Possible Epilepsy

[Sourgrape]

First a little background. I was about 2 months pre-me at about 1 month I started having seizures. They lasted for about 4 months. I have several questions. As a child I experienced absence seizure symptoms and still do. I find myself zoning out for short periods of time frequently. I find myself while driving to be thinking about some detailed topic and then feeling like I was just waking up. Often I will blank out and then wonder how I don't remember a section of road I would have had to just have driven. Sometimes a few hundred yards of road, sometimes several miles. Same thing happens on the couch, bathroom, the classroom, many times a day. I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea and done a sleep study. I do daydream some but considering all the doctors have been stumped with me I figure I'll go through and weed out possibles. So on to my questions.

1. Is it possible to have siezures while driving and still drive the vehicle and keep it on the road.
2. Is it possible for a sleep study to completely miss siezures.
3.Would my seizures as an infant make other types of seizures more likely?
4. Anyone know if any types of epilepsy affect hormone levels(i'm male), mood, depression, concentration, reading comprehension? I have to read everything 3 times to get everything.

 

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

STOP DRIVING AND GET TESTED BY A NEUROLOGIST!

It sounds to me like you have "absence seizures." This explanation comes from epilepsy.com: "Absence seizures usually last less than 10 seconds, but can be as long as 20. They begin and end suddenly.

They consist of brief episodes of staring. Another name for them is petit mal (PET-ee mahl). During the seizure, awareness and responsiveness are impaired. People who have them usually don't realize when they've had one. There is no warning before a seizure, and the person is completely alert immediately afterward.

Simple absence seizures are just stares. Many absence seizures are considered complex absence seizures, which means that they include a change in muscle activity. The most common movements are eye blinks. Other movements include slight tasting movements of the mouth, hand movements such as rubbing the fingers together, and contraction or relaxation of the muscles. Complex absence seizures are often more than 10 seconds long.

Absence seizures can resemble some complex partial seizures or episodes of daydreaming..." http://my.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/seizure_absence

 

[Endless]

Hi, Sourgrape,

Welcome to CWE. I love your screenname!

1. Is it possible to have siezures while driving and still drive the vehicle and keep it on the road.
Yep. During complex partials (altered conciousness but not a whole-brain seizure) you can still perform routine tasks, like walking, talking, driving, etc., but still be unconcious. You are lucky. If you were in a situation where you had to react while driving you'd be in an accident. Maybe a really bad one. When I had them, people swore I was concious and awake. They couldn't tell I was having a seizure at all except I would say and do really goofy stuff or walk off or drive to a different place, and I wouldn't remember any of it.

2. Is it possible for a sleep study to completely miss siezures.
Yep, again. There are a limited number of electrodes on your head during a sleep study, and they might not be over your seizure area. Especially if they are temporal lobe seizures. There isn't usually an electrode there, and your seizure may be too deep in the brain for the electrodes to pick up.

3.Would my seizures as an infant make other types of seizures more likely?
Yep again. Febrile seizures double a person's chance of developing seizures as an adult.

About 2% of children with febrile seizures will eventually develop epileptic seizures. The odds are slightly higher if the child has a long febrile seizure, the seizure primarily affects one side of the body or multiple seizures occur with a single febrile illness. Most children with febrile convulsions do not develop epilepsy.

http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/neurology/epilepsyfaq/index.html

4. Anyone know if any types of epilepsy affect hormone levels(i'm male), mood, depression, concentration, reading comprehension? I have to read everything 3 times to get everything.
Yes. Seizures can affect memory, moods. Depression is more common in people with seizures. It can be caused by the seizures, or by the medications.

Interictal depression , occurs in 25% to 55% of patients (1,2). Further, the suicide rate of persons with epilepsy is more than five times that of controls (1,3). Interictal depression has biological mechanisms (family history of depression, structural lesions, AEDs) and psychosocial-reactive mechanisms

http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/interprob_depress

This is a great article on memory: http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1063660416

Sourgrape, it's really important to use your CPAP machine and have good sleep hygiene. Sleep apnea can definitely be a seizure trigger. It's also important to get to a doctor and be tested for seizures - ASAP. The sooner you get them diagnosed and successfully treated, before they have made permanent changes to your brain, the better the chance you can get rid of them for good. And Phyllis is right. Quit driving. It's not safe for you out there right now.

Good luck. Will you let us know how you are doing?

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Sourgrape, welcome!

Are you on any AEDs? Both seizures and anti-seizure meds can affect hormones, moods, and cognitive function. (And yes, even males can be affected by changing hormone levels.) Plus. If you're not sleeping/breathing properly, that can also play a role.

 

[henhouse]

Q. 1 - Yes, but I would expect for a short distance, not miles. For example, safer on a four-lane highway straightaway than a curving two-lane highway.
Q. 4 - Comprehension definitely affected. Especially by the meds. I got this as a professional at age 43, my heart goes out to any young person getting their education with this added burden. It temporarily ended my career, but I have been back for five years now.
I had been "tentatively" diagnosed with epilepsy without having had a serious sz. Auras + slight memory impairment = visit to internist. EEG was positive. Osteopath put me on "baby dose" of medication tegretol I think.
Then everything hit on 4/2/00. Judging from a photo from my 2 y/o son's birthday party the day before, I looked exhausted. Clocks sprung forward that night (so an hour of sleep lost). Then an early morning team tennis match. I had been hitting with three other guys on my own team for warm-up when all of a sudden they were all standing around me. One of them said, "you should see a doctor." Then my match was called. Next thing I came to and I was outside the building (indoor tennis courts), my hand was bleeding a bit, I think I got into some rosebushes. They bandaged me up. I was actually cross-eyed when I stepped on the court to warm up with my opponents. Overall our team was ahead 4 - 0; but I thought the score was 2 - 2, so I thought ours was the deciding match. My team did not like to lose. I called my partner by the wrong name throughout the match, even though he was a long-time friend and we have the same name. We lost my first serve and with it the first set. However, even though I was virtually shut down mentally, I was still able to play tennis well. We won the second set and then won a third set tiebreaker. So, even though I was mostly out of it, the part of my brain that did the things necessary to successfully address and hit tennis balls was working; distracted only by the knowledge that I did have epilepsy and that it was not going to be much of a secret. Immediately, the meds were increased. I have never been able to play competitive tennis while on meds. I went off my meds once for a month and had a couple of fun matches with old friends; the skills were still there. But then there was that horrific sz followed by the 3 1/2 day coma; so looking forward I'll keep taking the meds.

 

[RobinN]

It also sounds like how I feel when I don't get enough sleep. You say you have sleep apnea. Could it be possible that you just are in and out of consciousness while driving?
I would say pull over and close your eyes for 20 min. I do agree, that you need to get yourself off of the road.

Glad you are attempting to figure out how to be proactive in your care.

 

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

Sourgrapes, you need to see a neurologist and get tested. This is nothing to guess about. We're mere mortals and not docs. Where do you live?

 

[Sourgrape]

I'm not on any anti-epilepsy drugs. I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with me for about 5 years now. I had to drop out of school and haven't been able to hold down a job. Drives me nuts. No RobinN I'm not falling asleep. I was going to spend the next 2 weeks building some bookshelves here at my parents house in Missouri but I think I'll fly home (Salt Lake City) and go have a chat with my physician. I think I'll not risk loosing my fingers to a saw.

 

[Sourgrape]

Oh ty ty ty ty ty ty ty ty for the info. I was looking and couldn't find the info I needed. /Bows to everyone.