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Complex Partial/Night Terrors

Thu, 02/19/2004 - 15:47
I am new to this forum so please forgive any mistakes I may make. I am looking for different information on How Epilepsy is actually diagnosed. I was told by the Epilepsy foundation that recurring seizures is termed Epilepsy. I had been in a car accident 12 years ago. 9 months after that my problems began. At first it only happened while I was sleeping. I would scream, jump out of bed and run until I hit a door or a wall. The only way I could tell that something had occured was by the injuries, my bitten tounge (lip) or my family telling me. I have tried to jump off of the balcony, taken off my clothes, gone outside or walked around afterward talking nonsense. At times my memory is affected. I have seen many doctors. They said I suffer from Night Terrors. About 8 years ago they started to happen while I was awake. Many times I had gone grocery shopping and woke up in an ambulance. It got to where I could feel it coming. I would run and bite something. One doctor witnessed this and said "it looked like a complex partial seizure." After 10 years I was finally put on dilantin. # years ago. Now one of my main concerns is that I have NEVER been diagnosed. The last doctor I saw said that I have a mental problem. This is based on Normal EEGs. I had only seen this doctor twice. Has anyone else had similar problems in getting help??If someone else can relate to my story or give me feedback I would appreciate it. Thank you.

Comments

Frontal lobe epilepsy surgery

Submitted by Wendy07 on Tue, 2007-12-04 - 15:49
Hi, I just recently had surgery for Frontal lobe epilepsy (right side FLE). Before my surgery I sought out information from people that also had FLE as this is not nearly as common as TLE. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Seizure freedom is the only acceptable outcome, Wendy

Re: Frontal lobe epilepsy surgery

Submitted by Chipsmommy on Mon, 2008-03-31 - 23:23
Hi my son is 20 months old and has what his neruologist belives to be night terrors but he ia also having some seizure like activity during the day. We have only had our initial visit with the peds neuro dr and go tomorrow for his MRI and the end of the month we have a sleep deprived EEG scheduled. Chip's "night terrors" only last about 2 or 3 minutes and he doesn't look awake with them like I have seen described in everything I have read on them. He also thrashes a lot with them or he has jerking movements of his arms and legs or his arms and legs are drawn in to his body and he is stiff. As it starts to come to an end his eyes open but you can see he doesn't do it himself and his eyes are glassed over looking and then the screaming just stops and he looks around confused for a minute or 2 and then he passes out. During the day he just zones out for a minute or 2 and you can't get his attention and then when he comes to he is sleepy even though he may not go to sleep. I have not found anything in particular that triggers either the day time zoning out or the night time screaming. He does it if he's not over tired or if he is. He does the day time zoning out more frequently lately and more often than the night time screaming but the night time screaming is becoming more frequent. In my internet research I have found an article that fully describes everything my son does and it's intitled nocturnal frontal lobe epilpesy. If their is anyone that knows anything about this please contact me I want all the information i can get on it. Also my son has had several very hard hits to the front and back of his head. He is very adventursome and climbs on everything and has fallen many times and hit his head giving himself a mild concussion one time.

Re: Frontal lobe epilepsy surgery

Submitted by tomsimmons on Mon, 2008-07-21 - 02:22
My daughter is 16 and she has nocturnal partial seizures originating in the right frontal lobe. The EEG's don't show a focal point, but she spins to the left so they assume it is in the right frontal. She used to have them in the day also, but her meds keep them only during her sleep now. The med that has worked the best for her is Tegretol. She takes a time release version called Carbatrol. Stress contributes greatly. She also screams when she has the seizures during sleep. I purchased a bed rail and pad to keep her on the bed and it helps allot in reducing her injuries. Pads are the Bed Rail Wedge Pads: http://www.colonialmedical.com/product.php?productid=17225&cat=0&page=1 Railing is Standers EZ Adjust Bed Rail purchased on Amazon. Both work very well together.  Her meds ( Carbatrol and Zonegran) don't completely control her seizures and the doctors are very frustrated. I have recently noticed that I have a gluten sensitivity. I am going to test her for Celiac's disease since this runs in families and gluten can cause seizures. I just learned this today and there appears to be allot of information on this. She wants to go on a gluten-free diet to see if it helps. I suffered a variety of intestinal symptoms for years and only got antacids from my doctor. I started reading a newsletter called "Health Alert" that recommended an elimination diet to see if food was causing my problems. This is where I read about gluten and epilepsy also. Don't just listen to your doctors. My daughter has had seizures for 7 years and all they do is give her meds and recommend surgery. I'm amazed to find many resourses saying that it is very important to test for Celiacs in cases such as hers but it has never been mentioned. Good luck with your son. Hope this helps. Tom

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