Temporal lobe epilepsy question

[momof3boys]

Ive been experiencing some pain near my left temporal lobe. I have temporal lobe epilepsy and didnt know if anyone else who has TLE has had this happen to them?

I get this "Lightening Bolt" Type of pain right where my left temporal lobe would be. It happened last night. I was laying in bed and all of a sudden there was pain. It didnt last long. Just like a lightening bolt... it struck me for a second, then faded away. I didnt know what was going on.

I will for sure bring this up to my neuro august 30th when I see him.

Just wondered if anyone else has experienced this?

 

[Loopy Lou]

Oh! I just answered to this in another thread but i'll say it here too. I get headaches like that, have done for years. It's like something has slammed into the side of my head and sometimes feels (very vividly!) like it spreads down behind my eye and to my cheek. It only lasts a second or two but it's seriously painful.

When i brought it up to my doctor and my neurologist they just said it was probably related to the epilepsy but they couldn't specify why and called them "ice pick" headaches.

When i have them it makes me want to drop whatever i'm doing and just hold my head but they go pretty quickly. Sometimes i get a more general headache if i have a lot of them in a row or in a day.

You should definitely bring it up with your doctor.

Edit - "Lightning bolt" is a good description as i can pinpoint exactly where the headache "enters" my head and how it spreads.

 

[no.guru]

Something similar. It's very sharp, lasts only a second or two, and feels like it's in the middle right of my head and leading down my spine. Or up - it's so fast that it's hard to tell.

Happens at random times, not very often, and sometimes happens in pairs although the first one is the strongest. It doesn't follow or precede a seizure; it's just a bonus.

Lightning bolt is a good description.

 

[momof3boys]

Thank you both! Its very helpful knowing this could be related to my Epilepsy. Ive never had these before. They started in the last few days and Ive noticed they come and go during the day. I had one a couple of hours ago, and i had to drop what I was doing and hold my head near the top of my left ear area. It didnt last that long. it was a sharp pain, then started to fade away. My mom said I could be having signs of a stroke. But I dont think so. Im for sure going to bring this up to my dr when I see him next week.

Thank you so much for your replies.

 

[Wobblez]

Thankfully I haven't had these but best of luck with your appointment momof3boys =)

 

[Loopy Lou]

i found these sites for you, i hope they explain some

http://headaches.about.com/od/otherheadpain/a/ice_picks.htm

http://www.migrainesurvival.com/stabbing-headache-or-icepick-headache

Do they sound like what you experience?

 

[momof3boys]

Thank you!

 

[momof3boys]

i found these sites for you, i hope they explain some

http://headaches.about.com/od/otherheadpain/a/ice_picks.htm

http://www.migrainesurvival.com/stabbing-headache-or-icepick-headache

Do they sound like what you experience?

Yes! Thank you! Those are two very good sites that describe pretty much what Im talking about. Things have been going pretty good for me, as far as my daily things go. Last year, and into this year, by probably the end of May, was really full of stress. It wasnt til around the middle of june that I started to change my ways of how I deal with stress. instead of getting upset and angry over things, I managed to just let it all go, and walk away, take a deep breath and not focus on negative things. I told myself to think positive and things will get better. Its been since june since Ive had any heartburn related issues. So when these headaches came about, it suprised me since the first thing out of my mom's mouth was either it had to be related to stress, or it could be signs of a possible stroke wanting to come on. (Talk about scare the crap out of me!) Anyways... Im hoping its not stress related, or signs of a stroke.

But especially the first site you listed, really does describe them well as to what im experiencing. Now my question to my neuro would be is if this could be epilepsy related? Like could this be a sign of a seizure wanting to come on? Ive been on one seizure medication since May 2011, and Ive done pretty good so far. As long as I dont stress over alot of things, and get a good night's sleep, everything seems to be going good.

 

[MuayThaiFighter]

I had really sharp pains in my right temporal area of my brain as a teenager. Though I had no idea what it was. It would be so intense I would just stop everything for about 30 seconds and go on with my day. It happens fairly often, still on the right side. I had no idea if this is related to the seizures. Because they said the Epilepsy is on the left temporal, so who knows. Though, the electrical feelings I get on both sides don't usually hurt, they just feel like a nerve pulse. Just glad to hear you are doing better though.

 

[momof3boys]

Well my mother thinks its due to stress. But I really havnt had any stressful things in my life lately. All the kids are in school, which gives me a good amount of time to myself during the day now. Im finding myself to be more tired though in the mornings. Maybe its just me getting use to this new school schedule. I find myself wanting to lay down after getting home from dropping the kids off at school. I hope its not nothing serious and its just me having to get use to this schedule.

 

[KelKel]

Same thing!

I also have left temporal lobe epilepsy and get icepick headaches! The headaches are actually what sent me to the neurologist for the first time since I was scared I had an aneurysm or something, even though I had suspected my "deja vus" were seizures for a long time. The neurologist said it was a funky migraine and that people that have epilepsy often get migraines as well. Interestingly enough, this went on for three months straight and after I started Keppra, the headaches stopped for about a month, but came back for several days when I had another cluster of seizures. The Keppra was making me severely tired and angry, which is not at all like me, so I am stopping it to try something else.

 

[momof3boys]

I had them this morning, but so far, the rest of the day has been good. I dont know if tiredness can cause them? Ive been trying to get use to getting up earlier because of school starting now. But other than that, I think things have been going pretty good for me. I did come home today and lay back down for another hour. I felt good afterwords. Maybe the extra sleep I got helped?

 

[CathyAnn31]

Being tired might be a trigger for those terrible headaches. Hopefully you figure it out.

On a side note, my kids go back to school on Monday. Last year I'd come home from dropping them off then sleep for hours. I was so unproductive. I think that might have been from not having to be busy or entertain, with a little exhaustion thrown in, I'm soooo not a morning person.

 

[momof3boys]

Being tired might be a trigger for those terrible headaches. Hopefully you figure it out.

On a side note, my kids go back to school on Monday. Last year I'd come home from dropping them off then sleep for hours. I was so unproductive. I think that might have been from not having to be busy or entertain, with a little exhaustion thrown in, I'm soooo not a morning person.

I'm the same way. I just got home about 10 minutes ago from dropping off the kids at school, and I would SO LOVE to go back to bed. I keep telling myself to do something with my day. I clean the house, pay the bills, do the grocery shopping. But I think this change in schedule with school starting has affected me more than what I thought. I need at least 8 hours of sleep a night in order to feel "good". I think I got maybe 7 hours if that. So it explains why I felt so drained this morning.