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Headaches, Epilepsy & Car Travel

Thu, 02/05/2004 - 16:31

Topic: Living With Epilepsy - Adults

For a year now I have been getting bad headaches whenever I drive or travel in a car. OTC pain relievers don't work on these and neither did any of the migraine medications I tried. My current Neurologist did an EEG and diagnosed Epilepsy. Apparently they are ictal headaches, where the headache is the only symptom of a seizure. Now we are in medication trials of anti-seizure drugs with all the joys of side effects I remember from back when I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder. I just wanted see if there was anyone else out there I could talk to who has ictal headaches or anyone who has headaches or seizures that are triggered by being in a moving car. Am I alone in this bizarre condition that confounded the doctors for so long?

Comments

RE: Headaches, Epilepsy & Car Travel

Submitted by EpilepsyDotComEditor on Thu, 2004-02-05 - 09:23

You may be interested in the page of epilepsy.com that discusses seizures caused by things like being in a moving car:http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/epilepsy_reflex.htmlIt's not a common situation, especially for adults, but you certainly are not alone. I hope you'll explore more of epilepsy.com, particularly the information on Seizure Medicines.

Re: RE: Headaches, Epilepsy & Car Travel

Submitted by Sincereply on Sun, 2008-08-03 - 09:24

Could you be sensitive to the emissions of the car? Gasoline, carbon monoxide, coolant has no smell. Maybe it is not your body at all but, the car that needs a good looking over for proper ventilation, etc. Chemical sensitivity can have lots of "interesting' effects.

Sincereply

RE: Headaches, Epilepsy & Car Travel

Submitted by Bandcheryl on Thu, 2004-02-05 - 15:12

Don't worry, from what I've heard, everybody get's a post-ictal headache after a seizure. I know I do. And they're not fun. I just had the right labectomy surgery last Sept. and still getting really bad headaches from that, but thank goodness for Tylenol, right? You said whenever traveling or driving a car, you're still aloud to drive while having siezures? I thought everybody got cut off from driving while you have seizures in your life and can start driving again after not having one for I think about a year?

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