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nocturnal seizures and i cant drive for 6 months?!?!?

Mon, 12/04/2006 - 20:17
i had my first seizure (or at least that we know of) about a month ago. It was at night. I've had seizures since then, but only at night! i saw my neurologist today and got put on meds (keppra) and he said that i cant drive for 6 MONTHS!!! I'm 19 and go to school and have a job, so not being able to drive is really annoying (my parents have been taking me everywhere). Since I only have seizures at night while i'm sleeping, is there any way I could be able to drive sooner than 6 months??? ( i live in PA) - Samantha

Comments

Re: nocturnal seizures and i cant drive for 6 months?!?!?

Submitted by Cat Lady on Mon, 2006-12-04 - 21:02
I can relate, but unfortunately, I can offer no help. I live in Virginia. I have had temporal lobe epilepsy for probably most of my life, but the symptoms were so mild it was not diagnosed until I was in my 30's and that was because I sought help for my poor memory. With that diagnosis came no driving restrictions because the "seizures" occurred with no loss of conscienceness. I am now 42. On October 2nd, of this year, I had my first T-C seizure at 4 a.m. My husband awoke and thought I was having a bad dream then started to worry that I was having stoke, he called 911 and somewhere between the time he called and when I came to, he learned that it was "just a seizure". I had been under a lot of stress at the time. I was working outside of the home, and taking care of our two kids, and was responsible for everyone's laundry, dinner, school work, etc. In addition to that stress I was only getting about 4 hours of sleep each night because that was the only time I could take care of the household stuff. The lack of sleep is what probably triggered my seizure; however, they can't say for sure. So, because of the driving restrictions in VA, I had to take a break from my job--no one will drive me that far and there are no buses that go out that way. So, one major stress down. Now I have time for the housework during day and don't have to stay up all night. The only stress now is just my lack of income contribution and NOT BEING ABLE TO DRIVE until April 2nd. Arg!!! I only had the one Grand Mal/Tonic Clonic seizure and it was noturnal like yours. And was probably brought on by lack of sleep which is not an issue now. I really feel that driving is safe for me to do, but if I end up in an accident--even if I am not found at fault, I am told that the insurance company could refuse to pay saying that legally I should not have been on the road anyway. My husband is annoyed that he has to be the driver for everyone now. He is being pretty nice about it, but I feel he resents it some. It could be worse, really, if he was told not to drive, I am sure that he would rather go back to being the driver than the home-bound dependent. He would then see that kind of sucks... Anyway, in answer to your question, I don't think there is anyway to shorten the restriction. It is a luck of the draw. Some states only make you wait 3 months if on medication. In Virginia, it is 6 months that you have to be seizure free and medicated or, I think, 3 years w/o medication. Here they don't seem to recognize a difference between nocturnal and awake seizures. I don't know why there is no uniform number of months between the states. Why is driving safe after just 3 months in some states and so much longer in others? If 3 months is safe one place, it should be safe everywhere else... I have a question for you though. Since your seizure was nocturnal, like mine, am I safe in assuming that you did not experience an aura just prior (since you were asleep you would not have been awake to notice it)? Does it freak you out that you could have a seizure when you are awake in a public place and not know it is coming on? That freaked me out for the first 6 weeks following my seizure. I don't worry about it as much now, but that did bother me initially. -Cat Lady

Re: nocturnal seizures and i cant drive for 6 months?!?!?

Submitted by ScottR on Mon, 2006-12-04 - 23:20
Hi sam. when my seizures came back after being in remision for 13 years they returned at first as nocturnal seizures. as time went on they started occuring during the day as well. that is fairly comon with epilepsy which is why the state usually will suspend your liscence for either 6 months or a year. I was foolish enough to continue to drive until I totaled my fifth vehicle and woke up to the reality of what I was doing. I am now about to begin my testing for surgery so I can drive again. Good luck Scott

Re: nocturnal seizures and i cant drive for 6 months?!?!?

Submitted by maraj on Tue, 2006-12-05 - 09:55
I am in a similar situation (getting seizures now b/c of switching meds after being controlled for years) and it is very frustrating. I recently had to stop driving and won't be able to drive for at least 3 months. I know it sucks, but what if you did have a day time seizure and had an accident? That is what I keep telling myself. Although, it looks like you may have the chance of being an exception based on what I read about PA's driving laws on the Epilepsy Fdn's website: http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/Social/driving/statedrivinglaws.cfm

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