Do you feel "different" before a seizure?

[momof3boys]

I ask this because today while I was at my parents house, I started to what what I thought was a headache due to lack of Caffiene. So, on my way home, I stopped to get a pop to see if that helped. But as the day went on, the headache just got worse. I havnt had this bad of headache since October of 2010 when my last neuro dr increased my keppra to 4000mgs.

My head was hurting mostly on my left side, but as the day went on, its now more right above my left ear, in my left temporal lobe area. Right where my epilepsy is located. I really didnt have an appetite, and my stomach hasnt felt good at all today. Ive been feeling like I want to sleep.

I hope its not a sign a seizure is wanting to come... but I just wanted to see if anyone here has had signs like this prior to a seizure occuring?

 

[SeizetheNight]

It's 'funny' that you posted this, because I was almost going to start the same thread. I can not say that I have a sign like this prior to a seizure, but I have been feeling really off for the past few days, and I am starting to really worry that it might mean that a seizure is coming. I have not had one in over 8 months. From my past seizures, there really has been no warning for me, as I have been asleep for most. The only one that I was awake for I had about 30 seconds of "OH NO, WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!?". But I have been on a new medication since the last seizure, so I don't know what to expect.
For the past couple of days, I have been feeling a little slower than I should, and I have been having a bit of trouble concentrating. I also have a weird feeling in my head, that is hard for me to describe. I really hope that it does not mean that a seizure is coming. I guess I will let you know in a day or so, but I am sure that you will already know for yourself then also. Hopefully you just have a normal headache, and not a seizure.

 

[momof3boys]

Whats weird is that when I was at my parents house today, I was talking with my mom about how great it is to only have to be on 1 aniti seizure drug. I was just so use to being on at least two all my life, it feels good to only have to take one! Then as I was there, I just started to get the headache. I did wake up feeling really tired though in the morning. Almost like a truck had hit me and I felt like I had to be dragged out of bed. I got up to get ready to get some errons done, and kept telling myself I better get some caffiene in me to wake my butt up!

I feel this "off" feeling prior to a seizure. Kind of a feeling like youre just not all there. Thats what I tell my mom. Its a feeling hard to describe. Sometimes I feel like Im not standing on all my weight... if you know what I mean?

When I had the seizures during my VEEG, with the auras, I got the feeling like something "not good" was going to happen... followed by a nausus feeling in my stomach, then a feeling of sadness would overcome me. By this time my left hand and foot would start to get a tingling sensation in them, which would spread to up my left side of my body, all the way to my head and I woudl have a really weird feeling on the roof of my mouth. When the tingling would begin, my head would want to turn to my right, and my right arm and leg would stiffen and start to jerk.

This would last for a couple of minutes, sometimes less. But during this whole time, I would be able to hear what others were saying, feel the tingling sensations, and depending on how intense the seizure symptoms were, I could either nod my head to others who are asking questions, or have to wait til after it was over to answer them.

The more I look it up, the more Im seeing these are simple partial seizures. Something that is new to me, since my whole life I was use to having complex partial seizures and grand mal seizures.

 

[mel239]

My 2 meds have been holding my seizures and I have been really good with avoiding any triggers myself so everything has been grand.but Fri nite i had no choice but to make stuff for grad party and do strawberries for jam and about midnite i was washing last batch when i got burnt smell which was burnt charcoal then burnt hamburger on charcoal.That as as far as it got and I went to sleep for 3 crappy hours and got back up after 5 more hours with strawberries i got intense headache which i thought was exhaustion and everything seemed to go in slo motion but I struggled on because I couldnt let 60 dollars in berries go bad.So I knew i was pushing myself over the edge and my top gums and nose began to hum electrically but really low grade and then i felt itchy like bugs were crawling on me.To the point where i had somebody check my head and I stripped off my clothes in bathroom so i could look in mirror.In 2 minutes it was gone and I didnt itch at all and felt fine so mine are being held to just auras and i did that to myself so I can handle this.But mine started with a headache and I havent had one in ages

 

[Endless]

I get this electrical kind of feeling in my head. It's hard to describe. It comes only a few seconds before the seizure.

Up to a few hours before a seizure I can feel a sense of forboding on and off, and extreme exhaustion.

 

[SevenC]

YES I am so glad you posted this thread!!!! I was going to post a similar one when I got back ( I've been in Philadelphia) A week ago, I woke up with the worst headache of my entire life. I'd been dealing with a regular headache going on 3 days. This headache was so bad I couldn't walk, I wanted to throw up. Just sharp stabbing pain behind and above my left eye. I thought I was going to die, I would have rather done 11 hours of childbirth again. Long story short, saw my neuologist, apparently I am now having ice pick cluster migraines. Yay! He told me migraines often come before a seizure or seizures can often cause migraines.

hmmmmmm

Food for thought though and glad you made the thread. I had never connected these 2. It's good to hear others experiences.

