New to this

[Ellyjaye]

Hi everyone,

I am 61 years old, pretty active with a rather stressful job.

After a few strange events a month ago ( getting amazingly sleepy driving to work, confused, couldn't find words, almost passed out and lost some mobility) i was thoroughly tested and was diagnosed with complex partial seizures. I think they are simple focal because I don't remember ever losing consciousness.

I'm having a hard time typing now!

The neuro said I've been having them my whole life! I had serious migraines since I can remember (7 years old?) and thought the side effects were from the migraines! But I've not had migraines for a few years and just recently noticed more events that now could be attributed to simple focal seizures.

I think. I don't want to attribute every goofy thing I've done (like the past few days having trouble typing) to focal seizures!

Anyway, right now I'd like to learn what my symptoms are and what the after effects are. It's difficult, it seems, because focl seizures effect different parts of the brain so are different for every one.

So I will be her I think often as I feel my way through my new Alice in Wonderland world.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Ellyjaye, welcome to CWE!

I think that in some ways partial seizures must be especially tricky since the symptoms can take so many different forms. Plus, they are close cousins to migraines, and in some cases one disorder may be misdiagnosed for the other. Many folks can experience them for years without being diagnosed.

I've never had partials seizures myself, but you're in good company -- plenty of CWE members have. Below are some links and CWE threads that you may find helpful:

http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f22/invaluable-article-simple-partials-auras-13324/
http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/types-seizures/simple-partial-seizures
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f27/simple-partial-seizures-epilepsy-4858/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f22/proactive-prescription-epilepsy-1254/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com...auras-determine-location-seizure-focus-18572/

Best,
Nakamova

 

[Ellyjaye]

Thanks

And what does "stumble this post" mean?

 

[Ellyjaye]

And one more question (if this is the place for questions).

I have noticed almost debilitating tiredness, sleepiness, that I cannot account for. It may be after a good night's sleep. Can that be a result of seizures?

Thanks.

 

[George__]

And one more question (if this is the place for questions).

I have noticed almost debilitating tiredness, sleepiness, that I cannot account for. It may be after a good night's sleep. Can that be a result of seizures?

Thanks.

I'm no doctor but maybe

:hugs:

 

[SlimBlue]

And what does "stumble this post" mean?

Hi Ellyjaye, welcome to CWE

StumbleUpon is a 'discovery engine/recommender'. It's basically a search engine that attempts to automate the word-of-mouth referral of peer-approved Web sites, via collaborative filtering (a mixture of machine learning of your preferences, and human rating of pages).

If you are a member there, clicking the icon here recommends this post to other members on there that like the same things, they rate it too, and the more people that rate, the more it then gets recommended to others.

It's a way of saying 'show me pages on the stuff you know I like- based on what I've told you I like, and what you've worked out I like- based on the topics of the pages I've recommended to others'.

The other 2 icons are for similar content 'recommender' social networks.

 

[fluff4brains]

@EllyJaye, I'd precede de this comment with all the usual 'I am not a doctor' stuff, but you may want to have the possibility of a brain tumor checked and crossed off your list. A CT with Contrast or something.

I mention this only because I became aware of my tumour because of the Epilepsy (which was initially mistaken for a trans ischemic attack - a TIA or mini-stroke) which lead to the CT scan with contrast.

A lump or tumour is linked to headaches, tiredness and other symptoms in some folks. I only found out about it thanks to the epilepsy. E was my 'brain Canary' so to speak.

Not wishing to alarm anyone - heavens no! But E can be a symptom as well as an illness.

 

[valeriedl]

And one more question (if this is the place for questions).

I have noticed almost debilitating tiredness, sleepiness, that I cannot account for. It may be after a good night's sleep. Can that be a result of seizures?

Thanks.

I will sleep for hours after I have a seizure. And usually the next day I'm pretty worn out and sleep most of it.

 

[lindsayschu2]

Another thought is, I occasionally have sudden sleepiness, where it's almost impossible to keep my eyes open, and I can't walk a straight line (lasts about 5 minutes), before my worst myoclonic seizures, as a sort of pre-ictal, or pre-seizure phase. (I've never gotten that before a partial seizure though). Another thought to consider, though I don't know how long your episodes of sleepiness last. Welcome to the site, and I'm glad you found us!