Has a cause been found for your seizures?

Has a cause been identified for your seizures? (Choose all that apply)

  • No. It's a big mystery.

    Votes: 80 35.6%
  • Maybe. We have some suspicions, but it's hard to know.

    Votes: 74 32.9%
  • Yes. There was an event, injury, or an illness/physical cause that caused my seizures.

    Votes: 56 24.9%
  • It's a confusing topic - I may have more than one cause, some we know, some we don't..

    Votes: 30 13.3%
  • I don't care what the cause is, so don't ask me.

    Votes: 2 0.9%
  • I care what the cause is. I want to know.

    Votes: 50 22.2%

  • Total voters
    225

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High fever from the chicken pox. When I was ten. I think I may have had petit mal before that though. My mom said I would space out a lot back then. The doc put me on tegretol. My mom sais I was a monster. I say I still am.lol
 
As far as I know it was when I fell off a bridge when I was 13, woke up the next morning grand mal seizure.
 
I have a mark on my brain (similar to a birthmark) but I only found out last month when I began to have seizures they didn't have MRI scans so all I had to go on was an EEG. So for 40 years I have blamed my art teacher for being mean to me for starting my seizures (well not me, my parents, I always thought that was a very weak reason)
 
I was delivered by forceps, and my mother was in hard labor for about 24 hours. Most military doctors back then were crude and archaic. Clearly she was under duress, and so was I, but they insisted that she walk to increase dilation. My mom told me that they never hooked her up to a fetal monitor, so there's no telling. My mother also told me that I had bruising and indentations on my temporal lobes. I would never make the connection until after I learned about my seizure disorder.

At 15 I had viral meningitis. I've read the research that it's rare to get a seizure disorder from viral meningitis, even though there is still swelling in the brain. The problem with me was that even though I complained, I suffered for about a week with intense headaches before I was taken to see a doctor. It was during summer vacation, so my parents were at work most of my waking hours, and didn't see the extent of my suffering. It would come in waves. My mother thought I might be having a migraine, which she had experienced herself. She thought waiting it out was the best course of action, and that it would pass. It didn't - not until I was finally diagnosed after having spinal taps.

Edited to add: I did experience high fevers as a child as well. Major ear infections plagued me between the ages of 6 & 8.
 
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it always seemed to make sense to me for women to be upright when giving birth, to let gravity do the work

maybe doing a handstand and vacumming the vagina with a hose Hoover attachment would make pregnancy easier
 
@ Petox

1st comment - birthing chairs - water births = most doctors are not supportive

2nd comment = ewwwww

lol
 
Just noticed above people mentioning scarring.
When I had my MRI scan either last year or early this year (can't remember which), they said there was scar tissue from my surgery (I had the surgery almost 19 years ago), the operation was on my scalp, left side to remove a lump I was born with (had the op aged 10).

My notes read:

sections show that the white area noted macroscopicallay cosists of two islands of neurological tissue. In one there are clearly differentiated ependymal channels. There are surrounding dilated vessels and a chronic inflammatory infiltrate. The overlying epidermis shows a loss of norml dermal appendages. Exision appears complete. The appearence of the neurological tissue is identical to that seen in Nasal "gliomas". This would suggest that this lesion is a very uncommon CNS Heterotopia or part of a residual Encephalocele.

Can the scar tissue I mentioned above cause seizures? Also, what exactly does The appearence of the neurological tissue is identical to that seen in Nasal "gliomas". mean?

The area where the lump was removed (which had brain tissue on it when it was removed, ie there was brain tissue outside of my bran I think) has been raised a lot lately and sore.
This being raised and sore did happen before I was on the Topamax but then on the Topamax it stopped for a while and my GP didn't know who to send me to aboutit anyway.
 
My doctor has never been prepared to talk to me in length about it (even after 2 years!) so really I have NO clue!
I'm pretty sure the MRI I had was clear, but other than that photo-sensitivity is as close as I get to a cause
 
My doctor has never been prepared to talk to me in length about it (even after 2 years!) so really I have NO clue!
I'm pretty sure the MRI I had was clear, but other than that photo-sensitivity is as close as I get to a cause

ditto here - but then no one knows why
I've had Dr.s tell me to just pay attention to signs, triggers...
science doesn't really know anything for certain anyway
it just narrows down possibilities and has odds of determination
I've had odd effects with lights too it seems, fluorescent lights - I get freaked out looking at them when they pulse, like they're near fizzling out.
 
