Another question!!

[musiclady]

Hi there:
Am waiting to hear if testing has yielded results after a first very obvious simple partial seizure followed by quickly by one or possibly two complex partial seizures on Oct 2.
My question is: Has anyone had the experience of waking up in the middle of the night with severe pain in the side of their tongue? This has been happening to me for about a year or two now....and after all of this stuff happened to me in early October, I wonder if this is somehow neurological. I got up once to see what was on my tongue, and there was nothing I could see on it....but it is now happening with more frequency. In the past week and a half I have awoken 3 times, because I have actually been biting the side of my tongue just after I fell asleep, and last night I awoke because I was biting the side of my tongue, and then later, the tip of my tongue.

Now.....If those were seizures I was having in my sleep, I would not be waking because of tongue pain, I would think.....right?

However, this occurrence is increasing and has me wondering about it. Plus, there is no serious damage to my tongue....last night it was the tip of my tongue that was a bit swollen, not the side of my tongue.

So my question is....does anyone in this forum experience awakening because of severe pain in the side of their tongue....BUT there is just pain, and not usually any signs of biting, just occassionally a bit of swelling.

Also....when I have awoken because I have actually been biting the side of my tongue just after falling asleep....can this happen if there is some degree of sleep apnea going on? I have a slight snore, I am told, but nothing too significant....as per my husband who is right next to me in bed.

I do wake up with some really bad headaches in the morning, that will ease off somewhat once I have been up and moving....I thought they were migraines or reactions to being dehydrated overnight or something....but now I wonder how all of these things might be connected...

Thank you for any thoughts shared regarding my note....I really appreciate your replies, everyone. You are all very smart knowledgeable people...so I thank you in advance!!! D.

 

[Loopylil]

I haven't ever had it in my tongue but a year or so ago It was the left side of my head. Felt fine when I went to sleep then would wake with this sharp pain in my head no obvious signs of seizure that I would normally have and would wake about 15 mins after falling asleep. I have never mentioned this to neuro as I'm sure he already thinks I'm mad. It doesn't happen quite so much now though but still occasionally

 

[Nakamova]

Nocturnal tongue biting can be a form of bruxism (teeth grinding). It can also be one symptom of frontal lobe epilepsy. A sleep study would be the best way to sort things out, especially if there may be apnea contributing as well.

In the meantime, you might want to try adding a magnesium supplement to your diet to see if it helps. (Magnesium plays a role in relaxing muscle tension, including the jaw muscles).

 

[valeriedl]

This is sort of just a guess coming from me because I don't have seizures in my sleep.

I wonder if you could be having a seizure while you are asleep and biting your tongue during the seizure? When you come out of the seizure you wake up because your tongue is hurting.

Like I said, that's just a guess.

Most of the time after a seizure I'll have a horrible headache. Usually if I have a seizure I don't know that I've had it unless there was someone there to see it happen. I might have felt a little goofy before the seizure but I don't realize that a seizure is coming on. When I get the headache is when I put two and two together that I've had a seizure.

Ask as many questions as you want, that's what we're here for.

 

[musiclady]

Hi there:
Well I have certainly wondered if my tongue hurting is a post seizure situation, when I mentioned it to the doctor he just smiled, had a sort of "aha" moment, and nodded his head and wrote it down in his notes. I never ever thought it would be seizure related until he started to ask me if I had events at night and I told him I would be awakened by extreme pain in my tongue, and often the sound of a big bang, which I am sure is someone breaking into my house, and ends up being just in my head...I know this because it happens the same way, and no one else wakes up, and no one has broken into my house...
However, my tongue is not terribly bruised or bitten up....which makes me think it may NOT be a sign of having had a seizure. it may just be a bit swollen after a pain spell...and the pain is only ever at night.... Maybe a neuralgia of some sort? Weird...

I just wondered if others had a similar experience, because the doctor seemed so interested in that information when he asked me about if I ever had anything unusual happen at night.

I will be curious to see if anything besides the venous angiomas that they say could have caused my problem, shows up on the second MRI or the EEG.

I really appreciate this forum....there are so many questions that run through your head when something like this has happened in one's life...
Thank you very very much for your time and sharing your experience,
Debbie