Seizures after two years of being free

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jasmcdan12

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Hello everyone,

My name is Jasmine and I am 26 years old. I am a new member. I have a question and I am hoping you guys can help me out, since you all know first hand how seizures are. I was diagnosed with having simple partial seizures in June of 2011. I had been having them for over a year before I was diagnosed, but I did not know they were seizures. When I have a seizure a body part of mine, such as a arm or leg or hand starts to violently shake and I become unconscious, but for me I do not know I am unconscious, I believe I am still there but I do lose track of time. I was on Depakote and Keppra before and they did not work. I was then put on Trileptal and it has worked for the past two years where I have been seizure free! I wasn't allowed to drive for a whole a year before. I was recently in a car accident in August where I was rear ended at a red light. I was put on flexeril and vicodin for pain. I had a seizure this past sunday, after two years of not having any signs of them. My question to everyone is do you think the car accident caused the seizure? The RN at my job said it is from the flexeril because flexeril lowers the levels of the seizure medicine or it was from my neck going back and forth. I am so confused about telling my neurologist because I don't and cannot afford to stop working and driving for a year again. If anyone has any insight it would be greatfully appreciated. Sorry for it being so long.

Thanks a bunch,

Jasmine
 
Hi Jasmine, welcome to CWE!

I'm sorry your seizures returned. Since stresses of all kinds can be seizure triggers, it may be hard to pinpoint the exact cause. Whiplash could definitely be a trigger. Despite what the RN said, neither Flexeril nor Vicodin are known to affect Trileptal levels, so drug interactions are less likely to be a cause. Either way, you should keep your neuro in the loop. Your recent seizure puts you at risk for additional seizures, and it's a good idea to review your meds at this point.

I sympathize with your reluctance to talk to your neuro because of the possibility of driving restrictions. But you need to weigh that against the risk of having an accident while driving and injuring yourself or someone else. Does your state have a mandatory reporting law, or is there some wiggle room for your neuro?
 
Hi, Jasmine
In my opinion you need to tell your neurologist. It might simply be an issue of needing to change the time of day that you take the Trileptal, or increasing the dose to return to seizure freedom. I don't know much about drug to drug interactions, but here is where your neurologist or pharmacist can assist you.
As far as not wanting to tell your neurologist because of the impact on driving, well, you'll have to use common sense. Would you want to have a seizure and end up rear-ending somebody else, or worse hit a pedestrian in a cross-walk??!! I realize accidents can happen anyway, but seizures are at least a reason for an accident you can minimize or even prevent. And as for getting to and from work, there are always ways around it if you try: transit, taxi, coordinating work times with a co-worker or family member . . . speak to your supervisor at work, and he/she may be able to assist you in coming up with a solution as well.
And did your car accident cause your seizures to return: again a reason to consult the neurologist. I do know that pain and the emotional trauma of the accident would be considered stresses, and stress is known to be a trigger for seizures so possibly the stress and pain have lowered your seizure threshold.
 
Hello everyone,

Thank you for replying to my post, I did indeed call and notify my neurologist. He said since I was on a low dose of the trileptal he upped it to add more. I just didnt want to take any chances with my seizures because even though I know when I am going to have one, I didnt want to put anyone at risk and was listenin to others in my life tell me not to. I was more worried about going through what I went through two years ago which I waa fired from my job because of them not being understanding. Again, I think you all.

Jasmine
 
Stress can be a major trigger for seizures, but pain medications regardless of their interactions with her AED's, will lower her seizure threshold just as with alcohol or any type of recreational drug. I would think that the doctor who prescribed those drug's would have taken that into consideration, but that does not alway's happen. Jasmine, did you let your neurologist know of the med's you are on now?, I am sure he would find that of great interest.
 
Pain meds don't usually lower seizure threshold. What they are more likely to do is make the sedative effect of both kinds of meds more pronounced.
 
Drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some folks might experience impairment in thinking and judgment as well.
 
So therfore, even though one of the 1st thing's neurologists will tell you is that you can't drink alcohol which also has a sedative, it is still ok to take other drugs with the same effect?
 
You may be right, cause in my 45 years I have never taken pain med's outside of ibuprofen, but the whole concept of something that has the same reaction of alcohol (which can't be consumed) being ok where epilepsy is concerned just does not make sense to me.
 
Actually alcohol isn't prohibited outright (I drink with no problem), but as with all the drugs that can make you sleepy or woozy you need to proceed with caution until you know how they make you feel, and assume that limited or no use is the safest course.

They all have this basic warning:
Using [anti-seizure med] together with [alcohol/pain medication] can increase nervous system side effects such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some people may also experience impairment in thinking and judgment. You should avoid or limit the use of [alcohol/pain medication] while being treated with [anti-seizure med].

Obviously drinking to excess is a different matter altogether, since that can have downstream effects (dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, fatigue, low blood sugar) that can be triggering.

There are certain meds that do lower seizure threshold -- particularly certain antihistamines, or anti-seizure meds that in combination with one another can affect absorption or clearance rates. This is a helpful general link:
http://professionals.epilepsy.com/page/table_seniors_drugs.html
 
Just the 4 narcotics on the list:
fentanyl
meperidine
pentazocine
propoxyphene
 
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