Seizure newbie

[Ellyjaye]

I posted a couple of weeks ago as "New to this." I promised I would come back with lotsa questions.

So, I'm back.

I've just been diagnosed with partial seizures that I've been told I've had all my life. I thought they were migraine symptoms/auras/after-effects.

My problem is, now I don't know what to look for as a seizure aura/symptom/after effects. I've been like this my whole life and am only now trying to be aware of what is happening.

Does that make sense?

I am bi-polar, and recently have become more so. I am aware of my bi-p ness so when up or down I know what's going on. But can that be seizure after effects?

Since I upped the Lamictal to 300 bid I am not exhausted in the morning. Does that mean I was having night seizures? How would I know if I'm sleeping??????

Sometimes I have trouble finding the spot I want to look at. Not trouble focusing, but like now, when I look at the word I am typing, it takes a second to find it.

I thought I had a flurry of seizures Fri and Sat- remember, I have no idea what I'm looking for - and have had a headache since Saturday. I never get headaches, but now after what I think are episodes I get one.

I feel like an idiot. How do I know I'm having a seizure if I don't know when I'm having a seizure? In fact, even though the eeg showed I have partial seizures, I wonder if it's a correct reading.

And how can they know I've had them my whole life from an eeg?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Fedup]

Ellyjaye

Ellyjaye exactly what type of partial seizure have you got, with partial seizures you could have, say hallucinations, you might feel sick or you might start sweating there are a lot more but I am sure if you stop and think for a minuet certain things will come to mind for you. If you have a seizure you will know it yourself, you will realise something is not right, you might even get angry just because someone calls your name. Everybody is different and all the signs I might have does not mean you have the same signs.

I get a headache after a seizure but so do some others but not everybody, and if you have a seizure at night you will feel the same as if it happened during the day, the sore muscles, all the aches and pains, might have bit your mouth or tongue you could have hurt yourself on something and more. You need to remember everybody is different and everybody has different symptoms one or two might be the same.

It will take time but writing everything down, you will see a pattern emerge and notice things. You are no IDIOT, this just takes getting used to which is not easy.

 

[Ellyjaye]

Fedup, I was told by the neurologist that I have partial complex, but I've never passed out or lost moments. So I think he was wrong and I have the other partial...simple? Whatever.

How does an eeg show that I've had seizures?

 

[Fedup]

An EEG is an Electroencephalography, an eeg is used to record electrical activity in the brain and abnormal electrical activity on an EEG is used to help determine if one has epilepsy and if possible what part of the brain it originates from. Some complex partial seizures turn into secondarily generalized seizures. They usually last between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Afterward, the person may be tired or confused for about 15 minutes and may not be return to normal function for hours.

 

[Ellyjaye]

How does an eeg show past seizure activity?

I'm talking to myself now because I'm answering my question as to how an eeg shows past seizure activity:

Everyday Health


The pattern of activity in the brain is specific, and when seizures occur, there are clear deviations from typical or normal activity. Even if you don't have a seizure during the test, epilepsy can still be diagnosed because the brain's electrical activity is altered enough from abnormalities caused by previous seizure activity.

 

[lindsayschu2]

I have partial seizures as well, among others. I know when I'm having activity during the day, I'm sure I am having them at night, and like you, I know because I wake up feeling very tired, like I barely slept, and often have a headache. I also just don't feel crisp and clear. Sleep often can inspire seizure activity, so it isn't uncommon. I started sleeping much more deeply once I got better seizure control. I also have days where I am having very minor partials off and on all day--for me, they feel like super fleeting deja vus. They are so short now they barely even can be described as a deja vu, but I've had epilepsy for a long time, so I know the feeling of a partial, even a very minor one. It will be helpful to understand what your seizures feel like so you know if your medication is working, but at the same time, I would say don't get so wrapped up into that that you are super focused on it if they aren't interrupting your functioning, as that may just feed anxiety and make things worse. Just look for patterns but don't get obsessed about it--now that you know you have epilepsy you will get better and better at identifying what's what.

 

[petero]

How does an eeg show that I've had seizures?

The brain is made of millions of neurons vibrating of life. Each brain has a wavelength, and normal brains maintain a wavelength range.
Consider as though the brain is a hundred guitar strings (instead of millions of neuron cells) tuned to the same note, vibrating and producing sound. An EEG is basically an "ear" listening to your brain/guitar strings vibrating. Different types of seizures knock a string out of tune or many out of tune. How many and how far out of tune and how long it takes for the brain's health to "re-tune" the strings, and in what area of brain function the strings are in indicates what types of seizures you have.
If many strings in the musculature area of the brain indicates a TC for example.

I dunno - generally speaking though an EEG is "listening" to your brain.
Your brain makes a "splash" noise when your brain does a belly-flop into your brain's water. The EEG hears the "splash" and the fading ripples in the pool as the water calms again.
Unfortunately though, the waves from a seizure can take longer to calm than the water in a pool.

 

[petero]

The more I think about it, I like considering it a "splash".
Electricity moves along water in neurons, as OH- or OH+, if I recall correctly. And OH is basically H2O, but missing an electron through binding or through charge, via the other H.
Life is a fountain of water - imagine listening to the splish-splash patter-patter of a calming fountain. It is a regular and regulated sound. A seizure is like hearing a big stone being thrown into the fountain, making a "gloink" noise initially, which then sends waves throughout the fountain, bouncing back and forth between the fountain walls.
A neuro would love to hear the "gloink", but often just gets to hear the calming of the waves as the "slish-slosh" slowly fades within the fountain.
Stay hydrated! It's how the brain transmits electricity.