What first triggered your epilepsy, if known? (i.e. first seizure)

What first triggered your epilepsy, if known? (i.e. first seizure)

  • Born with epilepsy

    Votes: 27 9.8%
  • Had an accident (e.g. car accident)

    Votes: 37 13.4%
  • Brain damage (e.g. Brain tumors, stroke, heart attack, infectious diseases)

    Votes: 37 13.4%
  • Hormonal changes (e.g. PMT)

    Votes: 11 4.0%
  • Allergy (e.g. food allergy)

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • Brought on by stress / tiredness

    Votes: 31 11.2%
  • Eating too little / too much

    Votes: 3 1.1%
  • Withdrawal from drugs - chemist or other

    Votes: 5 1.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 35 12.7%
  • Not sure

    Votes: 89 32.2%

  • Total voters
    276

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My first ever seizure was caused by a medication given to me while I was in the hospital with pneumonia when I was two yrs. What is was I don't know, and can't find out. The hospital closed years ago. But I believe a head injury I suffered when I was around four or five caused my epilepsy. A metal shed door fell on me. It hit me face cutting my eye. I'd have little spells when I was young afterwards. It wasn't until I was about twelve when I fainted in a store, when the spells got worse. They would weekly, sometimes daily. That's when I started to see a Neurologist. A nice thing starting jr/sr high being the tallest in your class, even taller then many of the upper class men. Having a older sibling to follow. Then having seizures too. It's a wonder I survived highschool at all.
 
I have had aura's as long as I can remember however I hadn't had a full blown seizure until after a very long flight (no sleep for over 24 hours.. super dehydrated) I then had my second after being up four nights in a row doing hourly feedings for my daughter! Just started my first dose of Keppra tonight.. little nervous as I already have anxiety issues..
 
I got thrown off a horse and went head first into a steel fence. I suffered a traumatic brain injury and 4 months later began to have seizures.
 
I put 'other' for my son. He is 18, learning disabled and a-typical autistic. He had his first seizure at the age of 2 in the emergency room (we were there because he was just recovering from chicken pox and had developed pneumonia). He had a fairly high temp at the time, so we just attributed the seizure to that. At the age of 10 and 12 he had a grand mal and had absence seizures as well. His seizures had stopped at about the age of 15 and have started back up again... this time with a vengeance. He has had at least 4 grand mal seizures in the last couple of weeks.
 
I put tiredness/stress, but I don't think that's the only reason. I passed out a few times in high school, probably from not eating. They really started one year ago this month, when I was working a double shift at work. Many tests later and there still isn't a clear answer.
 
My daughters first seizure was a combination of hormones-nutrition-physical exhaustion

One this was improved and all medication removed, vitamins and minerals balanced, she has been seizure free for over 2 yrs

So very blessed to have this experience to realize how important nutrition is to overall health and energy needs.
 
I voted for eating too little, but I actually think it was probably a combination of things:

1. A head injury when I was 5
2. Then, 30 years later, huge emotional stress and resulting lack of sleep and food
3. Plus having only diet soda (= lots of aspartame) in my stomach
Did i understood right , that after head injury , one can develop epilepsy many years later ?
 
Yep, I am one stressed out woman, with a good sense of humor. Stress with a small history, I think could bring some on. But I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped to.
 
Did i understood right , that after head injury , one can develop epilepsy many years later ?

Epilepsy is only a label, for someone having two or more seizures. Putting the body and brain under trauma from an injury, nutritional deficiencies, extreme duress. There are many causes to the symptoms. Gut health is even known to cause neurological disorders.

Nakamova, what are your thoughts
 
I suspect mine may have been caused when I dove into a pool and hit the bottom. A doctor said it may have been caused during birth but my Mom said my birth was a breeze compared to my brother's. They had to use instruments on him and he developed E too many years after I did.
 
If I hadn't mentioned it already, mine is due to brain surgery for a brain aneurysm, and hydrocephalus.
 
Birth control pills and hormones. My opinion... Of course neuro just classified it as idiopathic.
 
Ear Infection

I had an ear infection when I was 2 years old which was MANY years ago. My parents told me I went into a coma then and the doctors had given up on me and I almost died. Years later my neurologist told me that an ear infection had abscessed and drained into the brain causing a brain abcess. He told me "You are suppose to be dead" and that had ever lived through this. Because of this I have lived with seizures all of my life. They wanted to do test to see why I lived and others did not but I didn't want to go through all of that.
 
the doctor delivered me with forceps and I was diagnosed at two.my seizures started because of a doctor who should of done a c-section I took 3 days to come into this world.
 
I was a 'difficult' delivery too.
I think the doctor didn't know what he was doing,
because the MRI showed parts of my cerebellum is missing.
That is the end result of not supporting my head during delivery.
I was very weak and floppy and the dummy didn't seem to care;
almost as if I were to be tossed out with the the daily trash.
I can speculate as to what really happened, because coming up
with my medical records is impossible.
 
Pretty sure mine is from having spinal meningitis when I was an infant. Although the first seizures (C/Ps) started when I was 9 and I had my first T/C when I was 19.
 
My sister and I inherited from my father's side of the family. My father had epilepsy as well. I was 6 years old before it showed up as an abcence seizure.
 
Brain AVM, (arteriovenous malformation), probably there from birth, is what started my seizures. When they removed it, that was my first brain surgery and the changing of my seizures... just made seizures not as bad and different the way they came. (Know this started in 2010, but interesting to read.)
 
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