe epilepsy patients can be traced back to forceps delivery.

[motoxgirl100]

Had a dirtbike accident that shattered my femur and pelvis, did NOT sustain a head injury according to the hospital , but I DID develope bone infection from the surgery, seizures starts immediatly after that.

[RobinN]

Rebecca's are due to a blood sugar imbalance. This has caused a hormonal imbalance.
Knowing this has allowed us to create a plan which involves working with nutritional changes. This has made the most improvement in her health and seizure threshold.
It definitely was important for us to know what caused her seizures. She is living a life med free and seizure free at the moment.

[motoxgirl100]

that makes alot of sence. when they were discharging me they also told me to see a nutricialist (simple partial) that I was malnurished? my protein were all wacky and protein was extremely low. So maybe if I can level those out , they would slow down, being I dont have insurance to see a neurologist and got denied for medicaid because there is more than $207 coming into my home for my sons and I.

[Chris515]

I was also a forceps delivery, but am missing a key injury for my brain damage to have been caused by my birth. My neurologist said many temporal lobe epilepsy patients can be traced back to forceps delivery.

Yup I'm a forceps delivery too. Damage to the right temporal lobe. My thanks to the doctor who didn't tell my mother that she needed a c-section and used forceps instead.. My mother still blames herself for my epilepsy, it's not her fault though. They didn't give her the decision to make.

[Endless]

Thanks, Chris. I didn't put those two together. I was a forcepts delivery also. If there was damage, though, wouldn't they have seen it on my MRI?

[Chris515]

It's hard to say I guess.. they did see some scarring on my MRI though. But that may not be the case for everyone.

Every time I have a tonic clonic my mother apologizes to me, thinking it's her fault, over and over.. How can I convince her that it's not her fault?

[Endless]

I don't think you can convince her. She has to understand it in her own heart, in her own time. In the meantime, just telling her it isn't her fault - it's the doctor's - and telling her you love her and giving her a big hug will do wonders.

[Chel]

they did see some scarring on my MRI though. But that may not be the case for everyone.

It might be scarring that's missing from my MRI & CTs. I don't remember it being mentioned, and I've had a thorough read of the reports. My neurologist said there was some aspect missing that indicated the atrophy was not caused by the forceps delivery. I was a tough baby to deliver, as I was two weeks overdue, and a 48 hour labour.

Mum's gynae went from hero to zero, when the neurologist said the forceps delivery may have caused all this LOL She's always thought of him as a god (all these years!).

[Meetz1064]

has been considered idiopathic, and I would LOVE to know the reasons for it. However..........there have been several family members on my mother's side that have had it over the past several (EXTENDED as in 5 or so) generations. Add to that, both sides of her family are notorious for migraines.

And, my seizures are nocturnal. But there are days that I wake up exhausted, which means one of them has been at work (except the t/c because I wake up in a different mental state altogether). I've noticed that since I've been diagnosed as a celiac, and stayed on the celiac diet, that my problems with waking up exhausted from any nocturnal seizure are pretty well gone. I think it's only happened once, or twice since then.

[stilldancing_98]

Chicken Pox when I was ten high fever but the docs think I probably had it before. It just took 103 temp to bring it out. My son was born with it. This week he got sick. He had just myoclonic seizures. Now he has had 2 uncousious seizures. Please pray.