Community Forum Archive

The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.

Is anyone driving with/during partial seizure? I am worried.

Fri, 10/03/2008 - 08:33

Hi

I'm new around here, but have been listening in over the past month or so.  Had a number of head injuries and latest seems to not be healing well it's been 9 months and still having alot of problems. and now I think i've been having some sort of partial seizures or somehing.  I get an ringing in my ears and change in awareness, where i will feel like i shift in space or fall a few feet.  then i get a thick cloud come over me and my head starts shooting electric like shocks on one side then i start twitching and eyes roll, can't keep them open,  Twitches start in eyes, then face, then shoulder, arm and chest, my arm and leg will jerk as well , on left side.   they only last from 30 secomds to a couple of minutes. but they can also start up again after a brief break? and i can have a few in a row.  My face goes numb and tingly and i feel exhausted and foggy for an hour or so.  some of them i feel like i am going to pass out. 

Nuero (who i seemed totally bored and uninterested in my problem)  has ordered an EEG to see if it is seizure.

Anyways my point is i am aware of what is going on to me, i kind of feel like i am observing myself but i am not fully aware of what is going on around me.  I can hear my husband talk to me when i go into this 'altered state', but i can't talk, if i try it comes out in moans. I've have had these mostly at night, before sleeping and in the middle of the night so i was just trying to pretend they weren't happening(haven't had a real sleep in a couple of week till last night i double dosed on some muscle relaxers that totally knock me out.)  some nights i wake up with a jerk or with my hands gripped tight on my face or my muscles so gripped i wonder what the heck i am doing in my sleep!  But now they happen during the day.

but to get to my piont i  have now had 4 of these while driving.  I manage to pull over but it is very scary in fast hwy. traffic and i am really not with it.  The doctor said i could do what ever i felt comfortable with in regards to driving and working (i'm a zoo keeper so my job can be rather dangerous) So i have been driving if i don't i'll lose my job, my job is an hour commute each way, i live in the sticks so there is no public transit.  I am worried that i'll pass out and crash, hurt someone else.  Maybe i am just being paranoid as the doc, didn't seem too concerned.    Also worried that i will pass out at work and knock my head and end up face down in the monkey shit.  My brain can't handle another beating.  Curious if anyone out there has similar experience and if they are driving.  What do you do?  Do you feel like you are impaired while driving?  Is it legal to drive with partial sz (i am in Ontario  Canada)  I usually get a warning like the ringing and cloud feeling but, they seem to be coming on quicker.  Can they change?  does this mean i may get a bigger seizure anytime?  I am new to all this,  If anyone has any advice it would be appreciated so much. 

Thank you for listening.

Comments

Re: Is anyone driving with/during partial seizure? I am worried.

Submitted by twilight on Fri, 2008-10-03 - 10:54
Zoogirl, been there done that. I would recomend you not drive, as you state it is scary in fast traffic also you can never be sure one of these episodes will not evolve into a more sever seizure. In the U.S. it is not legal to drive with a seizure condition. With what yaou have said about your neurologist I would recomend you look around for another one. If you are within a reasonable distance of a teaching hospital, that is a good place to look, they usually have all the newest equipment and are up on yhe latest data. You did not mention what if any meds you are on. As to your EGG, unless you have a seizure while you are wired to the machine it will not tell your neuro much, that's not to say it is not useful. Go to my page and read my story and good luck.

Re: Is anyone driving with/during partial seizure? I am worried.

Submitted by dizzy1 on Sun, 2009-10-11 - 08:27

 Yes, put off driving untill seizures are controled or you are seizure free.

Five years before i was diagnosed i gave up driving.

Why?

1 - I had two night jobs, cleaning. Then i would go pick up my husband from his night job. On at least 10 -15 occasions i made these journey's, i could not remember how i got there and would shrug it off as being tired.

2- Driving on the motorway i have suddenly sped up or come to a comlete stop and only came too with my husband yelling at me and trying to direct the car to the hard shoulder.

But the staw that broke the camels back was

3- When i almost ran my daughter in law and grandson off the road.

There was a few other symtoms after that that led me to find out what was wrong with me but reason number 3 made me sell my car

 

 Yes, put off driving untill seizures are controled or you are seizure free.

Five years before i was diagnosed i gave up driving.

Why?

