41 first seizure

[Michael.i.smith]

Hi, I am in hospital awaiting further tests since my surprise visit from the ambulance on Saturday night whilst I was in bed. My poor wife had to ring an ambulance as I had a clonic -tonic seizure in bed asleep at 2:30 am.
I am now booked to go through the gamete of tests necessary to diagnose the problem. The neurologist has just told me that I can't drive for 6 months and that I have showed some epileptic activity in the EEG but need a MRI to further investigate.meanwhile I'm at hospital freaking out.
I have never had a siezure before or any type of eplispesy.
Scared

 

[huskymom]

Hi Michael,
Sorry to hear that you have had such a bad time of it for a couple of days. I, too, never had a seizure until I was in my 40's. Came out of the blue, during the night. Try not to be scared, although it is tough. They might not find a reason for this. Most likely they won't unless you have had some type of brain injury. Hang in there. We are here for you!

 

[bernbern]

Been there done that.

Like you, seizure in my sleep in 2006. I had two that year and then nothing for 6 years. All tests have come back normal every time.

Find yourself a good neurologist. Ask lots of questions.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Michael --

My first seizures arrived out of the blue when I was 35. It happens.

There can be many different primary and secondary causes for a seizure. If you and your wife can think of any unusual stresses over the past few days or weeks, that might give a sense of what pushed your brain "over the edge". But as huskymom says, sometimes there is no clear answer. Hopefully you and your neuro will have a better sense of what's going and what your options are. I know the no-driving thing is no fun, but it really is important to play it safe at this point.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[Michael.i.smith]

Thanks for your replies. Interesting to here other people have had seizures later in life. After reading many threads on partials I'm wondering if I have suffered partials for a while and always put them down to some sort of weird light headedness. Where I forget my train of thought. Is this possible.

 

[jyearta]

Hi,

It has to be scary thing for you and your wife, to have a seizure out of the blue.

As Nak. has said early, is there anything that has been diff. for the last few days.
Have you been sick, taken any new meds. loss of sleep?

 

[BrandiBrat]

Thanks for your replies. Interesting to here other people have had seizures later in life. After reading many threads on partials I'm wondering if I have suffered partials for a while and always put them down to some sort of weird light headedness. Where I forget my train of thought. Is this possible.

Hi Michael, Sure...when I started having partials, I discarded it just thinking, "well, THAT was weird..." and moved on, a bit slower and foggier than before. I finally went to the ER thinking I was having minor strokes, when they became more severe and closer together.

I'm sorry that you are going through this time. Know that we are here for you during your journey and that you have support at CWE.

 

[Michael.i.smith]

Thanks for the update. I have had many unusual moments in my life where I have had minor dizziness or vagueness overcome me like a sudden wave over my body, sometimes in the middle of conversations. It often causes me to loose my train of thought. I starting to wonder if I have been having something like this for a long time and just have never had the full clonic-tonic siezure. I am awaiting further tests still as I am still in hospital since this happened. Apparently my EEG wasn't normal and my MRI was done without the contrast Dye. Who knows. Anyway.
The great unknown for me.

 

[qtowngirl]

Hi, I am in hospital awaiting further tests since my surprise visit from the ambulance on Saturday night whilst I was in bed. My poor wife had to ring an ambulance as I had a clonic -tonic seizure in bed asleep at 2:30 am.
I am now booked to go through the gamete of tests necessary to diagnose the problem. The neurologist has just told me that I can't drive for 6 months and that I have showed some epileptic activity in the EEG but need a MRI to further investigate.meanwhile I'm at hospital freaking out.
I have never had a siezure before or any type of eplispesy.
Scared

hi michael, and welcome to the forum. you couldn't have come to a better place.
our stories are almost identical. Mine was 4am, boyfriend had to call, in the hospital with no clue what was happening, trying to figure out reasons, never had a seizure and no one on either side of the family had epilepsy.
i didn't lose my license until the 2nd seizure, tests, and diagnosis, so for the time being just know there is still a chance it was a one-off, or a specific reason you're unaware of. Epilepsy is not officially diagnosed until two seizures without cause have taken place.
HUGS for now and please keep us posted, we all have big shoulders to lean on and know exactly how hard and scary this is.
if you do go to a neurologist, be sure to tell them about the 'weird' feelings over the years that you were unsure of, they are able to differentiate what's what. take care for now

