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I might have had a seizure last night

Mon, 11/11/2013 - 11:31

I woke up with the side of my face covered in saliva, had a headache the fell back to sleep and slept till noon. I wanna mention it to my mother but she probably would say no it was nothing because she didn't hear anything. I wish I could find a support group in Trinidad but so far nothing :-/

still have that killer headache btw -__-

Comments

Re: I might have had a seizure last night

Submitted by rebmil on Mon, 2013-11-11 - 16:49

Hello. I read your post and here is my comment. To determine if you had a seizure while sleeping, there are some symptoms that can help you tell if you had a seizure. When you wake up later are your legs really sore? Did you pee your pants? Is your tongue sore from being bitten during the night from a possible seizure? Are you confused when you wake up? You know something happened when you wake up and you don't feel right but you are not sure what happened.

Those are all the symptoms I have when I have a seizure while sleeping. I have grand mal seizures only while I am sleeping. I started to have them 5 years ago in 2009. Whenever I would have a seizure during the night I was always sleeping on the couch so nobody saw me have them. When I first started to have them, I would wake up some mornings and my legs would be really sore. The right side of my tongue would be bitten and sore. I would have peed my pants. I also was nauseated many times when I would wake up as well. I felt like I had a stomach flu but I think it was one of the symptoms of stomach migraines. Then one morning I was sleeping on the couch again. I just fed our animals and my boyfriend wanted me to go back to bed in the bedroom but something told me to stay sleeping on the couch. That is the first time I had an aura. I remember I went back to bed and then that is it. Later I found out our dog was trying to get my boyfriends attention but he was getting irritated at her and told her to lay down. She apparently saw me having a seizure and she knew something was wrong with me and was trying to tell her daddy about it. But he did not pay attention to her. A few seconds later he heard a ghostly sound and he said "Babe did you hear that?" He looked over at me and saw I was having a seizure. He called his step mom and the ambulance. The next thing I remember is the ambulance attendant standing over me telling me I had a seizure and they were taking me to the hospital. I remember I was confused. I had a really bad headache, I was extremely nauseated, I was weak.

A long story short, I have grand mal seizures only while I am sleeping. I have 1 maybe two a month. I take no medication for my seizures because I have no job right now or health insurance. Besides I do not want to take seizure meds because they are worse I think than the seizures themselves and cause more problems than they are worth. 

The only way you can really know if you are having seizures while sleeping, is to have a video EEG done while you are sleeping. Then the dr. can determine if you are having seizures while sleeping.

Well I hope this has helped you. Take care and good luck.

 

Hello. I read your post and here is my comment. To determine if you had a seizure while sleeping, there are some symptoms that can help you tell if you had a seizure. When you wake up later are your legs really sore? Did you pee your pants? Is your tongue sore from being bitten during the night from a possible seizure? Are you confused when you wake up? You know something happened when you wake up and you don't feel right but you are not sure what happened.

Those are all the symptoms I have when I have a seizure while sleeping. I have grand mal seizures only while I am sleeping. I started to have them 5 years ago in 2009. Whenever I would have a seizure during the night I was always sleeping on the couch so nobody saw me have them. When I first started to have them, I would wake up some mornings and my legs would be really sore. The right side of my tongue would be bitten and sore. I would have peed my pants. I also was nauseated many times when I would wake up as well. I felt like I had a stomach flu but I think it was one of the symptoms of stomach migraines. Then one morning I was sleeping on the couch again. I just fed our animals and my boyfriend wanted me to go back to bed in the bedroom but something told me to stay sleeping on the couch. That is the first time I had an aura. I remember I went back to bed and then that is it. Later I found out our dog was trying to get my boyfriends attention but he was getting irritated at her and told her to lay down. She apparently saw me having a seizure and she knew something was wrong with me and was trying to tell her daddy about it. But he did not pay attention to her. A few seconds later he heard a ghostly sound and he said "Babe did you hear that?" He looked over at me and saw I was having a seizure. He called his step mom and the ambulance. The next thing I remember is the ambulance attendant standing over me telling me I had a seizure and they were taking me to the hospital. I remember I was confused. I had a really bad headache, I was extremely nauseated, I was weak.

A long story short, I have grand mal seizures only while I am sleeping. I have 1 maybe two a month. I take no medication for my seizures because I have no job right now or health insurance. Besides I do not want to take seizure meds because they are worse I think than the seizures themselves and cause more problems than they are worth. 

The only way you can really know if you are having seizures while sleeping, is to have a video EEG done while you are sleeping. Then the dr. can determine if you are having seizures while sleeping.

Well I hope this has helped you. Take care and good luck.

