Stress and Seizures

Re: Stress and Seizures

Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Thu, 2011-04-21 - 06:00

Hi Gina22, Sorry for the late response, but I've been drowned in spam attacks with my e-mail. I have many daily simple partial seizures that are usually restricted to visceral feelings (aura) with no involuntary physical movements, though the seizures frequently interfere with my speech. I generally ignore the visceral feelings as much as possible, but observers label or interpret my "non-action" as my having "flat affect" and near zero "motivation". Being told that I don't verbally respond because of my lack of motivation led me to reject the concept of "motivation" as a useful scientfic concept, much as Skinnerian Behaviourism rejects the concept. I also have about monthly clusters of seizures that now secondarily generalize into tonic-clonic seizures without Anti-Epileptic Drugs (AEDs). The simple partial seizures in the clusters are different, but still often classifiable as just aura, and they usually give me plenty of warning to take a stronger dose of Keppra that stops the secondarily generalizations into tonic-clonics. The definition of complex partial seizures involves the degree of "consciousness", which doesn't have a scientific definition, nor is subject to objective and valid measurement (some definitions involve it as "being able to engage in verbal behaviour, with memory", while many people are undoubtedly fully conscious and not open to all engagements in verbal behaviour). My warning aura for clusters generally occur just as I start to go to sleep, and I can usually (less frequently now, than decades ago) forestall the clusters from continuing as long as I can stay awake. Lack of sleep, and boredom, aggravate my migraines, but not the frequency of my seizures. My clusters overlapping with the flu/colds and many medicines will make my cluster seizures more severe, but not noticeably more frequent. The ILAE distinguishes reflex seizures by these seizures having "specific modes of seizure precipitation" (more like a "trigger") than non-reflex seizures that at most may have "Certain nonspecific factors (e.g., sleeplessness, etc.) as common non-specific precipitators" (more like lowered thresholds that increase the chances of seizures occurring, but not per se directly causing the seizures): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2596/ Since I was once told that the "stress" of going to sleep caused my seizures, I don't think the word "stress" has a precise scientific meaning in the schools of psychiatry/psychology/neurology (stress has a precise scientific definition in physics/mechanics, but not in the soft sciences). I tried to find a good, valid, and objective psych definition of "stress" in books like "Handbook of Stress" by Goldberger & Breznitz (1993), with 80 search results for the definition of "stress" and/or "emotional stress", with only vague and controversial explanations: http://books.google.com/books?id=W14m0YQK_5sC&pg=PT42&dq=Goldberger+Selye's&hl=en&ei=3u2vTc3EN5S4sQOK9d3iCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=snippet&q=Seyle's%20focus&f=false The book tries to make the claim that "fuzzy" definitions are more useful than the precise and concise definitions of concepts used in the hard sciences. Next, they'll recommend an Ouija Board over an expensive CAT-Scan. A State Rehabilitation counselor told me that my epilepsy precluded stressful jobs, like being a high-paid CPA, but not low-paid jobs like handling deadly chemicals. For some reason, "stress" was the rate of pay, but not the degree of danger. The word "stress" as used in psychology means everything and nothing. Generally, for individuals with epilepsy, a lack of rest, overly long work shifts, quick and insufficient lunches, can lower seizure thresholds, and make seizures of epilepsy more likely. Physically exhausting long work schedules with too few available calories can also induce hypoglycemia, which can imitate many characteristics of epileptic seizures. I can induce hypoglycemia through "reactive hypoglycemia" testing techniques, and while a simple blood-sugar test reveals a current state of hypoglycemia, many doctors can't tell the difference amongst that (without the test), nor between, my having partial seizures and my having a painless migraine. Tadzio

Re: Stress and Seizures

Submitted by hughes_joshua on Thu, 2011-04-21 - 21:40

I am 35 and was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 5 years old...so I happen to know a few things about it from my experience, not only from text books or Dr's visits. 

The key here is understanding and defining exactly what stress is.  You have to realize stress is not limited to having a bad day, kids acting up, or lack of sleep for example.  Most people think of stress as only being negative. 

"Stress" has been the only element I have been able to consistantly identify as a triger for my seizures.  What I have come to realize is, it is just as STIMULATING/ stressfull to win $9 million in the lottery as it is to loose your job.  We potentially incurr stress from everything we do, see, feel, or hear in our environment as well as basic health issues such as diet, exersize, and the social environment we subject our minds and bodies to.

Its a matter of associating environmental stimulation (positive or negative) to the seizure threshold of you as an individual.  This threshold can be variable throughout the lifetime of any epileptic, which is to say, it may change over time, not only the threshold but the type and frequency of episodes.  Its not as easy as adding 1+1= 2 because its subjective and can vary over time.  This would explain why medical professionals are not able to consistantly control the seizures of more than ~30% of individuals with seizure disorder or epilepsy.

 MORAL OF THE STORY....don't limit your thinking of stress to the idea of having a bad day......a lottery win can cause your mind and body just as much "stress" or stimulation as loosing a loved one. Naturally, sleep deprivation is a major source of stress (negative stress) and in my experience, as committed as I am to being a respected professional, a negative job environment (over worked, under paid or negative co-workers) can have just as much influence on your seizure threshold/ stress level as sleep deprivation.