Complex Partial Epilepsy

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Hi Devin --

Sleep seizures occur most often when the brain is transitioning from waking to sleep or vice versa. This drowsy state is characterized by particular brainwaves that are more likely to lead to seizures if you already have a lowered seizure threshold. This is why sleep-deprived EEGs can be more helpful than regular ones for diagnosing seizures.

If your early-morning seizure is a new event, let your neurologist know and discuss adjusting your meds to get better seizure control. Perhaps a higher dose or an extended-release medication would help. Either way, having better seizure control will go along way to improving your quality of sleep and reducing your anxiety.
 
Thank you very much. Does anyone here have any experience or opinion on what's the best/ideal vitamins to take?
 
I have a question, does anyone here get the AURA while sleeping? Well i get like a sensation(only sometimes) where ill be dozing off and ill get this awkward sensation through my body, which in turn then wakes me up.. Please any insight will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Hi Devin, I also got E from a head injury. I'm taking Topamax and have nocturnal seizures. I have auras while sleeping that wake me up, but my auras are not similar to yours that run through my body. Mine are auditory type, that I hear. My auras are those that I smell and hear and they are the same, over and over and over. The ones that wake me up are the sound of a closing door and they scare me because I always think someone is coming in my home and I am a single parent. As Nakamova said, they are in the early morning hours as I am transitioning from sleep to waking.
The sensations that I get as I am dozing off are myoclonic jerks. I get the full-body myoclonics that wake me up at times. I don't know if you are talking about those, though.
I take a lot of supplements to help my body. I take a good multivitamin/multimineral. I also take a separate iron because I'm low in iron. I take potassium to help with the myoclonic seizures.
 
Hi Again. I just have a quick question. What is it exactly that causes the AURA? And where about in the brain does it persist from? Like cause i sometimes only get the AURA but it doesn't manifest itself into a seizure or any funny like symptoms..
 
With epilepsy, the aura is also considered a seizure. It's the result of abnormal brainwaves firing in just a small part of the brain, so it's called a simple partial seizure. If the firing spreads to a slightly larger area of the brain, it's called a complex partial seizure. And if it further generalizes (spreads) so that the whole brain is involved and there's full loss of consciousness, it's called a tonic-clonic seizure.

Partial seizures can originate anywhere in the brain, though the majority tend to arise from the temporal and parietal-occipital lobes. The point of origin is called the seizure focus. The specific symptoms can sometimes be a clue to which part of the brain is involved. For instance, simple visual auras (like flashing or moving lights) might be coming from the primary visual cortex. Blurry vision tends to be linked to the parietal lobe. Complex visual hallucinations are associated with the junction between the temporal and occipital lobes, or the base of the temporal cortex.
 
Thank you, it makes a lot more sense to me now. Another question: Is gym okay for a person with Epilepsy? Cause i gym everyday and i love it. Well from what i know gym is good for anyone as well as it releases endorphins.
 
Some people find that the stress of exercise -- from increased breathing/body temperature, or from secondary issues like dehydration or poor gym lighting -- can be triggering for their seizures. But everyone's different. If going to the gym isn't triggering for you, and makes you feel good then there's absolutely no reason to stop. Just take the usual precautions for anyone working out -- make sure you are eating and drinking properly, and not overdoing it. And you should avoid banging your head on things. :)
 
Hello Nakamova & Everyone. I haven't got good news today. This morning i was sleeping and i had like a "funny thing" where my left hand contracted & i felt a weird sensation through my body. I then got out of bed. This was around 8:30AM. Then between like 10:00AM and 10:30AM i was sitting in my laundry and my neck & left arm went to the left. As well as my eyes, and my right leg & right foot startled tingling as well as my tongue tingles quite excessively. Then as the morning progressed they started happening more and more up until now as im writing this message to you i am still getting all these funny symptoms. And this happens every time i have that funny thing in the bed(generally it occurs in the morning) th reason why i say funny thing as i have no other way of describing. Also my left hand is always feeling like its got an electrical shock type sensation. Going down it. But its weird cause it seems constant. But is it possible for a person to get seizures throughout the entire from morning time to evening. And im referring to them generally being Simple/Complex Partial Seizures. Please i really need help with this,as this has really bought me down today in a big way.
 
th reason why i say funny thing as i have no other way of describing.->the reason why i say funny thing as i have no other way of describing it.
 
