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Breakthrough seizure caused by lack of sleep

Sun, 10/12/2008 - 02:58
Due to some of the pressure I am under I do not get enough sleep. Last night was one of those examples where I chose to work extra and it caused me to have a breakthrough seizure after 6 weeks of having no seizures whatsoever. Is it really important to tell my neurologist about this? He will only prescribe more medicine for me or recommend that I have surgery, neither one of which I want. What is the best thing to do?

Comments

Re: Breakthrough seizure caused by lack of sleep

Submitted by wyboemail on Sun, 2008-10-12 - 10:00

Michael.

My ten year old son had three break through seizures in September after going nine months seizure free. He had gotten in to a routine of staying up late and then with school starting I do not think he was getting enough. The doctor did up his meds to another 250 mg of keppra in the am so now he is on 500 mg in am and 500 mg in pm. That is still a relatively low dose of meds. He is 4'7" and 104 lbs. I would probably try and get more rest and then see what happens after that. If you are still having seizures then you should tell your doctor.

Michael.

My ten year old son had three break through seizures in September after going nine months seizure free. He had gotten in to a routine of staying up late and then with school starting I do not think he was getting enough. The doctor did up his meds to another 250 mg of keppra in the am so now he is on 500 mg in am and 500 mg in pm. That is still a relatively low dose of meds. He is 4'7" and 104 lbs. I would probably try and get more rest and then see what happens after that. If you are still having seizures then you should tell your doctor.

Re: Breakthrough seizure caused by lack of sleep

Submitted by bcshepard on Mon, 2008-10-13 - 21:14

I dont know man how frequent were your seizures prior to 6 weeks ago?  Me for example..  they can come and go.  I can have tons and tons of them in a period of a few weeks then they stop for a week or 2 or even 2 months and restart - and I do get plenty of sleep etc. 

 Lack of sleep, stress etc as others have said will definitely do it.  Make sure you keep up with your doctors appointments If it doesnt feel right call your doctor and see if they think you should come in.  Maybe they can get you something to help you sleep too - for me the anti-seizure meds do that for me lol. 

I dont know man how frequent were your seizures prior to 6 weeks ago?  Me for example..  they can come and go.  I can have tons and tons of them in a period of a few weeks then they stop for a week or 2 or even 2 months and restart - and I do get plenty of sleep etc. 

 Lack of sleep, stress etc as others have said will definitely do it.  Make sure you keep up with your doctors appointments If it doesnt feel right call your doctor and see if they think you should come in.  Maybe they can get you something to help you sleep too - for me the anti-seizure meds do that for me lol. 

Re: Breakthrough seizure caused by lack of sleep

Submitted by MichaelK on Mon, 2008-10-13 - 22:36
Hi BCShepard, Thanks for your reply. Sounds like you have a really fickle situation, sometimes everything is OK, sometimes it's not. With me, things are usually pretty steady until I do something like not get enough sleep and have a breakthrough seizure. That is when I can have problems. So I am going to wait and see. I really appreciate your advice.

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