1 - I had two night jobs, cleaning. Then i would go pick up my husband from his night job. On at least 10 -15 occasions i made these journey's, i could not remember how i got there and would shrug it off as being tired.

2- Driving on the motorway i have suddenly sped up or come to a comlete stop and only came too with my husband yelling at me and trying to direct the car to the hard shoulder.

But the staw that broke the camels back was

3- When i almost ran my daughter in law and grandson off the road.

There was a few other symtoms after that that led me to find out what was wrong with me but reason number 3 made me sell my car

 

Re: Is anyone driving with/during partial seizure? I am worried.

Submitted by arrowland on Sun, 2009-10-11 - 17:03

I work as an insurance claims adjuster and I DO NOT drive because I seize.

I have been very fortunate. I apparently had seizures due to an undiagnosed brain tumor for about 30 years and only had 2 accidents and 2 tickets due to seizures. Both accidents were very minor fender benders, and the tickets were also minor... 1 for speeding and 1 for running a stop sign. I must admit to MANY other close calls, but most of the time, I had other people in the car who got my attention before I rear-ended other people.

I knew there were places where other people drove crazy or where my car acted funny (highways by the river on a sunny day, passing areas with a lot of tall trees where the sunlight showed through). It never occurred to me that it was operator error and not defective cars, roadways, and other drivers.

I just avoided these danger areas. Also, I hated to drive and used every excuse I could not to.... I would bike to church, walk to the store, and when I carpooled, even on my weeks, I convinced my carpool buddies to drive my car, or I just paid for gas. I also avoided driving where the car and other drivers acted up. This is not a tactic I would recommend. After all, what about ambulaces, police pulling people over, lightening storms?

There was one time that a car drove backwards at me and I hit the brakes so hard that the car did two 360degree turns. There was heavy traffic, but somehow I was in a pocket of no cars. The roads were wet, and I would have sworn that I was only going 50 mph. I have since done an accident reconstruction calculation... I must have been going about 90 mph. Now I would have to say it was an absence seizure at the same time my gas pedal leg was twitching.

 I also have a friend who was just going 1/2 mile down a back road at night. She had a seizure and drove into a tree at a high rate of speed. She lived, but had 6 months of PT and has lost the sight in her right eye.

You say you can't afford not to drive, but I have to ask you, can you afford the risk of driving? The scariest thing for me is not that I might die, but that I might live..... and have to live with the knowledge that I killed somebody else's mother or father and left orphans just because i couldn't afford not to drive. Just don't do it.

I work as an insurance claims adjuster and I DO NOT drive because I seize.

I have been very fortunate. I apparently had seizures due to an undiagnosed brain tumor for about 30 years and only had 2 accidents and 2 tickets due to seizures. Both accidents were very minor fender benders, and the tickets were also minor... 1 for speeding and 1 for running a stop sign. I must admit to MANY other close calls, but most of the time, I had other people in the car who got my attention before I rear-ended other people.

I knew there were places where other people drove crazy or where my car acted funny (highways by the river on a sunny day, passing areas with a lot of tall trees where the sunlight showed through). It never occurred to me that it was operator error and not defective cars, roadways, and other drivers.

I just avoided these danger areas. Also, I hated to drive and used every excuse I could not to.... I would bike to church, walk to the store, and when I carpooled, even on my weeks, I convinced my carpool buddies to drive my car, or I just paid for gas. I also avoided driving where the car and other drivers acted up. This is not a tactic I would recommend. After all, what about ambulaces, police pulling people over, lightening storms?

There was one time that a car drove backwards at me and I hit the brakes so hard that the car did two 360degree turns. There was heavy traffic, but somehow I was in a pocket of no cars. The roads were wet, and I would have sworn that I was only going 50 mph. I have since done an accident reconstruction calculation... I must have been going about 90 mph. Now I would have to say it was an absence seizure at the same time my gas pedal leg was twitching.

 I also have a friend who was just going 1/2 mile down a back road at night. She had a seizure and drove into a tree at a high rate of speed. She lived, but had 6 months of PT and has lost the sight in her right eye.

You say you can't afford not to drive, but I have to ask you, can you afford the risk of driving? The scariest thing for me is not that I might die, but that I might live..... and have to live with the knowledge that I killed somebody else's mother or father and left orphans just because i couldn't afford not to drive. Just don't do it.

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.