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Complex Partial/Night Terrors
Thu, 02/19/2004 - 15:47Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
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
RE: Complex Partial/Night Terrors
Submitted by Mersix on Thu, 2004-02-19 - 14:02
Just a thought -- I think we are dealing with two different CPS. Child Protective Services and a disease with the same initials. --Mersix
RE: Complex Partial/Night Terrors
Submitted by loogan on Thu, 2004-02-19 - 15:47
I was referring to complex partial seizures.BE
RE: Complex Partial/Night Terrors
Submitted by loogan on Wed, 2004-02-18 - 16:55
This is the first time I have seen CPS and night terrors in the same sentence and I have been looking for it for a while. My 8 year old son has CPS and my six year old daughter until recently suffered from night terrors. Interestingly, our search for info on the seizures lead us to solutions for the night terrors. My suspicion is that it is the same genetically transmitted metabolic problem that is responsible for both conditions. I recommend three books. For everyone who suffers from epilepsy I recommend starting with Patricia Murphy's book, Treating Epilepsy Naturally. I read a recent review of the book by Dr. Abram Hoffer who recommended that this book be read even before you seek out a doctor. The second book I recommend is Ellaine Gottschall's, Breaking the Viscious Cycle. We were referred to it in search for a metabolic basis for the epilepsy and what we found was the metabolic basis for our daughter's night terrors: gluten-based nutritional malabsorption. We removed gluten (and liquid milk) from our daughter's diet and the night terrors stopped immediately and have not returned. For others it may go well beyond gluten to include caisein and a whole host of grains and other carbohydrates. Gottschall's book is the best explanation of leaky gut syndrome that I have found, and it provides lots of info on the solution: the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD). Gottschall (and numerous others) explain that neurological symptoms often accompany GI disorders. This learning ties in with our progress with our son and his CPS. He is allergic to wheat, dairy and sugar. When we began managing his diet for these alone he responded remarkably well. It's clearly a big piece of the puzzle and I suspect the remaining piece is the repair of the GI damage that has been done.The third book I recommend is Dr. Chris Reading's Tracing Your Genes to Health. There is little specific reference to epilepsy in this book but it reinforces to me the metabolic nature of many, many illnesses, including my son's. This is a book that anyone with concerns over serious illnesses in the family should read. READ THIS BOOK. I don't have time to spell out the reasons why.I know you stated that your problems began with an accident or head injury, but if I were in your shoes I would still approach this from the metabolic perspective. I believe, as does Dr. Reading, that the underlying problem can manifest itself in many different ways. It's possible that the trauma is not so much a cause of your problem as it is a determiner of your symptoms. My $.02 worth.BE