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New Here: First Seizure Questions: Adult onset?
Thu, 05/22/2008 - 23:46
Hi, New here: A little background 1st:
I had my 1st seizure about a few weeks ago. My husband called 911 when he woke up to hear me making sounds and struggling. He said I was jerking, eyes rolled back, moving everywhere, not responding, no clue he was there. I didn't respond to 4 paramedics, an ambulance ride. When I came around I didn't know where I was and my tongue was bit up. I couldn't hardly talk. My blood sugar was very low and I had a headache on the left side of my head. I did not know where I was which caused hyperventilation. With not one around, not memory of what happened. My husband was still at home waiting to come and have someone stay with the kids. Once we were all settled and my husband could get there and tell what happened, I got the full work up. MRI, EEG you name it they did it. I stayed at the hospital for 2 days. My EEG spiked and I had a seizure with that. So Complex Partial Seizure left frontal lobe with secondary generalization. I did a sleep study, results soon. On Depakote, no driving for 6 months. I have had simple partial seizures after the hospital visit.
My son has seizures as well and on Depakote/Tegretol. He had a stroke at birth so they say my seizure and his seizures are not related. His is due to brain injury at birth. The Dr. feels that I am under stress...well yea stay at home mom to a boy that had a stroke, not to mention other stuff. The Dr. said stress triggers seizures. They said I could be having tiny seizures in my sleep then the big one the other day.
Questions:
Many of my friends are asking me if adult onset seizures are common? I forgot to ask the Dr.
Will this be the last big one? Or more to come? If I have another one the 6 month driving starts over so did some of you not drive for a year?
I am depakote and they will raise it up to the right dose for me gradually. I am bit overweight anyway....I heard it makes you gain??
If my sleep study comes back saying I have sleep apnea which caused the seizure, won't a cpap machine help and I really don't have a seizure disorder??
Thanks for reading!
Comments
Re: New Here: First Seizure Questions: Adult onset?
Submitted by bookbabe on Thu, 2009-01-01 - 20:17
I had my first seizure in my 30's also. In fact, it has been my only big seizure - I was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy about a year ago, and those seizures have been fairly mild and had in the past been attributed to psychiatric symptoms (bipolar disorder). Anyway, just to say that I don't think it is all that unusual for seizures to start in adulthood.
As to the sleep apnea/seizure connection. I also have sleep apnea, which really suprised me when it was diagnosed, as I really don't snore much and thought I slept through the night just fine. (In fact, my sleep apnea is moderate to severe) Being treated for sleep apnea might stop your seizures, but the apnea might just be one of several triggers. It is definately worth being treated for it, though, because you will feel better. It took me a while to get used to the mask, quite a while, actually, but it has been worth it.
Depakote increases your appetite. Watching what you eat can help with the weight gain, but that is easier said than done. If it becomes a real problem, you might be able to change your medication. Talk with your doctor about that.
I hope some of this rambling might help somewhat.
I had my first seizure in my 30's also. In fact, it has been my only big seizure - I was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy about a year ago, and those seizures have been fairly mild and had in the past been attributed to psychiatric symptoms (bipolar disorder). Anyway, just to say that I don't think it is all that unusual for seizures to start in adulthood.
As to the sleep apnea/seizure connection. I also have sleep apnea, which really suprised me when it was diagnosed, as I really don't snore much and thought I slept through the night just fine. (In fact, my sleep apnea is moderate to severe) Being treated for sleep apnea might stop your seizures, but the apnea might just be one of several triggers. It is definately worth being treated for it, though, because you will feel better. It took me a while to get used to the mask, quite a while, actually, but it has been worth it.
Depakote increases your appetite. Watching what you eat can help with the weight gain, but that is easier said than done. If it becomes a real problem, you might be able to change your medication. Talk with your doctor about that.
I hope some of this rambling might help somewhat.
Re: New Here: First Seizure Questions: Adult onset?
Submitted by DaddyO on Fri, 2011-10-14 - 19:28
in all but the worst of my seizures I am able to see and hear and i do realize what is going on, I am not allways able to recall details or respond.