 

Re: I might have had a seizure last night

Submitted by just_joe on Mon, 2013-11-11 - 21:35

Evidently you have read about the side effects of some seizured medications but since you have never had any you think they are all bad. Or is it the stigma that has been given to epileptics you are afraid of? I know well about the stigma and I know a chit load more about the medications then you would ever know. I know about the medications because if I weren't taqking them now I would not be alive. You see I had taken meds for a few years. I was tired of taking meds and thought I could get by without them. I did get by without them well for about a week. I stopped by Mom's house and decided to stay there that night rather than walking another mile to my apartment. I went to sleep and sometime early the next moringin I started having a grands mal seizure. I have had them before but this was different. I got out of one and within a minute or 2 I ws in another grand mal. You might want to look up status epilepticus because that is what I was in, I was having 40+ grand mall seizures an hour. I passed out after the 3rd or 4th seizure. I came to in a hospital bed 3 days later. I was told by the doctors that had worked on me that I has come out and was fine and they had called mom to come get me when I went into status again. The doctor handing me was the head doctor in the hospital. Understand that people can go into status and come out with few peoblems but back in 1970 It was very rare that a berson ever come out of status after going into it twice within hours. The doctors has given up on me. The doctor said split a hair a thousand times and that's how close to seeing God I was. He also said they had given up becasue they had done everything they knew of. He also said there was one person who never gave up. That is when I found out Mom had been praying the whole time. She had only left the hospital to get a bite to eat and change clothes. So in other words I stopped taking medications which were keeping my seizured under control and if it weren't for a mothers prayer I would not be here today,

Medications today are being created to treat the type of seizure rather then drugging the entire central nervious system down. In other words we have medications that deal with the issues and resolve those issues. Meaning we do not have to be walking around like zombies all drugged out.

If you want to keep having seizure fine have them but do not think medications can not help because then can and have for many people

Ilive with your epilepsy and deal with your seizure the way you want but please do not tell people nt to seek medical help when you know that they will be dealing with medications if doctors are there. You were peobably told about medications you just don't want to take them. I sure hope you don't have your seizures expand and you have one while you are awake and driving. Understand that that can and does happen.

I have seizures and the types are several but I also know that each type can move into the next type which can moprph into another type. In other words my absence seizures can morph into grand mal seizures or into focal motor seizures which look just like grand mal seizures. The only real difference in I can see hear and understand everything happing. You see I have been dealing with seizures and living with epilepsy porbably twice as long as you have been alive. 

Evidently you have read about the side effects of some seizured medications but since you have never had any you think they are all bad. Or is it the stigma that has been given to epileptics you are afraid of? I know well about the stigma and I know a chit load more about the medications then you would ever know. I know about the medications because if I weren't taqking them now I would not be alive. You see I had taken meds for a few years. I was tired of taking meds and thought I could get by without them. I did get by without them well for about a week. I stopped by Mom's house and decided to stay there that night rather than walking another mile to my apartment. I went to sleep and sometime early the next moringin I started having a grands mal seizure. I have had them before but this was different. I got out of one and within a minute or 2 I ws in another grand mal. You might want to look up status epilepticus because that is what I was in, I was having 40+ grand mall seizures an hour. I passed out after the 3rd or 4th seizure. I came to in a hospital bed 3 days later. I was told by the doctors that had worked on me that I has come out and was fine and they had called mom to come get me when I went into status again. The doctor handing me was the head doctor in the hospital. Understand that people can go into status and come out with few peoblems but back in 1970 It was very rare that a berson ever come out of status after going into it twice within hours. The doctors has given up on me. The doctor said split a hair a thousand times and that's how close to seeing God I was. He also said they had given up becasue they had done everything they knew of. He also said there was one person who never gave up. That is when I found out Mom had been praying the whole time. She had only left the hospital to get a bite to eat and change clothes. So in other words I stopped taking medications which were keeping my seizured under control and if it weren't for a mothers prayer I would not be here today,

Medications today are being created to treat the type of seizure rather then drugging the entire central nervious system down. In other words we have medications that deal with the issues and resolve those issues. Meaning we do not have to be walking around like zombies all drugged out.

If you want to keep having seizure fine have them but do not think medications can not help because then can and have for many people

Ilive with your epilepsy and deal with your seizure the way you want but please do not tell people nt to seek medical help when you know that they will be dealing with medications if doctors are there. You were peobably told about medications you just don't want to take them. I sure hope you don't have your seizures expand and you have one while you are awake and driving. Understand that that can and does happen.

I have seizures and the types are several but I also know that each type can move into the next type which can moprph into another type. In other words my absence seizures can morph into grand mal seizures or into focal motor seizures which look just like grand mal seizures. The only real difference in I can see hear and understand everything happing. You see I have been dealing with seizures and living with epilepsy porbably twice as long as you have been alive. 

