How much can I drink before I have a seizure?

[fuzzalo]

couldnt have said it betetr myself. LISTEN TO THIS MAN. You are a man yeah ? just kidding, but seriously, get a hair cut.

 

[Endless]

When a person is your age it's hard to not do what one's friends are all doing. But alcohol may or may not make your seizures worse. Everyone is different when it comes to alcohol, and it depends on both your body, and your alcohol usage patterns.

Please be aware of the considerations so you can make the choice that's right for you:

• If you take birth control, PLUS drink, PLUS take anti-seizure meds, something isn't going to get metabolized on time while your liver is busy with something else. Roll the dice - are you ready for an unplanned pregnancy? (a backup barrier method is an alternative, but their success rates are not very good)
• Drugs.com says this about your drugs' interactions with alcohol:
  
  
  [*]http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=2334-0,1034-14582
  [*]http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=1430-0,1034-14582
  ​
• Drinking 3-250 calorie beers on Fri. & Sat. night every week for a year results in consuming 78,000 extra calories a year. That's about 24 pounds of fat packed on.
• Drinking can be fun, but unbridled joy can be even more fun. Alcohol can't give you that - it soars in your heart through your own free will. Find it, learn to call it up when you want it, and soon it will be automatic. It comes from living in the moment, and truly enjoying the friends and the life you have around you.
  

Here's what Epilepsy.com has to say about alcohol and seizures:

http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/provoke_alcohol

Doctors and pharmacists are constantly warning patients with epilepsy about the effects of alcohol. If you have epilepsy, alcohol consumption can have serious consequences. Although moderate alcohol consumption is not associated with increased seizure activity, binge drinking and alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures and even status epilepticus, a serious and potentially fatal condition. Most people with epilepsy are told to abstain from alcohol, and they are less likely than the general population to use or abuse alcohol.

In small amounts, alcohol does not cause seizures. A drink or two now and then does not increase seizure activity. Nor does it alter the amounts of seizure medicines in your blood or change findings on EEG studies. When alcohol is related to seizures, it has been found that it is nearly always the state of alcohol withdrawal that aggravates seizures, rather than drinking itself. Your risk of seizures may be much higher after consuming three or more alcoholic beverages. These alcohol withdrawal seizures may begin between 6 and 72 hours after you stop drinking. Studies suggest that alcohol withdrawal seizures most often occur 7 or 8 hours after heavy or prolonged drinking has stopped.

Seizure medicines can seriously lower your tolerance for alcohol, so the immediate effects of alcohol consumption are greater. The rate of intoxication is far higher among people taking seizure medicines. Rapid intoxication is extremely problematic because many of the side effects of these medicines, which can be made worse by alcohol, are similar to the acute effects of alcohol itself. If you are sensitive to the adverse effects of alcohol or seizure medicines, you may find the combination especially troublesome. For example, the side effects of Tegretol (carbamazepine), including dizziness, drowsiness, and headache, could be enhanced by alcohol. Combining those effects with the adverse effects of alcohol, including slurred speech, unsteadiness, dizziness, and fatigue, can be extremely dangerous.

Alcoholism, or chronic abuse of alcohol, has been shown in recent studies to be associated with the development of epilepsy in some people. These experiments suggest that repeated alcohol withdrawal seizures may make the brain more excitable. Thus, people who have experienced seizures provoked by binge drinking may begin to experience unprovoked epileptic seizures ("alcoholic epilepsy") regardless of alcohol consumption.

What effect does alcohol have on seizures?
In small to moderate amounts, alcohol actually has properties to counteract seizures, but it should never be consumed in the hope of controlling seizures.
Alcohol does not often provoke seizures while the person is drinking but it may cause "withdrawal" seizures 6 to 72 hours later, after drinking has stopped.
Withdrawal seizures are most common among persons who have abused alcohol for years. When alcohol consumption is stopped suddenly or is markedly reduced over a short period of time, a seizure may occur. This is an example of provoked seizures rather than true epilepsy.
Long-standing alcohol abuse can increase a person's risk of developing epilepsy.
Many persons with epilepsy are at a markedly increased risk of seizures after consuming three or more alcoholic beverages.
Research indicates that adults with epilepsy may have one or two alcoholic beverages a day without any worsening of their seizures or changes in the blood levels of their antiepileptic medications.
Moderate to heavy alcohol consumption is never recommended for persons with epilepsy. Alcohol and some antiepileptic drugs share similar adverse effects. As a result, persons who are sensitive to the adverse effects of alcohol or antiepileptic drugs may find the combination especially troublesome and extremely dangerous when driving.

Topic Editor: Steven C. Schachter, M.D.
Last Reviewed:11/20/06

So, given all that, what do you think might be right for you?

 

[EC77]

I used to play Russian Roulette with my health, drank, late nights often ended in seizure the next morning. I 'found' vodka didn't seem to trigger them but even 2 glasses of wine would, some beers would, others wouldn't. I convinced myself that some contained chemicals that affected the brain. I finally managed to stay seizure free for 8 years with no meds by becoming T-total at 25! I'm confident this would have continued had a head injury not re-triggered/reduced my seizure threshold to the point where I am now T-Total & on meds. Everyone knows their own limit & what is right for them. Sometimes you have to work through & come to your own conclusions but I wish someone had told me at age 18 that not drinking gave me the greatest chance of leaving the seizures behind.

 

[nelly]

I was a heavey drinker before my surgery. I stopped for 4 years and had no seizures.
I started drinking again 2008 to 2013 and every time I had a seizure. Think I would have learned the first time it happen.
My last seizure was Sept 7th 2013. One of the worst one I remember having. My boyfriend was with me and he recorded me having my seizure on my phone. (I did ask him to)
Ive never seen a seizure happen, I only know the after math. SO, I watched the video and OMG!!! it scared me. I haven't had a drink since. When I get the urge I watch the video. too bad that's what it took for me to reliaze drinking is not good for me.

 

[N Sperlo]

I went with some of my friends and probably drank to much but I am young what do you expect? :mrt:

So anyway I have seizures and I take lamoTRIgine 250 morning and evening
Zonisamide 100 morning and evening

I got really dizzy after the first two shoots and first game of beer pong, I was worried I would have one but thank goodness I didn't..........:banana:

For me, I get dizzy real quick. I won't have seizures though even after a full pitcher of beer. Be careful.