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1st time seizure experience normal?

Thu, 08/11/2016 - 02:04
A little over one month ago I had my first (and hoping only) grand mal seizure. I had not slept the night before much due to working on a project, but slept fine the nights before that. I was also on my period. Thirdly, I was taking Wellbutrin, but had been taking that for some time without any issues. These are the 3 possible provokers I have read about, at least. I got up that morning, had some oatmeal and coffee and then went for a hike with my husband. We were on vacation and I wanted to go for a hike that morning. I am an avid hiker and very athletic so it should not have been an issue. It was a short 2 mile hike. I drank plenty of water and felt o.k. during the hike although a bit more tired than usual. However, that could be easily attributed to the lack of sleep the night before. Upon returning to the car after the hike I sat down, shut the door and apparently according to husband went into a full blown grand mal seizure. I do not remember anything during the seizure. There was no warning that I remember or recognized anyway. He said I was talking normal right up until the seizure. It took at least 10 minutes after coming around to remember who my husband was, where I was, etc.. and at least 3 hours to remember more details, kids, etc.... I went to the ER and had a CT scan and labs. All normal and they discharged me. Over the next 3 weeks I had an almost constant headache, eye blurriness, great eye and head pressure, memory issues, confusion, stiff neck, dizziness, nausea and weakness like I have never had in my life. The headaches were not like any headache I had ever had, migraine or cluster type, not sure. I also experienced a couple of ice pick type headaches on top of the other type headaches a day before the headaches seem to just magically disappear. For the next 5 days I still felt weak and some mild dizziness, but overall not bad in comparison. The headaches were moreless gone. Then I had a couple of weird days again, but not like the 3 weeks right after the seizure. Coincidently, I was on my period again when I had those couple of "weird" days? Now, since the past 10 days I have felt fairly good, than bad, then good, then bad. It's so frustrating! However, nothing as bad as I did those 3 weeks immediately following the seizure. Is 3 weeks of a constant headache, nausea, dizziness, stiff neck and weakness after a seizure normal? My appointment to see neurologist isn't until August 24th. I have an EEG in a few days and an MRI scheduled, but now I feel pretty normal so I am frustrated. I feel like since I feel pretty good more than not, other than still weaker than my normal self, it is all just going to be dismissed when something really is wrong. Just wondering if anyone else had an experience like this with a seizure. One other note, prior to the seizure I had been having several months of terrible memory issues, confusion and felt there just wasn't something not right, but it was dismissed to just being depressed. I wasn't depressed or stressed at all when the seizure occurred. I was on vacation!

Comments

What you were doing is what

Submitted by just_joe on Thu, 2016-08-11 - 14:51
What you were doing is what other people do so that had nothing to do with your grand mal seizure.As for possiable provokers (triggers) there are many others.Not remembering anything is because in a grand mal seizure you lose conciousness. Remembering who someone is or what you had been doing takes time because a seizure is a chain reaction caused by an electrical impulse hitting wrong in your brain. As for being tired you will be because in a grand mal seizure especially a convulsive one your mucles are jerking with all their strencth. ER rooms run certain tests which have ntohing to do with epilepsy. A person can have a seizure because of several things. A diabetic can have them. Someone who drank too much can also have one so the blood test will show them some things. People do not always get warnings of a seizure happening.Now the stiffness and tiredness could be due to the use of your muscles.But many of the other issues especially your head aches could be parts of seizures.The tests that are set up will be looked at and they are the main tests done by neurologists. The EEG is a brain wave test showing the electrical activity coming from your brain. The MRI will show your brain and anything on it as it is, They want to see if there is anything different or anything that could cause issues. With the EEG they will see everything coming out and they will be looking for any abnormalities. Spikes or waves aka seizure activity.  The start of a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain ( spikes, waves ie. seivure activity) causing a chain reaction. What can cause those is anything different on the brain. with me it is scar tissue in th left lobes of my brain. For others it could be a cell that didn't grow right.Feeling normal is fine and I feel normal every day. Would you feel as frustrated if you had had a heart ailemnt? They too have to take medications. They have tests that need to be done. I know I not only have epilepsy. I also have an irregular heart beat. Along with A-fib and intermitant A-flutter. Anything that other people have you can also have.None of the ailments are discriminatory. Anybody at anytime can get them. It is how one deals with their epilepsy that will show that they want to control it rather then letting epilepsy control them.

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