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Period, sleep and seizure

Tue, 12/22/2015 - 18:58

Hi my name is Brittany, and I am 17. When i was 3 i was diagnosed with petit mal and it only happened every so often. After, when i was about 15 or 16 i got my first period and a couple months later I had my first big seizure and i went to the hospital they did MRIs and etc, everything was fine. (Doctors said it wasn’t exactly grand mal). The next month i had another and i don’t think it was when i was on my period( i could be mistaken because it was in February and i don’t really remember), but it was also a night where i stayed up kind of late. Then another seizure happened when i was approaching the end of my cycle on a trip at a hotel, which that night i also stayed up pretty late but not too late. It basically happened every time i was on my period and or stayed out late. I have stayed out late before, when i was not on my period and it did/ has not happened.For example, a couple days ago i went to a concert with my friend and went to bed by 12:00 am and nothing seemed to happen. Which leads me to think that it is both my period and sleep deprivation combined, but i am not quite sure. I am now taking Keppra and it does not seem to help. I am also being really cautious of what time i go to sleep in general and not just when i am on my period. Also I asked my doctor that day of the concert, if i could go (only because i was being cautious) and he said yes. I also talked to him about this whole thing with my period, he said he would not be quite positive about it, but there is a high possibility i can be seizure-free once we narrow this down. If you guys have any suggestions that would be great. One more thing is that because of my age i am totally bummed about not driving anymore, and only 3 of my closest friends know about my seizure, the rest of my friends just ask why i am not driving anymore, i always find a way to make an excuse because for some reason i am scared to tell them( i know it sounds dumb) but if you have any advice for that, as well,that would also be great.

Comments

Your hormone levels go up and

Submitted by margiefox118@live.com on Thu, 2015-12-24 - 11:24
Your hormone levels go up and down More estrogen is produced just before a period making you more seizure prone. An endocrinologist/neurologist could help to control these. I was on the Pill 36 years ago (also on Dilantin for ep) and got pregnant and no one knew why. Ten years later the connection was discovered -Dilantin and the Pill counter-act each other. Now so much is known the right doctor would help you. My estrogen levels were always high which caused an increase in my metabolic rate and my electrical brain activity. I can eat like a pig and never gain weight. I am now size 1 but before I started my period I was size13#. New research on hormones has given us many new options on how to control the levels and if you see the proper Dr. you could end up seizure free.

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