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Annelis

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I had what seemed to be a seizure in November. An eeg and ambulatory eeg showed TIRDA but no definate seizures. My Neuro called it an Idiopathic spell
In December he said that I should start Keppra just in case.
Fast forward to this week when I saw an Epilleptologist (my Neuro retired in Dec). She said I most likely had a seizure and that I shouldn't drive until 6 months seizure free.
Has anyone else experienced something similar. I am frustrated as I had been told that it was ok to drive because there was no definate lesion or seizure.
It is now 2 months later and the DR says not to drive. When should the "clock" start? Now or when I started the meds? I've had no further episodes. I am not getting a reponse from the Dr. Thanks, Ann
 
All my doctors have told me you have to be 'seizure free' for six months. I believe that means that you have to go six months from the day of the last seizure you had, someone please correct me if I'm wrong about this. As long as you haven't had any seizures again in that six months then you can drive. If you were to have a seizure at any time during that six month period then the whole process starts all over again.

Annelis said:
I am frustrated as I had been told that it was ok to drive because there was no definate lesion or seizure.
It is now 2 months later and the DR says not to drive.
Click to expand...

Someone else will need to give you some more information about this because I really can't.

It's nice to meet you!
 
The rules are different depending on where you are, and often the neuro can't change those rules. IE here in New Zealand, regardless of if the neuro says s/he thinks you can drive, the New Zealand Transport Authority says if you have a seisure, or unexplained fainting you can't drive for until you're 12 months seisure free. That 12 months also restarts if you have a medication change, regardless of seisure activity. It's pretty strict!

BUT in other areas the rules are different. I suggest looking up the transport or driver licensing rules rather than just what the neuro says in terms of driving.
 
What kind of seizure did you appear to have? Was it a tonic-clonic (grand mal)? If so, then most states require some sort of waiting period before you can drive again. The laws vary from state to state. Some have a fixed time period of being seizure-free of anywhere from 6 to 12 months. Some require a doctor's letter saying that you're okay to drive. Some require the doctor to notify the DMV, and for other's it's up to you. If your state has a 6-month seizure-free period, then it would start from the incident in November. (Which means you could drive again in April/May.)

BTW, TIRDA on the EEG is usually considered a very strong indicator for Complex Partial Epilepsy, so that may be why your epileptologist is recommending that you wait the full 6 months before driving. Complex Partial Seizures don't feature full loss of consciousness like a tonic-clonic, but they do feature impaired awareness, so there is a real risk if you were to have one while driving.
 
I've just read the above comments and am surprised that I wasn't told that I couldn't drive- I've had epilepsy (or at least diagnosed) for 3 years- when I had my first grand-mal at night. However, I think that I've been having simple partial seizures around ovulation ever since I was in my 30's. My nocturnal seizure happened after menopause, at 54yrs, at the exact same time of the month when I would have had my period (my periods were like a clock and driven by the moon, so pretty easy to predict). Anyway I'm interested in anyone out there who have epilepsy related to hormonal fluctuations?
 
Hey Swimmer,
I had my 1st aura in 1979 when I was pregnant with my 3rd son. Luckily, that's all it was was auras. Fast Forward to 2006 had just begun menopause when it really hit the fan. I was having nocturnal seizures initially. Never forget, one night I woke to EMTs in our bedroom. My husband had called them. Was put on Keppra. In 2008 my beloved husband of 38 yrs. passed of colorectal cancer and I had a very bad meltdown. Was in ER Christmas eve 2008. Luckily, my sister-in-law was staying with me.
So, I think that mine are totally hormonally related, as well as sleep deprivation and stress. Fortunately, I've been seizure free since 2008 but I am on 1000 mgs. of generic Keppra daily. I've tried to go lower but when I hit 500 I started getting auras again and was afraid to lose my license. Here in Florida you would be SOL without it!
That's my story!
Good Luck to you! This place is awesome!
M
 
Seizures that are at least in part triggered by hormonal fluctuations are called "catamenial epilepsy". The trigger is spikes in estrogen levels (or drops in progesterone levels, which otherwise balances out estrogen). Treatment can involve certain kinds of contraception, progesterone creams or lozenges (natural forms have been found to the most effective), and anti-estrogenic diets.

You can read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamenial_epilepsy

And it's discussed in the CWE threads found at the link:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/tags/catamenial epilepsy.html
 
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