I've had odd effects with lights too it seems, fluorescent lights - I get freaked out looking at them when they pulse, like they're near fizzling out.

I can relate to this. Looking back, before I learned I had a seizure disorder, I can see now that I was having simple partials at work but didn't realize what was happening. In general I tend to avoided being around fluorescent lighting for any length of time, when possible.
 
I can relate to this. Looking back, before I learned I had a seizure disorder, I can see now that I was having simple partials at work but didn't realize what was happening. In general I tend to avoided being around fluorescent lighting for any length of time, when possible.

it could be fascination with the pulsations that occur when those lights are losing oomph
but then I've had plenty of experience with throbbing low-Hz sounds, flashing lights, and liquid mind-alteration: i.e. dance clubs
which could have been imho, either:
low-freq. therapy
or
a mind-altering seizure gateway
I'm more inclined to believe the prior
and attribute the latter to any of a few (rather severe) head injuries I've had in my life
 
I'm queen of seizures unfortunatley. Everytime I have a surgery it gets worse. The only reason I figure I have them is because I can help others who have the same problem try and keep a positive attitude. I have every rare thing that can happen. the docs said 2 % your child will have epilepsy. My child does. 50 % rtl will cure your epilepsy. HA My focal is now generalized. Look at the computer to long, fall down. listen to loud anything, fall down. But I'm happy. I retain All my medical learnings lol and I get to teach teachers about it.
 
why does this happen

:e:
I went to go into UPS store and then heard the cab driver laughing at me. I looked around where I was and didn't know where I was . I looked on the ground and walked in circles. I heard him mumble something to me but I did not understand him. I then realized I had a seizure. I was having a balance problem at that point and took an ativan because I was starting to get confused again and could not talk. I handed the UPS people the info. and they knew what to do.

I called the doctor's office put had a hard time communicating the information. The nurse assumed she had it right and I was tired of trying to convey the information. She then called me back an hr later to not take a medication I had stopped a week ago.

I feel if it happens again I will go to the ER. I am getting frustrating in communicating.
 
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Good evenin' guys,
Just logged on and started reading the comments about delivery, forceps, etc. To throw my two cents in, I was also a forceps baby (and vaccuum); not because I was big however but cuz my mom was quite small, and when I recently had my first visit with an epileptologist I inquired about the forceps possibly being a culprit. I have an arachnoid cyst as well as a mild mass at the left hippocampus. The e doc did not hesitate to say 'no.'
I was quite relieved, as was my mom. I have read, and heard, that some people are guaranteed that is the reason though. So curious, as I've said before, how from one specialist to the next their opinions, answers, etc. can be SO different. What the hell?
 
My seizures started out of nowhere @ the age of 38, during a period of high stress. I had a positive EEG for left temporal lobe epilepsy, but a normal MRI. So the doctor has no idea what the cause is.

I personally wonder if I may have lowered my seizure threshold as a result of neurological damage from a long period of alcohol abuse. I quit drinking 18 months before my first seizure, but during my sobriety I had never been under as much stress as I was when the szs began. But that is entirely guesswork on my part!
 
My seizures started out of nowhere @ the age of 38, during a period of high stress. I had a positive EEG for left temporal lobe epilepsy, but a normal MRI. So the doctor has no idea what the cause is.

I personally wonder if I may have lowered my seizure threshold as a result of neurological damage from a long period of alcohol abuse. I quit drinking 18 months before my first seizure, but during my sobriety I had never been under as much stress as I was when the szs began. But that is entirely guesswork on my part!

I was sober for about 7 years when I had my first observed tonic-clonic seizure.

It's astounding how alcohol can be available for sale yet marijuana can't, isn't it?

What was your booze of choice? Mine was vodka at the end. Same as Bud Abbot!
 
petox, I was a mostly a white wine drinker, and not too selective about it either. Three-buck Chuck's from Trader Joe's suited me fine! I also became receptive to many other options as time went on.

I personally believe the drug codes in the U.S. are rife with hypocrisy. The question of how to fix those problems is very complex! But I certainly support medical marijuana.
 
I went to an expert neurologist he charged me $200 an hr and looked at my MRI and told me that ......................."The Brain Is A Mystery."
 
I don't have any gauranties on what caused my E. Not sure about my birth as I was adopted. What I did find out was that I was late and under weight. My understanding is that my birth mom was a smoker and possible coke user during pregnancy. I had tremors most of my childhood but they were never addresses. I recieved repeated head traumas through out my youth which also may be a contributing factor. My first known T/C was while I was delivering my own daughter.
 
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