Something VERY weird going on

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gowings83

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Hey guys and gals. I've been having one heck of a weird issue the last 2 nights. Background is I have t-c seizures mostly in my sleep. After many times in the ER after many seizures in a row and stopping breathing my neuro finally got something that seems to be helping. I have been on 100mg of lamictal twice a day for years, then it stopped working. After many trials on different meds we finally got something to help. No seizures for 7 weeks so far, I was lucky to go a few days before. So I'm still on the lamictal dose and added 250mg of valporic acid twice a day. I've been having the usual interactions like tired, blurred eyesight, but nothing I can't deal with. The last 2 nights have been messed up. After I take the meds, usually around 8pm, I'm in bed by 11. In that time I'm ok, but 11-12 hits I get the feeling like, well best I can explain is that somebody else is in my head. I'd be watching tv or something and I'd see it, but it's like I've seen it before, like I've done it, or in a different show. To make things weirder it happens when I'm laying on my right side. I lay on my left side or back and it's ok. I thought maybe, for some slim reason the water in the left side of my head is pushing the brain over to the right then I'm putting pressure on it by laying on it. Also there's a ringing in my ears, sometimes it's high pitched and loud and sometimes it quiet enough that it's not annoying. I plan on talking to my pharmacist today to see about any interaction with the pills. Can't see the neuro until the end of August :roll: Hopefully I can get some help here, if anyone has an idea PLEASE help. This is FREAKING ME OUT real bad.
 
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The right side/left side difference is definitely unusual. I wonder if it has to do with circulation issues too. Does it change it all if you put your head between your knees? Or if you do relaxation breathing? Some of the stuff you describe sounds like it could be seizures (the deja vu episodes) and some sounds like it could be seizures OR side effects (ringing in ears). Definitely keep notes, so if the symptoms start getting worse you should call your neurologist and see if you can see him earlier.

I suspect it's the med combo that's provoking these new symptoms: Valproic acid can double the half-life of Lamictal, and often when Valproic acid is added to Lamictal, the Lamictal dosage is decreased to compensate for this effect. So it's very possible your symptoms are a reaction to the sudden increase of Lamictal in your system.
 
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my brain isnt functioning well enough to understand your post or respond to it, but i did want to say that I used to live very close to sudbury. we had to shop there though because it was the closest place to us with stores. Science north is awesome, and I loved the big nickle mine

I lived in the onaping/levack area just past chelmsford and dowling.
 
Naka, thanks for the reply, I talked to the pharmacist today about side effects of the combo, he told me that one rare effect of the 2 being put together is odd thinking. I didn't think of it maybe being seizures too, it may be that my meds are actually working and stopping one from coming. Today I'm trying not to do something I did the last 2 days, play video games. Even though it was just hockey it may not have helped, it sure didn't before. We'll see if that helps if it was seizures.
 
My seizures aren't tonic clonics...they're complex partials, but they're very similar to yours. They're less severe now that I'm on Lamictal, but still there. Specifically, I have to lay on my back or on my right side (I'm the opposite) when I go to bed. If I lay on my left side I get agitated and feel palpitations and a strange pressure in my head. I also have to sleep with my head covered with blankets...any light whatsoever (street lights, moonlight) seems to prevent me from sleeping. And like clockwork every morning around 2 or 3am I get tossy-turny.

You mentioned your tonic clonics were worse the last two nights though. My seizures were related to solar/geomagnetic activity, and it's been up the last several days.

NeuroNotes sent this video to me today...July 20, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/user/SolarWatcher

And these are from websites I check daily...

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN/index.html

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

http://spaceweather.com/

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/alerts/warnings_timeline.html
 
Funny thing, I'm usually up every night around 3. Mostly of the time it's to go to the bathroom, sometimes I just wake up for no reason. It doesn't take long to get back to sleep most nights.
 
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