One off Seizures?

[edoriel]

Hi Everyone
Just wanted to ask a quick question and hope people won't find it annoying as I know that my situation is very good compared to what many people have to cope with in their lives!
I am 33 and had one TC seizure when I had just turned 17. It happened when I was out walking the dog and was walking through a forest and looking for the dog's ball. It was spring and the ground was thickly carpeted in a type of small plant. It made a very vivid pattern on the ground. As I was concentrating hard on the ground and the strange leaves while looking form the ball, the pattern caused by the leaves made my eyes feel funny. I remember saying to my mum that the leaves made me eyes go weird and she told me not to look at them, which I duly ignored. Apparently a few minutes later I had a full on seizure and effectively spent 5 minutes break dancing in ther undergrowth before coming round.
Went to see a neuro who to be honest didn't seem hugely concerned and said I had had a photosensitive seizure and it was likely a one off caused by any number of factors that would be hard to pinpoint. I had been on antibiotics for acne for a few weeks as well which may have contributed I guess. I had an eeg which was apparently normal although I have a weird memory that there might have been one minor abnormality but obviously wasn't anything to concern the doc.
I went off happy. 6 months later I was watching tv and a freaky scene came on tv. It freaked me out a bit and looking back it might well have started a panic attack as I thought I was going to have another seizure. My mum who was there again freaked out at my reaction which made it worse! I didn't actually have a seizure but went back to see the neuro. As a precaution he put me on 500g of Epilim once a day. I stayed on this for around 5 years and had no seizures.
I then came off Epilim, the neuro saying he doubted I ever had epilepsy, and have now gone a further 12 years with no seizures.
However I do still, however irrational, get anxiety worrying about having another seizure. Whenever I have an odd feeling it triggers anxiety. I get feelings of drealization and anxiety that then make me feel I will have another attack and it doesn't help that these kind of vague symptoms can attach themselves to so many possible causes, including simple seizures. I freak out whenever patterns or lights make my eyes go funny, such as venetian blinds and those same plants from before, even though friends will say the same things make them feel funny but they will just look away.
Several GPs have said it is very unlikely I will have another but the fact the last one happened out of the blue still scares me. Over the years I have been in many situations of extreme stress and lack of sleep and never had anything but I still worry! I guess it's just never having known what caused the first one.
Anyway, all I wanted to know was whether it is a fairly common thing for people who have a first seizure to never have another? I appreciate that posting symptoms of derealization and dizziness on an epilepsy forum will provoke suggestions of seizures and I am not asking people to categorically state I will never have another anymore than I can go to my doctor and ask him to guarantee I won't get run over by a bus tomorrow. I was just interested to know how common one off seizures actually are and whether going 17 years without a 2nd seizure should reassure me my chances of having another are slim. I guess most people who don't have a second dont hang around on epilepsy forums but if people do have any opinions I'd be interested to hear them.
Thanks so much!
Ed

 

[stephk]

Hi edoriel,
I would say that if you have only had a single episode that is a great thing, especially so long ago. I think that perhaps you have answered your own question, you had an episode that caused anxiety, then your mom freaked out when you started to feel odd again which creates even more anxiety. So when you even begin to feel like that the anxiety is magnified. Honestly if you are worried about it, I would speak to your doctor. It doesn't hurt to speak to your doctor about it. There are a lot of things that could have contributed to your first episode, hormones and or lifestyle for instance. I personally don't know how often that occurs, but i am sure that you can research it to find out. Good luck

 

[SeizetheNight]

Hello edoriel,

Well, I didn't have my first seizure until I was 30 years old, and it was a t/c. But when I went to the neurologist, we decided not to do medication at that time. He felt that it could just be a one time event, due to the stressors that had been going on in my life at that time. Unfortunately for me, I ended up having another 4 months later. However, it would seem that it is not that uncommon for someone to have just one seizure. Also, from reading this forum, I have learned that in general the longer someone goes without having a seizure, the less likely they are to have another one.

 

[Bernard]

Hi edoriel, welcome to the forum. :hello:

... Anyway, all I wanted to know was whether it is a fairly common thing for people who have a first seizure to never have another? ...

Generally speaking, people are not diagnosed as having epilepsy until they have had at least two seizures. I would guess that condition was set because there is a large number of people who have one offs.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi edoriel --

About 2% of adults have a seizure at some time during their life. Two thirds of these people never have another one. Each individual has a seizure "threshold", and for most people that threshold is never crossed. Photosensitivity is one of the more common triggers for single episode. You may remember an event a number of years back, when many Jaanese children had seizures while watching a kid's TV show that had all sorts of crazy flashing lights and patterns. Those children never had seizures again -- it was a one-time thing.

Just out of curiosity -- do you get migraines at all? Photosensitivity is also a common trigger for those.

 

[edoriel]

Thanks everyone for your comments and welcomes!

I don't suffer from migraines fortunately but do find some things in life difficult to look at - mainly strong contrasting patterns and stuff but friends have said they too don't exactly enjoy looking at weird patterns. The plants that caused me to have a seizure my girlfriend has seen too and said staring at them immediately makes her feel weird so there is something about them that does seem to have a strong effect on some people. Am hoping it was a unique image that caused me a problem cos I stared at it not being aware of the dangers and that now I know I can just avoid such situations.
I just wasn't sure if my particular seizure, and subsequent 17 years with no further attacks, meant it was likely I also had epilepsy that wasn't photosensitive related - I worry the photosensitive was just a coincidental trigger and that I could have random future attacks. My GP said he though in all liklihood that if I was susceptible to having attacks I would've had another by now so I was probably fine. Doesn't stop me worrying but is nice to hear that you guys seem to agree one-offs aren't unusual and does not mean I am likely to have spontaneous future ones.
Thanks!