 

[Jfpinell]

Hmmmmm.......most of what I've read on here would make me suggest lavender oil. It can, among other things, many times stop seizures or what may turn into one, in seconds. I've also seen it work on migraines in seconds on at least 5 or 6 people I've given it to.
There was a case a few years ago that I had a seizure in the middle of church. An M.D. I know on a personal level seen me and knew what was wrong. She was trying her darndest to get me to go down by the E.R. until I said "No...wait a minute." Well, I grabbed that little bottle out of my pocket, put ONE DROP on my pulse on my wrist, and ONE under my nose to get the full effect of it, and in about 15 or 20 SECONDS (instead of about 20 or 30 mins. as before I started using this), I was walking around like nothing had happened! Her jaw almost hit the floor and she goes: "WHAT HAVE YOU GOT THERE???" I just couldn't resist asking her..."Mary, you being a physician and seeing first hand something other than drugs and surgery, what's your opinion?" (By the way, she seen it happen twice with me and once with her neice.) Half the time I still sit giggling to myself asking "how many more times do you have to see this Mary before you'll admit that just maybe Someone already gave us more than we're willing to admit to nowadays?" Go look up www.naturessunshine.com if anyone's interested in trying it.

 

[valeriedl]

I don't know if this is the same type of thing that you are describling, but I get really confused about what I'm doing when I feel a seizure coming on. This has just started happening recently because I used to just have the seizure HIT and then next thing I know I was out of it and someone told me I had one.

A few weeks ago I was washing windows. I had all the cleaning supplies around me but then all of a sudden I didn't know what I was supposta be doing with them. I knew they should be there but I couldn't figure out why. I had the seizure a few minutes later.

Last night too, I was on the computer going to different web sites. All of a sudden I stopped remembering passwords, even when I truned my computer on and off, which I did several times because I thought the thing was freezing up. I finally made it to this web site, but I couldn't figure out how to get to the posts and when I finally didn't I couldn't understand what was typed on the screen. That's when I realized that I was having/had a seizure.

I just notice I start getting confused before one.

 

[SeizetheNight]

I was just wondering if your headache turned out to be the beginnings of a seizure or not? I hope it was just a false alarm. For me, it turned out to be a false alarm. My head felt weird for a few days, but I seem to be back to 'normal' now. I was really worried that my change in meds might mean that the seizure could be starting differently then it did in the past. But I am still 8 months seizure free, and just had a bit of an uncomfortable weekend. :+)

 

[dzivko]

my head only hurt after my last seizure and the dosage was raised. It hurt on the top right side. After about a month, the pain stopped. I am on 3000 mg of generic Keppra a day. As far as signs before a seizure, I usually don't get them...I have complex partial and forget where I live, what year it is, and start repeating myself although I am not aware of what I am saying.

 

[dzivko]

I can definitely relate...didn't know how to get into work door, didn't know how to get on computer, then was on computer but don't remember how I got there...finally had to fess up to the secretary that something was really wrong....I was 51 and first time I was diagnosed....before that it was that I was "high strung."

 

[momof3boys]

I think what I was experiencing was due to the Strep Throat. My head was really hurting the day prior, and then that night I posted this it was in my left temporal lobe area. Right where my seizures are located. Luckly, I had no seizure activity, but I woke up the next morning with swollen glands, a huge headache, and then came the fever and chills with the sore throat.

So I think they were the starting symptoms of strep throat that was experiencing. Im on day 3 of my antibitotics and Im already starting to feel better!

 

[msuder0583]

Yes i actually feel different hours prior to one....I feel almost as if I'm in a dream world. Also - this is hard to explain - but if I would stroke my arm or face, the nerves have a delayed reaction. So its almost like a numbness, and I wouldn't feel things until seconds after they touched me. It's odd.

 

[elizzza811]

The evening before a seizure I will often flip out over something stupid (or at least in excess of what is called for), or I'll find myself crying for no reason or extra emotional (tearfully listening to a sad song, for example).

I also notice a few other things that seem to happen a day or two before I seizure...

- I hear a rhythmic 'wooshing' sound in my R ear.
- I tend to sweat profusely, on and off, regardless of temperature. Exposure to sunlight, can serve as a 'sweat trigger', too.
- The house in the evening appears 'dimmer' to me somehow?...even with the usual lights on, and my pupils are especially tiny, even in the dimmest light.

 

[Jfpinell]

The evening before a seizure I will often flip out over something stupid (or at least in excess of what is called for), or I'll find myself crying for no reason or extra emotional (tearfully listening to a sad song, for example).

I also notice a few other things that seem to happen a day or two before I seizure...

- I hear a rhythmic 'wooshing' sound in my R ear.
- I tend to sweat profusely, on and off, regardless of temperature. Exposure to sunlight, can serve as a 'sweat trigger', too.
- The house in the evening appears 'dimmer' to me somehow?...even with the usual lights on, and my pupils are especially tiny, even in the dimmest light.

