Are Your Seizures Sometimes Set Off By Caffeine

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Cordero

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There other day I made my husband coffee. It was strong but the creamer toned the flavor down. It tasted good so I had half a cup. About an hour later I ended up having a seizure. It was so odd because I was feeling a 100% healthy before drinking it. Weird, I guess. Is anyone's set off by caffeine?
 
I started drinking coffee in high school and was a caffeine from coffee junky until just the past couple of years. I drank it all day long!

Since switching to decaf my seizures have decreased. I had started taking a multivitamin a while back that gave me a lil burst of energy and upon looking at the ingredients it said it contained the caffeine equivalent to one cup of coffee. Since my seizures didn't increase while taking the vitamin the dr lets me sprinkle just a tad of caff coffee grains in with the decaf. Of course, I am hardly drinking coffee any more, maybe a cup if that in the morning. I guess the habit is broken.

But the other year when I would get those wonderful starbucks coffees everyday and before I knew about the caffeine link I was seizing at work shortly after sucking one down!

So yes, caffeine affects my seizure levels. :crying:
 
I think it can be a trigger depending on the person. I drink a lot of coffee and it doesn't seem to affect me, though high caffeine content does affect me (like energy drinks)

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I think it definatly can, especially of you are sensitive to caffeine or don't have it often :-\ afterall it is a stimulant which is essentially a type of drug; in a similar way to alcohol being a drug which can often cause seizures in epilepsy xxx
 
It does sound like the caffeine played a role. Studies show that that there are genetic differences in terms how of quickly individuals process caffeine. You may be one of those folks who metabolizes it quickly, and are more vulnerable to its stimulant effects.

I'm not a big coffee drinker, so I have to be careful when I do indulge. If it's strong caffeine, and if I have an empty stomach, I can get a pretty nasty headache...
 
If i have to much caffiene i notice an incrrease in my seizures and if i reduce it then they are less, but i know for many caffiene is a huge trigger so depends on the person

Mike
 
I used to love energy drinks and coffee and everything else caffeinated. I still love coffee, but I've cut myself down to one or two cups a day because when I was a teenager and drinking tons of energy drinks, coffee, and coke with no water or anything like that I found I had a lot more problems with seizures and anxiety and it just wasn't worth it for me. My boyfriend recently got me a new coffee maker I had a twelve cup one before and was drinking about six cups a day and having problems. I drank nothing but tea for a couple of weeks until we got the two cup coffee maker which I only make one cup of and generally only have that one cup. I feel a lot better.
 
In 30+ years I have found no connection between my seizures and anything. Caffeine, alcohol, stress, the phases of the moon, Republican or Democrat administration, sex (or lack thereof), anything.
 
Ha ha Arnie!

I have a few diet sodas in the morning without any problems, but do find if I have more then 2 and in quick succession, I get real jittery and feel like crap. I don't think it has to do with my epilepsy though. Sorry I'm no help. :p
 
Generally only if it's a high content. First TC seizure was after taking a diet pill that was basically tons of caffeine. Second time I had been drinking energy drinks. I don't really drink those anymore for tgat reason.

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I have been doing a lot of research lately about the possibility that caffeine could CAUSE an epileptic condition. I started drinking a lot of coffee in my teens and it has been a lifelong habit. Prior to that, I never had seizures. After several years, I had my first grand mal on a day I was lacking in sleep drinking coffee to wake up. This kind of thing happens every couple of months, so my condition is probably not nearly as severe as many of you here. I happen to remember that a really nasty seizure happened while I was riding my motorcycle (I go slow, stay on right), and I wound up in hospital. I was on a camping trip and substituting guarana for coffee, and started feeling very weird, forgetting things. Can't help but wonder if there's a condition. It would be pretty hard to quit since it is such a life-long habit. Research shows that overdoses of caffeine inevitably result in grand mal seizures that could cause death.

Might be worth checking this. If I were to gradually cut coffee/tea and gradually cut my meds, would this end these weird out-of-blue seizures?
 
For me there is no connection between caffeine and seizures.
 
caffeine doesn't set off my seizures,I don't care for coffee or tea either. I'm more of a root beer person myself.
 
Actually switching to hot cocoa would be beneficial. It would mimic the effect of a cup of coffee, and there are substances in cocoa that are relaxing, there's tiny bit of caffeine. I understand green tea is healthy for antioxidents. And the results may be improved with a dropper of CBD oil (medical MJ).
 
When i started on the med I'm on now, Gabapentin, my seizures started happening in the mornings and what do i do in the mornings first thing, is make coffee. So when i was getting more and more seizures in the mornings, i thought maybe it's the coffee. Well I stopped drinking coffee in the early mornings to see if that made any difference. Rather than drinking coffee first thing in the morning, i drink one cup at 10am-ish. Well it didn't do anything to my seizures happening in the mornings. For the last 2 yrs, i've had 20 out of 22 seizures that occurred in the mornings, with coffee or not.

So for me there is no difference. After doing this test, I still don't drink coffee any more in the early mornings, but I'll wait till 10ish. Some days i can't wait till 10am rolls around.

Cheers

:piano: :pop:
 
I think excessive caffeine can trigger a seizure -- after all, too much of many substances, (including anti-seizure drugs) can cause seizures. But I think it's less likely that caffeine would be a primary cause of epilepsy for most people. Much more likely that there's an initial susceptibility, and the caffeine acts as a secondary trigger.
 
The past few days I tried cutting down a bit, but wound up feeling kind of wired. My brain is so used to it, that it gets crazy without it. That's probably true of any drug that affects the nervous system. I'm also playing around with doses.
 
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