Seasonal Seizures Starting Up

[Porkette]

Hi Folks,
I hope all is going well with everyone. Sorry I haven't been around much this summer but I have been
getting some remodeling work done on the house and it sure isn't cheap.

Well now that it's fall and we are getting less light for the day my seizures are increasing due to the lack
of serotonin so I've been sitting around bright lights to see if that helps. My epileptologist calls them
"seasonal seizures" some people it doesn't even bother while some people need more serotonin while
others may need less.
If you notice an increase in your seizures at a certain time of the yr. like fall and winter or spring
and summer these are seasonal seizures and you might want to let your Dr. know about it.

Wishing all of you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

 

[Sabbo]

Sorry to hear your seizures are acting up again. Hope they aren't severe. Thankfully, mine don't appear to be related to the seasons--I know they are affected by stress & tension, though. Sometimes they just happen, though--even when I've had all my meds.

Those storms we had in June/July did a number on our house. We've got to get our roof & siding repaired--still waiting for insurance to OK everything. The living room bay windows need to be replaced too. During the storm, one looked like a waterfall--INSIDE!

 

[Porkette]

Hi Sabbo,

Thanks for your kind words stress and tension along with low pressures often trigger seizures for me also but I never
realized it until my Epileptologist saw a pattern in my seizures and how I would have more in the fall and winter compared
to the spring and summer. I'm just grateful they are only absence seizures most of the time and once in a while I will have
a complex partial seizure.

I'm so sorry to hear about your home. I had to replace the roof twice on my home because my neighbor planted 4 pine
trees right by my house without speaking to my husband or me and I finally spoke to him and he told me he would keep
them short but he never did and I have had to pay over $1500.00 to have a co. come in a cut them back but now 3 of them
are gone. I also had to replace the roof twice do to the pine needles getting on the roof and the acid from the needles
destroying the roof. The last time I had the roof done it cost me $21 grand and that was in 2023. Now I have to shop
for a good roof rake that won't damage the shingles because we are supposed to get hit good this winter.

If your ins. co. keeps dragging things take them to the state and they will get moving.
Wishing you only the best and May God Bless You,

Sue

 

[Heavy Kevy]

Hi Sue,
Sorry to hear about your seizures. The change of seasons is always an odd thing. Hopefully you can get outside and enjoy some sunshine. This is my favorite time of year.
My father used to come over and roof rake the snow for me. Only problem was he would start at 7:00 am.
Wishing you the best!

 

[Porkette]

Hi Heavy Kevy,

Thanks for your support. I've been dealing with seizures in the fall and winter for a few yrs. now. I've been outside
take my word trimming back branches on trees along with trimming bushes back so I can get some sunshine.
Now I'm looking for a good quality snow rake that you can use on shingles that won't damage them. We are
supposed to get hit good this winter with a lot of snow.

Wishing you only the Best and May God Bless You,
Sue

 

[MaryK]

Sorry to hear about your seizure season. For years I had simple partial seizures in the fall, with the sun flickering trough the trees. I think there is someone else on this board who also had this. I do not know whether it is because I am much older now, but the last few years I have not had any. There was an uptick during menopause which I guess did not surprise me, as my first tonic clonic was in junior high at the beginning of the school year. I still am on phenobarbital, down 15 mg at night to 45 mg because of my age, but I refuse to change drugs. Total dose now is odd... 105 mg daily.

Anyway, sorry about the roof. I cannot complain, we have gotten a couple bids for a new roof too, but our roof is 30 years old. Expensive , as everyone knows.

Hope your seizures improve.

 

[Porkette]

Hi MaryK,

I finally found out what is causing the seasonal seizures from a neurochemist. He told me what is happening
is when there is less serotonin the darkness if firing up the neurons in the brain and in turn it can trigger seizures
more and that is why it's better for me to sit around bright light in the fall and winter.

I can't help but wonder if you may be photosensitive with the sun flickering through the trees. I had a special e.e.g.
done and they flashed one color at a time and they found that bright white like when the sun is shining on the snow,
amber, and fluorescent green were 3 colors that triggered seizures for me.

When I went though my change my seizures decreased thank goodness but I also had surgery to reduce them.

I wish you only the best and May God Bless You,

Sue

 

[MaryK]

Thank you Sue for the information. I remember on one of my EEGs they flashed lights, but they did not do lights separately, and nothing happened that I was aware of . I wrote on one of the pages here not to long ago about the new fluorescent lighting in Target, especially horrible in the cold and freezer cases. I was sure I was going to have a seizure, and something was going on with my eyes and brain. Now I avoid that store or if I have to go I always wear sunglasses.

The best to you too.
Kathy

 

[Porkette]

Hi MaryK,

I'm sorry you have a hard time in Target for me it is Walmart so I finally went to the manager and told him
that the lights were to bright and it could cause seizures for me or anyone else who was photosensitive and
they turned down the brightness of the lights. You should let them know about that in Target.
I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You,

Sue

 

[MaryK]

I do not know if you do this, but if there is sudden flashing lights on tv , I will cover an eye, or quickly turn off tv, turn head. I am not sure, seems with me getting older my eyes have problems all of their own unrelated to my seizures, but Target I do think you are right. I should call Target, lately I have been just ordering from Amazon and keeping freezer stocked. I now I know to stay away from Walmart..

Thanks for your thoughtfulness.
MaryK

 

[Porkette]

Hi MaryK,

Before I had brain surgery I would turn my head away from the tv or cover my eyes to stop from having
a seizure but after I had brain surgery I know longer had to worry about being photosensitve anymore all
of that stopped which pleased me very much.

Wishing you well and May God Bless You,

Sue

 

[greywolf]

Oh yeah, Walmart is the worst! It must be something they do in all their stores with the lighting. We have one close by our home, and it's convenient to walk there, but I can't go in. I think I was close to having a seizure one time I was in there, started feeling tired and forgot what I was doing there. By the time I made it to the door, I wasn't able to concentrate on what I was looking at, I just saw the exit and got out of there. It is something to do with the lighting, I agree. Oddly enough, most other big stores like that don't seem to bother me too much. I've had it a couple other times, but not nearly to the extent of that Walmart.

Do any of you wear glasses? I have to use a computer for part of my job, and I recently had new lenses put in. The optician/optometrist/person who does that sort of work, offered to use lenses that have a slight blue filter on them. It's barely noticeable when you look at them, but I find it allows me to look at a computer monitor for longer before my eyes start getting all squinty and feeling weird. Not sure if it's an epilepsy thing for me, or something else. Anyway, there might be something about blue wavelength light from computer monitors to bad department store lighting that triggers certain brain activity...