Re: I might have had a seizure last night

Submitted by rebmil on Tue, 2013-11-12 - 01:24

Joe,

I did not just read about the side effects of seizure medications and decided they are bad. I have taken 3 seizure meds and although they stopped my grand mal seizures, the meds were not good for me. After I had 3 grand mal seizures that only happened in my sleep, I was put on Dilantin 100 mg 3xaday. Well that med stopped my seizures but the side effects were not good. Taking the med 3 times a day for a week made the stomach nausea I suffered from worse. I was throwing up daily and felt like I had a stomach flu all the time everyday. I also had a headache all day every day. My legs were hurting as well and I was becoming unbalanced. I told my regular dr. and they suggested I take the pill 2 times a day. The stomach nausea did not go away. I was still throwing up daily every day. I still had headaches daily all day. The leg pain subsided and so did me being unbalanced. Then the Dilantin was changed to Phenytoin 100 mg 2xaday. I still had the stomach nausea and was throwing up daily. I still had the headaches daily. After taking the Phenytoin for a few months, for one week I was throwing up all week, every day several times a day. I made a dr. appt with a different dr. and they changed the seizure med to Tegretol XR 100. 1 tab every 12 hours. They added an anxiety pill Hydroxyzine PAM 25 mg. cap 1 every 8 hours for anxiety and nausea. Well this new pill stopped my grand mal seizures, but it was even worse than the Dilantin and Phenytoin. I was having headaches still plus I was still having stomach nausea, but not as bad as before. I was also having uncontrollable muscle jerks at night. I would be laying in bed and then all of a sudden, my arm or leg would jerk. After taking this pill for 2 weeks, I started to get angry and I was becoming mean. I did some research and found out a rare but serious side effect of Tegretol is rage and anger. This new med was making me want to hurt my boyfriend. I did not hurt him, but the rage I was feeling was starting to become uncontrollable. I would think sometimes when I would be angry that I wanted to take a knife and sneak up behind him and stab him in the back. It was becoming frightening thinking that. I knew that was not right for me to be thinking those thoughts. So I decided to get off this med and go back to the Phenytoin. So when I went back on the Phenytoin pill the rage and anger subsided and I started to feel better. 

I took the Phenytoin seizure med and anxiety pill for a year and a half. Then I started to notice that I was losing my memory. I could not remember my aunt's last name or my cell phone number. I could not think of words for things or was saying wrong words for things. I did some more research and found a paper written by these two medical dr.s who did a study on ALL seizure meds. In the study, they took healthy people who never took any meds of any kind and started giving them the seizure meds for a certain period of time. Before the study, they tested the people on how they were, how their personalities were, and then they tested the people after they started taking the seizure meds. The dr.s found out that all seizure meds affected the people negatively. They altered their personalities, the meds made them depressed, made them have anxiety, suicidal thoughts. So I decided to wean myself off the seizure med. So that is what I did. I took 3 seizures meds Joe and all 3 of them affected me negatively. I also did some more research and also found ouf that many seizure meds cause other problems like liver damage, bone loss, and a host of other health problems after long term use. So that is another reason I got off the meds Joe. I do not want to have other problems like liver damage or bone loss, even though the seizure med stops my seizures. I would rather have the seizures than risk my health with taking meds that do more harm to me than good.

Since I have gotten off my seizure meds. my personality is much better than it was when I was taking the seizure meds. I am happier and not as mean or angry as I was when I was on the seizure meds. Although I have noticed that the seizure meds did affect my memory. I now have memory loss. I say wrong words for things and sometimes can't think of the word for something. I also have headaches almost every day all day since stopping the seizure meds. I don't know if the seizure meds caused the headaches or the seizures themselves cause the headaches. I also have slight shaking in my hands as well. I don't know if it is neuropathy or what but after taking the seizure meds and then stopping them, the shaking started in my hands.

I only have my grand mal seizures while sleeping Joe, and I have 1 maybe 2 a month. So I really don't think I really need seizure meds. I have been having seizures for 5 years now, all the seizures have happened in my sleep. So I don't think I will have seizures while awake, it did not happen yet, and I don't think I need seizure meds to stop them. I would rather risk having seizures than take the meds which are FAR worse than the seizures. 

You may have had seizures longer than me, but that does not mean anything. Every body has different seizures, they can have more than one type of seizure, and sometimes people do not have all the symptoms of the seizure they have. My grand mal seizures happen while I am sleeping. The auras I have, smelling a spaghetti sauce smell before I have a seizure is not normal. Many people who have smell auras smell a smell of smoke. My seizures are not like yours and yours are not like mine. 