 

[arnie]

Hi and welcome, michael. I had my first witnessed tonic clonic when I was 23, but in retrospect I had probably had partial seizures for much of my life, just not recognizing them for what they were, and probably unwitnessed tc szs when I was asleep. I'm 54 now and doing just fine, overall. i think the szs are more scary for my wife than for me. i've only had 5 tc szs, but probably over 10,000 partials in these past 30 years. I'm on lamictal. Also, I have never had an abnormal eeg and we don't know why I have epilepsy. it does run in my family though. my oldest daughter has it too. Carry on! we are here for you!

 

[Peter Smart]

Hello,

I just had a simple partial seizure. I've been having parties and over drinking and falling on the back of my head (falling backwards). My eyes were twitching uncontrollably, but I knew what was going on. I could not speak but I was able to move, and it happened for like 5 seconds. What should I do? After this happened I quickly looked up seizures and found little about it, and no precautions or help. I also read that it can be a sign of an upcoming complex seizure. I am afraid to go back to bed thinking it will happen again.

 

[qtowngirl]

hi peter,
my first (known) seizure was a grand mal; the ER doc said too much partying and my body was going through withdrawal (there was no history of epilepsy in either side of my family). two days prior a girlfriend and i pulled an all-nighter and got wrecked bad, so it made sense to all of us that it was a one-off and i better watch myself from now on.

2.5 months later it happened again, but no partying. through tests and a neuro it was diagnosed as E and the first one was called a 'coincidence' in the respect that this was going to happen anyway, and it's not uncommon for it to find you at your weakest. Withdrawal (from anything, booze, meds) is a seizure cause so don't worry too much yet, but maybe take it easy for awhile on the party, imo.

 

[petero]

freaking out

hey there -
sounds like we might be around in the same boat. I was 38 when I was diagnosed after two tonic-clonic seizures: one at work, the other one on a family vacation with my parents and brother... and that was in 2008 and I've had maybe 20-25 or so seizures since then and they've all sounded like tonic-clonic

Nothing quite like waking up with the faces in your face, hearing that BP monitor beep*beep*beep and s**t, and feeling like all of them have been kicking you for the past 15 minutes.
Thoughts, the dish water in a freshly wrung sponge... except you don't want your brain to dry.

The support and resources I've found on this website have been extremely helpful for me.

If you do get continued seizures, it can be tricky to come to terms with, but you've found a helpful resource in this website IMHO.

 

[petero]

Thanks for your replies. Interesting to here other people have had seizures later in life. After reading many threads on partials I'm wondering if I have suffered partials for a while and always put them down to some sort of weird light headedness. Where I forget my train of thought. Is this possible.

I had considered that same thing about myself.

 

[Michael.i.smith]

I have finally got all Test results back. No reason can be identified for what happened the other night. Whilst I'm glad hat the test results have not shown up a Tumour or stroke or some other illness or injury I am now in he situation here I just get on with it and hope it doesn't happen again. The not driving is going to suck as is the not swimming and surfing by myself. I guess I will count myself lucky and see what the GP and the neuro have to say in 6months. Thanks everyone here who offered their support and ideas. I'll be always here now to check out if I can help anyone or support anyone as hey o through what just happened to me.
Cheers
Michael

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Michael -- that's good news. Did they put you on meds? If so make sure to take them regularly and make note of any bothersome side effects. Either way, I hope you remain seizure-free and healthy. You'll find the 6 months will go by quicker than you think.