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seizures with periods

Tue, 08/16/2005 - 08:08
Had a few questions and didn't know if anyone could help.  Back in March I began taking Dexatrim diet pills.  I was fine for about 10 days and when I got my period, I had my first 2 seizures.  The first one happened around noon, my husband was home and he called for an ambulance.  They took me to the hospital, ran tests and discharged me around 5:30.  I came home and pretty much went to bed.  Around 1:00 am I had another seizure, my husband took me back to the hospital and they admitted me.  I was there for 2 days and they ran all kinds of tests.  Everything came back ok and the neurologist blamed the pills.  I didn't have any more seizures until last Tuesday night.  We went to an amusement park, I took a Dramimine around 11am.  We came home, I got my period, went to bed and around 5:30 am I had another seizure.  I called my doctor and the neurologist.  My doctor said to get the 6-hour EEG done.  I have it scheduled.  My neurologist called me last night and told me to get an EEG and MRI scheduled ASAP.  I am  in the process right now.  Didn't know if anyone had any insight.  I am a 36 year old woman, mother of 2 small children who never had any problems until March.  Thanks for any insight.

Comments

RE: RE: RE: seizures with periods

Submitted by taho on Thu, 2005-08-18 - 12:13
Hi Kathy,I also have an increase around my period. I had my first seizure (grand mal) in May of last year and have had 2 since. I wasn't on meds when I had the last two because they were trying to find out if I had epilepsy or if I just had an isolated incident related to stress and/or fatigue. At any rate, I am on meds and haven't had any more grand mals, but around my period and when I am ovulating, I have more difficulty w/simple partials (for me, they are like little instances--deja vu, memory and recall challenges, etc.) I read somewhere (on this site, I think) that they have found a link between female hormones and seizure activity. I guess people who have E and were controlled before menopause have to get new medicine or increase dosage etc. I wanted to let you know that I also have children and since having this just appear in my life is very stressful and scary. At first, I spent a lot of time trying to find the cause, what was I doing that I could change or what did I do to cause this to happen etc. I finally realized that that was wasted energy--I have epilepsy, I will take meds for the rest of my life and I will learn new ways of doing things to make it bearable. I know that this won't mean anything to you until later when you come to your own place but I just want to let you know that it can get better and your anxiety is normal and warranted. Good luck...if you want to e-mail me, my address is toniaho_2000@yahoo.com. I'm glad you are being assertive and taking care of yourself by going to the dr.(s), searching for resources, and asking for help! Toni

Re: RE: RE: RE: seizures with periods

Submitted by Livia on Sat, 2006-04-01 - 01:37
Hello, My name is Livia. Iam a mother of 3 children. Back in Dec. 05 I suffered a seizure. I couldn't believe this happened to me. I went to see a neurologist and had all kinds of test done and nothing was found. I started doing research on the internet and found this site. I noticed I had the seizure at the time of my period. Just last week I suffered another seizure around the time of my period. Iam going to ask my doctor to give me a blood test to have my hormones checked out. Iam 40yrs. old. I take it hormones can also make you have a seizure.

RE: seizures with periods

Submitted by tuesdays_jupiter on Sat, 2005-08-20 - 20:03

Hey I understand what you're going through. B4 I was medicated for my SPE-TLS i never noticed if my sz were cyclical or not (i had them consistently lol). After i was medicated I began to notice increased sz activity around that time and generally all my sz since being medicated are during my period.

The diet pills are a strong issue for me, b/c i have a dear friend who is battling anorexia/bulimia, and yes most likely the increase in energy was what caused your sz. SZ are electrical disruptions in the brain and diet pills with those energy boosters are terrible for increasing electrical levels in the brain. The same with the dramamine, it is almost a sedative so the brain works harder to produce enough energy. My advice (completly non clinical) embrace your weight and say AWAY from over the counter stuff of all kinds until you are diagnosed or recieve the proper medical care.

 

Sunshine and Daisies,

~Cass

 

Hey I understand what you're going through. B4 I was medicated for my SPE-TLS i never noticed if my sz were cyclical or not (i had them consistently lol). After i was medicated I began to notice increased sz activity around that time and generally all my sz since being medicated are during my period.

The diet pills are a strong issue for me, b/c i have a dear friend who is battling anorexia/bulimia, and yes most likely the increase in energy was what caused your sz. SZ are electrical disruptions in the brain and diet pills with those energy boosters are terrible for increasing electrical levels in the brain. The same with the dramamine, it is almost a sedative so the brain works harder to produce enough energy. My advice (completly non clinical) embrace your weight and say AWAY from over the counter stuff of all kinds until you are diagnosed or recieve the proper medical care.

 

Sunshine and Daisies,

~Cass

 

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