Sleep deprivation seizures - Epilepsy or not?

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jonden

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Hello, new to this forum!
About 2 months ago I had my first grand mal seizure at around 7:30am from a night out, involving heavy drinking. This occurred about two hours after I went to sleep. The seizure must have been pretty bad as I did not remember the whole morning and according to friends I could not talk.

Then a month later, I got back at the same time but did not drink anything and had another grand mal at exactly the same time (people were there to tell me). However, I woke up an hour later and was completely fine, although was a bit wobbly when walking and felt a bit sick for half an hour. Bear in mind, this night there were pretty intense strobe lights, in which I get complex partial seizures if accompanied by heavy smoke/haze.

I'm 17 and its likely that I have had more in the past without knowing as friends have not been there. Another big factor is that I have drank a lot during the day and been in intense strobes a few times and I have not had a seizure that day or night, but then again, if I just simply stay awake all night due to travelling or whatever, I do not get a seizure. So my conclusion is, that it is a combination of lights and sleep deprivation. Anyway, my question is: has anyone had an experience like this and should I be getting help if it happens again. Friends keep telling me it is just a phase and it will go? :ponder: Also, I have a twin who shows no abnormalities in the brain wiring in an MRI scan if that helps at all.

Sorry for the long post! Many thanks to those who reply!
 
It does sound like you are having seizures due to lack of sleep, stress to your body and the strobe lights, all can cause one who is prone to E to go into a seizure. If you have had several of these episodes, then you need to see a neurologist ASAP as it will only get worse as time passes.

Check out these websites:

http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/triggers-seizures/lack-sleep-and-epilepsy

http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/triggers-seizures/alcohol

http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/triggers-seizures/photosensitivity-and-seizures
 
Hi jonden, welcome to CWE :)

Photosensitivity, sleep deprivation, stress, and being 'run down'/wrecked are all big triggers.

Quite a few people on here noticed their first seizure after a heavy night out on their drug of choice- including booze.

It's very important that you tell your doctor about this and get it checked out ASAP. Seizures commonly get locked onto a certain trigger/situation after a few times, and can progress quite quickly, so the sooner you are diagnosed and start receiving treatment the better..

Your friends may have heard of Juvenile Myclonic Epilepsy in youngsters- that some people do 'grow out of', but what you've described doesn't sound like that, and you need to get it sorted out. Don't wait to see if you have another seizure.

I noticed that you know you already have complex seizures- do you receive treatment for those? These new tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures could be an example of your condition progressing, and your doctor needs to know- whether they were caused by sleep deprivation, booze or lights..
 
Just wanted to add in my welcome to the forums, Jonden. Slim gave a great response, and nothing I can think of to add. Good luck in getting things sorted out!
 
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