Wife just had a seizure

[TroyAsh]

Both my wife and I are 30. To my knowledge her family has no history of epilepsy or seizures and my family has no history as well.

My wife is in Oregon right now and I am in New York. She is attending her sisters wedding and has been there for nearly a week now. I've noticed over Skype the last few days that she has been looking very sleepy and worn down but when I ask she always says she got enough sleep the night before. There have also been a couple stressful incidents with her family members as they don't see each other often and have a strong history of alcohol abuse. Both my wife and I abuse alcohol as well however she hasn't been drinking a lot the last few days since she has been there.

Last night was her sister's wedding and my wife said she planned on finally being able to have some drinks with her family so they drank last night but apparently did have much to drink last night either. This morning when I called her on the phone I was upset because she ignored my text messages last night after the wedding and I said some rude things before hanging up the phone. Five minutes later, her sister called back in a panic because she had just undergone a seizure.

For me, not being there is pretty hard, but reading through a few hundred other stories I know it doesn't compare. A couple of questions. With the last couple hours I have read through several different websites and my general consensus is that all of the before mentioned causes is the reason for her seizure(not enough sleep, potentially not eating normally, stress from the wedding and from myself, and alcohol withdrawals)... am I wrong? Secondly, did I cause her to have this seizure with what I said over the phone? If so, I love her very much but I think our relationship is taking a tole on her psychologically. We have had some problems with our marriage and I have always been great and self internalizing my issues and dealing with them but I don't know that she is.

Again with all the research(a few hours) it would seem that she had a non-epileptic seizure or something called psychogenic seizure. Of course we will take all the precautions and run all the tests but I don't want to get into a situation where she is diagnosed if she is, in fact, not epileptic. I guess my last question is where do we go from here? I certainly don't want to be the cause of her pain and suffering if she does have some issues with suppressing her problems and maybe alcohol was doing that for her until recently. I don't know. I will keep you up to date on what is happening and any information or insight would be much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Belinda5000]

Hello,

I am sorry about your wife having a seizure. Yes stress can bring on a seizure and so can alcohol. Sleep deprivation can do it also.
A lot of seizures are idiopathic which means cause unknown. You don't have to have a history of seizures in your family to have a seizure..

 

[Jay1]

Secondly, did I cause her to have this seizure with what I said over the phone?

Be easy on yourself. No one gets a seizure from something said over the phone. Everyone has some or other relationship issues and it is not a unique situation for you.

Everyone has a seizure threshold and will have a seizure if that threshold is exceeded.

If nutrition is poor and stress is piling up from multiple factors, then I can see how the brain can shut down and cause seizures.

 

[valeriedl]

I had my first seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 27. There is no history of epilepsy in my family. The doctors have no idea what caused it to happen.

Stress, lack of sleep, caffeine and alcohol are some of the major things that can cause me to have a seizure. I do not have to have any of these things going on and I may just have a seizure.

You DID NOT cause her to have this seizure! My husband and I have had fights about things that can go on for a day or two and I don't have a seizure because of it.

My stress seizures are caused more by big events that are going on in my life at the time. Usually around the holidays, Christmas being a main one, I will tend to have more seizures than usual. I think it has to do with making sure I have enough money to buy presents for everyone and get to the store in time to get them.

Once when I was at a picnic I drank a ton of an alcoholic drink without knowing it. This was a mixed drink was put into a large Igloo cooler. After I'd had about 5 large glasses of it someone had said that there was alcohol in it. I had a good bit of seizures the next day.

It's very good that you are going to see a dr and have testing done. Once you go through these things the dr should be able to give you information about what's going on and help you with it.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi TroyAsh -- welcome to CWE!

I hope you and your wife get some answers soon, and that she is feeling better.

Again with all the research(a few hours) it would seem that she had a non-epileptic seizure or something called psychogenic seizure. Of course we will take all the precautions and run all the tests but I don't want to get into a situation where she is diagnosed if she is, in fact, not epileptic. I guess my last question is where do we go from here? I certainly don't want to be the cause of her pain and suffering if she does have some issues with suppressing her problems and maybe alcohol was doing that for her until recently. I don't know. I will keep you up to date on what is happening and any information or insight would be much appreciated. Thanks

It may well be that your wife has an epileptic seizure (that is one that is triggered by electrochemical imbalance and the resulting synchronous firing), and also that the seizure is a one-off. Given the health stressors that you mention, that seems more likely to me than the possibility that the seizures are psychogenic (psychological) in origin. Either way, seeing the doctor and getting tests is an important first step. If the tests point to a particular diagnosis (epileptic or PNES), then the doctor/neuro should go over different treatment options available, including therapeutic counseling if appropriate. If the tests are inconclusive, this could still be a great time to take stock of her (and your) overall health and consider making changes that would benefit you both.

Best,
Nakamova