Sleep disturbances, recent diagnosis

Hi there, First of all I am sorry to hear about your niece and her recent diagnosis. I am no expert and have recently been diagnosed myself. When I was first diagnosed I couldn't sleep either. I think this is mainly down to stress and worry. It all takes time to accept and understand what is happening with this upheaval in our life. I am still trying to get there myself but time does help with the sleeping problems. As I say, I am no expert I am only going by my experience and as it's early days for your niece it's really hard to know if it is all the stress and anxiety that are the root cause of her sleeping problems, or indeed her body trying to adjust to the medication. Only yesterday I was at the Doctors and she increased my medication as it seems I am having little seizures in my sleep (I am biting my tongue). Perhaps your niece should discuss this with her Doctor as this could be this case. At the very least it would help put both your minds at ease. Love, reassurance and support groups are just some of the weapons that will get her through this. She is lucky to have you. Don't be afraid to ask any questions. There are many people on this forum who will help you as best as they can. Lots of luck Jenny

Good questions! Sleep can be a big factor for many people with seizures, either broken sleep from seizures, stress/worry/depression, side effects of meds and lots of things. Sorting out cause of sleep problem is important since seizures can be triggered or made worse by interrupted sleep or sleep deprivation. Sometimes the only way to tell if person is having seizures at night is to look at the EEG during sleep. I have added link here to section on JME. Also look at info on seizure triggers and diagnostic testing. Make sure the doctor knows about the sleep problems so he/you can talk about any testing that may be needed to sort it out. Hope this helps, Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist //www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/epilepsy_juvenilemyoclonic.html