Not sure, any advice?

[CharlieFreel]

Hi my names Charlotte. I had meningitis when I was 2yrs old and am now 23yrs. I hadn't had a seizure since I was 2 until saturday night just passed. I am waiting to see a neuroligist but am very anxious and worried as I have 6 month old twins and am on my own most of the day until my partner finishes work and wouldnt be able to forgive myself if anything happened to them . I was asleep when i had the seizure so it wasn't too bad but if i was to have 1 in the day would i get any warning? Do you think it could be a restart of something ? or just due to having quite a lot of stress the past weeks? thanks for taking the time to read.

 

[CQ:)]

Hi Charlotte,
Welcome to CWE.
Stress is a very common trigger for seizures so it could be the stress you have been under recently that has triggered the seizure. Also I imagine with twin babies you wouldn't get a lot of sleep so maybe fatigue could also be a trigger for you.
Epilepsy is a really unpredictable medical condition & it is hard to know when it will rear it's ugly head, some people can go months or even years between seizures.

I 1st started having seizures when I was 9 months & took tonic clonic seizures until I was 3, I was kept on meds until I was 7. I went 21 years seizure free until 2002 when I was 24 I started having seizures again. We all have different triggers but my main triggers to my seizures were stress, over tiredness & overdoing things. After my seizures returned I didn't take to many Tonic Clonics but I mainly took simple partial (auras) & complex partial seizures & tried 5 different meds none of which controlled the partials. In the end after my neurologist tried me on my 5th med (which was an add on to 2 other meds) he said there wasn't much more he could do & suggested I look into brain surgery & referred me to an epitiologist. After meeting an epitiologist & going through pre surgery test I had brain surgery in March 2011.
I had MRIs after my seizures returned & they showed scarring on my left temperol lobe. The neurologists/epitiologists /neurosurgeons all believe the scarring was caused by the tonic clonics I took on a regular basis as a baby but no one knows why I went so long seizure free. As I said epilepsy is very unpredictable lol.

Do you have a set date for the neurologist? Before you go in to your appt write down any questions or concerns you may want to bring up with the neurologist & it's always good to have someone go in with you to the appt. It is also good to keep a journal of seizure activity & anything you may notice different.

Good luck with everything.

 

[Mungie]

Hi! Welcome to CWE! I just started here, and I already feel like I have friends that understand what it is like to be "out of control."

I am 36, and was diagnosed with Epilepsy at 18, but we are pretty sure I was born with it. I just started seeing an epileptologist about a year ago (?) and we finally found out WHY! I was born with grey matter heterotopia...a teeny tiny bit of grey matter didn't get to the right place when I was still in utero. I have had a lot of blunt head trauma as well.

Keeping track of when you have seizures is a very good idea. I have both simple and complex partial seizures. The simples are too numerous to count, but I can usually tell when/if I have had a complex. I always note it on the calendar, and I have been able to see a pattern emerge. Writing down stuff that happened before the seizure is helpful in the long run. I know that if I wake up with a headache, I need to take it easy! Adrenaline seems to be a trigger for me!

I wish you the best of luck! Anytime you need to chat, we look forward to "seeing" you here. I am available if you want to private message me...I don't work/go out on my own, so I love writing/talking with people. It gets lonely while my husband is at work.

Sending love from Oregon!

 

[jyearta]

Hi,

Just wanted add this to the great advice you have already gotten.

I didn't know this until I joined this forum, a hormonal imbalance might be jet another trigger for seizures.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Charlotte, welcome!

I was asleep when i had the seizure so it wasn't too bad but if i was to have 1 in the day would i get any warning? Do you think it could be a restart of something ? or just due to having quite a lot of stress the past weeks?

Unfortunately, there's no way to predict. Epilepsy is ust tow eird in that way. Some folks get warning sensations before they have a grand mal seizure, and some don't. Seizure patterns can change over time too, so what may have been true for you 20 years ago could be different now. I do hope your recent breakthrough seizure was a just a fluke, but since there's no way to be sure, you should be extra-careful until you can see the neuro. Fatigue is the #1 seizure trigger, and stress in all its forms can be triggering as well. So make sure you are sleeping, eating, and drinking properly (no easy easy task I'm sure with 6-month-old twins!), and avoid driving if at all possible.