That is all. Good day.

 

Joe,

I did not just read about the side effects of seizure medications and decided they are bad. I have taken 3 seizure meds and although they stopped my grand mal seizures, the meds were not good for me. After I had 3 grand mal seizures that only happened in my sleep, I was put on Dilantin 100 mg 3xaday. Well that med stopped my seizures but the side effects were not good. Taking the med 3 times a day for a week made the stomach nausea I suffered from worse. I was throwing up daily and felt like I had a stomach flu all the time everyday. I also had a headache all day every day. My legs were hurting as well and I was becoming unbalanced. I told my regular dr. and they suggested I take the pill 2 times a day. The stomach nausea did not go away. I was still throwing up daily every day. I still had headaches daily all day. The leg pain subsided and so did me being unbalanced. Then the Dilantin was changed to Phenytoin 100 mg 2xaday. I still had the stomach nausea and was throwing up daily. I still had the headaches daily. After taking the Phenytoin for a few months, for one week I was throwing up all week, every day several times a day. I made a dr. appt with a different dr. and they changed the seizure med to Tegretol XR 100. 1 tab every 12 hours. They added an anxiety pill Hydroxyzine PAM 25 mg. cap 1 every 8 hours for anxiety and nausea. Well this new pill stopped my grand mal seizures, but it was even worse than the Dilantin and Phenytoin. I was having headaches still plus I was still having stomach nausea, but not as bad as before. I was also having uncontrollable muscle jerks at night. I would be laying in bed and then all of a sudden, my arm or leg would jerk. After taking this pill for 2 weeks, I started to get angry and I was becoming mean. I did some research and found out a rare but serious side effect of Tegretol is rage and anger. This new med was making me want to hurt my boyfriend. I did not hurt him, but the rage I was feeling was starting to become uncontrollable. I would think sometimes when I would be angry that I wanted to take a knife and sneak up behind him and stab him in the back. It was becoming frightening thinking that. I knew that was not right for me to be thinking those thoughts. So I decided to get off this med and go back to the Phenytoin. So when I went back on the Phenytoin pill the rage and anger subsided and I started to feel better. 

I took the Phenytoin seizure med and anxiety pill for a year and a half. Then I started to notice that I was losing my memory. I could not remember my aunt's last name or my cell phone number. I could not think of words for things or was saying wrong words for things. I did some more research and found a paper written by these two medical dr.s who did a study on ALL seizure meds. In the study, they took healthy people who never took any meds of any kind and started giving them the seizure meds for a certain period of time. Before the study, they tested the people on how they were, how their personalities were, and then they tested the people after they started taking the seizure meds. The dr.s found out that all seizure meds affected the people negatively. They altered their personalities, the meds made them depressed, made them have anxiety, suicidal thoughts. So I decided to wean myself off the seizure med. So that is what I did. I took 3 seizures meds Joe and all 3 of them affected me negatively. I also did some more research and also found ouf that many seizure meds cause other problems like liver damage, bone loss, and a host of other health problems after long term use. So that is another reason I got off the meds Joe. I do not want to have other problems like liver damage or bone loss, even though the seizure med stops my seizures. I would rather have the seizures than risk my health with taking meds that do more harm to me than good.

Since I have gotten off my seizure meds. my personality is much better than it was when I was taking the seizure meds. I am happier and not as mean or angry as I was when I was on the seizure meds. Although I have noticed that the seizure meds did affect my memory. I now have memory loss. I say wrong words for things and sometimes can't think of the word for something. I also have headaches almost every day all day since stopping the seizure meds. I don't know if the seizure meds caused the headaches or the seizures themselves cause the headaches. I also have slight shaking in my hands as well. I don't know if it is neuropathy or what but after taking the seizure meds and then stopping them, the shaking started in my hands.

I only have my grand mal seizures while sleeping Joe, and I have 1 maybe 2 a month. So I really don't think I really need seizure meds. I have been having seizures for 5 years now, all the seizures have happened in my sleep. So I don't think I will have seizures while awake, it did not happen yet, and I don't think I need seizure meds to stop them. I would rather risk having seizures than take the meds which are FAR worse than the seizures. 

You may have had seizures longer than me, but that does not mean anything. Every body has different seizures, they can have more than one type of seizure, and sometimes people do not have all the symptoms of the seizure they have. My grand mal seizures happen while I am sleeping. The auras I have, smelling a spaghetti sauce smell before I have a seizure is not normal. Many people who have smell auras smell a smell of smoke. My seizures are not like yours and yours are not like mine. 

That is all. Good day.

 

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