Something interesting about seizures

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kirsten

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About seven years ago I had a scary event that I have wondered about ever since. I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep when I began to feel as though something was physically pushing me into the bed. I couldn't breathe and the whole thing felt as if it lasted about ten minutes--although with something like that, time does stand still. Later on I heard that this is a fairly common occurrence for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, which I have.

Well, I was talking to a friend over the weekend and told him about this event I'd had. He said that people with sleep apnea have exactly the same experience when their breathing is hindered. Apparently it's normal to feel that sort of pressure when you can't breath because that's how the brain interprets the sensation.

So my questions are:
a) if there was a seizure, why was I conscious?
b) can a seizure in any way interrupt your breathing?
c) has anyone experienced anything similar to what I have described?
 
I ahve sleep apnea. As a matter of fact I have 2 kinds of apnea, I stop breathing as well as paralasis. I'm not as aware of the stop breathing episodes as I am of the paraylsis episodes. The paraylsis episodes always force me to somehow wake up. the sensation of suffication and being unable to move while being alert to my entire surroundings from being able to hear others talking or the tv playing. Its a horrific feeling and when it happens it usually happens three to four times in one nite. It only tends to happen when I sleep on my back, it has happened when sleeping on my side, but never on my stomach.
I never knew that I stopped breathing in my sleep until I was in hospital after having an aneurysm. So, now I sleep with a CPAP machine with supplemental oxygen as well. I still get paralysis every now and then, but not sure about the breathing. My machine has a little computer or some sort of device that is recording episodes of anykind and gets turned in every 90 days.
Talk to your dr about possible sleep apnea paralysis and seizure. You never know, and always better safe than sorry. Keep us posted ok?
Good wishes to you!
 
Mary, are the sleep apnea and seizures related? I'm just trying to figure out whether there are sleep related seizures because I seldom have serious seizures during the day anymore but I have woken up on a number of occasions with odd symptoms and behaviours. My doctor suggested last month that I might have been up during the night without remembering it, which just creeped me out so I told her I didn't want to think about that possibility. During the day, I no longer have tonic clonics, although I have auras, partial and once, a drop seizure. For that reason, me and the docs have settled at a point of comfort, believing that all is okay. Now I'm thinking I might need to start thinking about checking what is going on at night.
 
kirsten said:
Mary, are the sleep apnea and seizures related? I'm just trying to figure out whether there are sleep related seizures because I seldom have serious seizures during the day anymore but I have woken up on a number of occasions with odd symptoms and behaviours. My doctor suggested last month that I might have been up during the night without remembering it, which just creeped me out so I told her I didn't want to think about that possibility. During the day, I no longer have tonic clonics, although I have auras, partial and once, a drop seizure. For that reason, me and the docs have settled at a point of comfort, believing that all is okay. Now I'm thinking I might need to start thinking about checking what is going on at night.
Click to expand...

yes they are, however, it has not been determined if mine are. I was experiencing the sleep paralysis for many years, since I was a child. one of the esteemed memebers here, "Nakamova, will probably respond to your post soon with a website for additional information. This was a subject not to long ago. If you cant wait, stroll back maybe 2 months ago and see if you cant find it, I will look also to help ok.
 
Just for You.

There seems to be a connection between sleep apnea and seizures, so it's probably worth using the CPAP. Check out the threads here: http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/...p apnea.html

I copied this from a post by "Nakamova", a memeber here. Believe it or not she was replying to a post I started regarding CPAP. I posted a little note, mis-spelling your name (Kristen instead of Kirsten) so that you could read it. I hope this was helpful to you?
 
As maryltyme says (and helpfully provided the link about), there's a connection between apnea and seizures, but it's complicated and variable. Seizures can affect apnea and apnea can affect seizures. At least in some cases, the breathing problem (reduced brain-oxygen levels) is a stressor that can trigger seizures. The apnea also leads to poor sleep quality and causes fatigue -- which can trigger seizures as well. Some studies have shown that showed that in patients with epilepsy and sleep disorders (such as obstructive sleep apnea), their seizures were controlled after they started a nasal CPAP, or had tracheal surgery.

The unusual sensation you experienced could have been a seizure -- it's not unusual to be conscious or awaken for some kinds of seizures, even at night. The majority of nocturnal seizures occur in light sleep -- right after falling asleep, or before waking during the night or in the morning. The seizures can take different forms -- ranging from brief seizures that are sudden arousals recurring throughout the night, to more elaborate symptoms with muscle tensing or twitching, or longer seizures that appear similar to sleepwalking.

You might ask your neuro about having an overnight sleep study done to evaluate what's going on.
 
Thank you for all the information. I will definitely check it out because I do wake during the night with odd sensations and symptoms. Maybe this is the missing link that will fix things properly. One can only hope.
 
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