It could be a form of simple partials seizure. And yes, it's possible to experience it throughout the day. However, there are are other causes of tingling too (anxiety/stress, low blood sugar, medication side effects, MS, nerve damage, vitamin deficiencies, etc.) so you should make a note of it and discuss it with your doctor.
 
Thanks for you reply. Sorry if you felt as if i was bugging you, but i am at a stage where any advice/help is greatly appreciated. I know I've asked before but can stress/anxiety really bring on a seizure or seizure like symptoms? Also after i had my EEG last Friday. the technician said that when your brain is in that transitioning state from sleep to wake or vice versa. That is where your brain is at it's most "active state". Is that true?
 
Devin said:
Thanks for you reply. Sorry if you felt as if i was bugging you, but i am at a stage where any advice/help is greatly appreciated. I know I've asked before but can stress/anxiety really bring on a seizure or seizure like symptoms? Also after i had my EEG last Friday. the technician said that when your brain is in that transitioning state from sleep to wake or vice versa. That is where your brain is at it's most "active state". Is that true?
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Yup and yup :) Stress or anxiety can definitely help to trigger a seizure/symptoms, and i have definitely read multiple sources that state that a person is much more prone to seizures when the brain is going from awake to asleep or vice versa . I hope you get some more answers soon Devin!!

http://www.cornellepilepsy.com/epi_inf/str_epi.html?name1=Stress+and+Epilepsy&type1=2Active
Stress and Seizures

Stress is a contributing causal factor in most illnesses, including heart attacks, migraine headaches, diabetes, allergies, colds, cancer, arthritis, insomnia, hypertension, and alcoholism. Stress is also a contributing factor in numerous emotional and behavioral difficulties, including depression, anxiety, suicide attempts, spousal abuse, child abuse, physical assaults, irritability, and stuttering. While healthcare professionals have long suspected that stress can also cause greater seizure activity, researchers have had difficulty proving the scientific relationship between stress and seizures. Some people with epilepsy lead very stressful lives with no effect whatsoever on their seizures. For others, stress and seizures can be synonymous: the inability to cope with stress can create over-excitation of nerve cells in the brain, which leads to a seizure. For example, anxiety can lead to hyperventilation (quick, shallow breathing), producing an increase in abnormal brain activity. The abnormal brain activity causes a seizure.
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Hi all. Sorry ive been so distant. Ive had alot going on etc. And my seizures haven't been getting better overall since the last time we all spoke. Basically the latest for me is i was admitted for my third Video EEG 2 weeks ago. I was kept on my medication(Lamictin 200mg morning and night) . I was admitted for a duration of three days of constant monitoring. The EEG recording picked up no activity whatsoever. The technologist as well as my neurologist both said it was a normal reading. But i was still feeling these funny sensations, like the "AURA" being one of them. I wasn't sleeping well at the time. So she referred me to a psychologist and he put me on Lyrica 150mg at night with 100mg Lamictin. My sleep did improve over all. But i was still feeling "funny things". But the entire reading was completely normal. My psychologist and neurologist then spoke and they came to the conclusion that i have both epilepsy and pseudo seizures. He and she are both saying that all these things i experience where the EEG picked up everything as normal. Is pseudo seizures(anxiety stress etc) Now my question is that possible? Are EEG's always 100% accurate? I am now on 300mg Lamictin morning as well as 250mg Keppra. And Lyrica 150mg at night with 100mg Lamictin. This morning i woke up and i had a funny sensation through my body, and i got this very uncomfortable feeling down my right leg(numbness and tingling) and ever since then ive been feeling very off and my tongue has been tingling/going numb as well as my right leg and right foot are having the same symptoms but it happens at random times. Does anyone have any insight please? Any help would be greatly appreciated. And could this be related to pseudo seizures or is this purely Epilepsy?
Thanks guys any response will be greatly appreciated.
 
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