This would be the time to use the lavender oil I mentioned so often here! In your case several times a day whenever you get any of these feelings. And also periodically throughout the day for "maintainence" on the days you feel like this. Lavender has a calming effect on the body. It's worked a hundred times on me -witnessed twice by, of all people, an M.D. on me and once on her niece. I've also seen it stop migraines in SECONDS on at least 6 occasions on different people! If you're interested, ask me for more info.

 

[kmcbrooks]

I am Amazed! I am a new member and have been researching since my new diagnosis of Left TLE. The way you all have described your auras, symptoms before and after, and the "unexplainables" just gives me chills knowing that I am not alone. I would be rethreading several of these messages if I posted all of my symptoms. I have been on Keppra 1000mg twice daily since October 2010. I'm feeling like some small symptoms are reoccuring too frequently even if I don't have "full seizure" activity. Does anyone know how soon is too soon to increase the Keppra. I don't want to wait until a "full seizure" occurs, but I don't want to look stupid at my dr's office either. Any help is appreciated.

 

[momof3boys]

I am Amazed! I am a new member and have been researching since my new diagnosis of Left TLE. The way you all have described your auras, symptoms before and after, and the "unexplainables" just gives me chills knowing that I am not alone. I would be rethreading several of these messages if I posted all of my symptoms. I have been on Keppra 1000mg twice daily since October 2010. I'm feeling like some small symptoms are reoccuring too frequently even if I don't have "full seizure" activity. Does anyone know how soon is too soon to increase the Keppra. I don't want to wait until a "full seizure" occurs, but I don't want to look stupid at my dr's office either. Any help is appreciated.

Write down in a notebook or diary all the things that youre experiencing. My dr was trying to wean me off of Keppra 3000mgs to Lamictal 200mgs daily. During that time period, I had a allergic reaction to the Lamictal, so I had to quit that, and was put on 2500mgs of Keppra. What I was down to at the time I had the allergic reaction. So my dr felt like it was a high enough dose, and left me on that. I went for 3 weeks experiencing numbness in my left hand and foot. No seizures, just the symptoms of the aura I would get before a seizure. When I went to my follow up appointment, I brought this up to the PA. Now this PA didnt know what the heck she was talking about. When I told her about the numbness or tingling feeling I was getting, she told me it wasnt even associated with seizures!? :roflmao:onder: but then after i asked if I was going to be kept on Keppra, if I could go back to the Keppra XR due to the frequent headaches I was experiencing being on the 500mg tablets of Keppra, she said sure. So due to Keppra XR being only available in 750mg tablets, they put me back to 3000mgs a day. Now within 5 days of being back on this amount, the tingling and numbness I was experiencing on the 2500mgs of Keppra, had gone away! In the meantime, I had to still go see the psych dr and take papers to back up all the progress I had made over the past few months since my neuro dr tried to say I was having non epileptic seizures. After my appointment with her, she saw where I was coming from and agreed with me on these seizures being epileptic and the Keppra treating them. If they were not epileptic seizures, the Keppra wouldnt be treating them and I would be having them. Its crazy how much information we as patients can find, and then we have the struggle of presenting it to the drs to let them see where were coming from.

But in the meantime, I would be writing down everything "New" youre experiencing. Call your drs office, tell them of these things, and if you dont have a appointment set up, I would set one up, or else ask a nurse if you can get your dose of medication increased to see if these things improve.

Ive been on Keppra since the age of 18, and Im now 30. Ive had no problems with the Keppra, and anything new I have, I make sure to write down and let the drs know.

If you have any questions, please feel free to Message me.

 

[elizzza811]

This would be the time to use the lavender oil I mentioned so often here! In your case several times a day whenever you get any of these feelings. And also periodically throughout the day for "maintainence" on the days you feel like this. Lavender has a calming effect on the body.

Thanks...what do I do with the oil? Just breathe it in? I have oils in a drawer here...I forget though if I have lavendar oil?

 

[kmcbrooks]

Thank You for Your Help

 

[Jfpinell]

First thing is you need a high quality oil -don't trust the stuff in bubble bath (all that is is more of a scent and because of what it's all mixed with (and who knows what else has been done to it), that's about all it's good for.
I'd highly suggest going on www.naturessunshine (2 "s" 's in the middle that) and getting that. That's the only place my herbalists gets her stuff because of the strict high quality.
What I do (and you may need more or less depending on what your body needs -how off balance it is at the time) is rub 1 or 2 drops on my pulse ans 1 under my nose to get the full scent/effect of it. No absolute guarantee -it may not be what your body wants (hard to explain unless you're really into this stuff and understand about correcting balance in your body and such) but it's worth a try. Don't worry if it doesn't work the first time or so...you might be that far out of balance, and it could take some time for everything to get "aligned" right.