I had 2 inexplaines seizers

[dexter_kent]

I am 18 and about 4 months ago i had 2 seizers out of nowhere. I am not on andy kinds of drugs. one day i came ohome from school and i felt sick i felt hot and my head was killing me i think i had a migrain that day. i tend to have a lots of migrains and headaches. well i got home that day laid donw for a little bit and went to go watch some tv. when i was sitting on the sofa i was fixing to call someone and i just started looking at the wall. my parents said i was not responcive and i had a seizer. i woke up in the ambulance to be nocked out again. i wope up in the er. 3 hours after the first seizer i had another blackout and seizers in the er. i was put into intencive care and i had a mri cat scan and a eeg and all that good stuff done. they didnt find anything. i have been taking 500mg of dilantin every day since then. i was just wondering what some of the casuses couild be. i suffer form severe anxiety and headaches and migraines almost every day.

[kay221]

I had every symptom you just described but no one was there to witness it so I wasn't diagnosed until I was about 18, I'm 20 now. Now, as far as EEGs I've been told that when there is a spike in brain activity, as long as the spike lasts for less than 3 seconds its considered to be in the "normal" range. I had a 24 hour EEG and my spikes were just under 3 seconds, technically "normal" but a little borderline, but my doctor said that as long as I feel fine then I should be ok. (Why take a higher dose if it's not needed). I had a friend who had several EEGs but she was on the borderline normal range and the seizures stopped after being medicated. It took her years.

Also, what brings on the seizures? I know there are a lot of triggers and different people react differently to them. I didn't realize some of the things then but they make sense now. I couldn't watch movies because the light bothered me, I couldn't drink coffee because the caffeine was too much, hormone levels, never slept well, stress etc. Maybe recording things like that can make it easier to handle and diagnose. I just tended to avoid certain things not exactly realizing why, but it helped me. Listen to your body, it does things for a reason.

Have you had any head injuries in the past? I believe that can bring on seizures.

How long has this happened? You're whole life or just recently? I developed epilepsy later in life, around puberty. I have juvenile myoclonic, my seizures worsened as the years went by.

If your still feeling crappy on the meds, try switching to something else. I'm on Lamictal and I feel great. I don't know about the others, but Lamictal can be used as a mood stabilizer. I used to have bad anxiety and stuff too. Either way, whatever meds you take you should take folic acid. Doctors can prescribe 1 mg or so for you. Just because a lot of epilepsy meds can cause birth defects, just incase you end up with a bun in the oven.

Make sure your primary refers you to a neurologist. I write a lot, sorry this is so long! Good Luck.

[becky808]

When Drs do MRIs and EEGs they are basically ruling out what it isn't. It isn't brain damage, it isn't a tumor, they don't SEE anything that makes your seizure activity obvious to them. Although it's not a good answer as to why, it's good news for you. It's likely you could outgrown having seizures.  

I had my first seizure in my early 20s. My neurologist told me that when you think about a person developing into an adult, you think about 13-16 years of age. You grow, you're done, you're an adult . When your body stops changing your brain many times hasn't started. The process of puberty in your brain often goes to your mid to late 20s. Many people have seizures when they're young and simply outgrow it.

Everytime you have a seizure your brain make you a little more susceptible to having another. You want to take your medication for at least 2 years to make sure your brain has plenty of time to heal before trying to go without it.

Dilatin is usually a pretty good medication with few side effects. Did the anxiety and migraines come on after you started Dilatin? If so, you should talk to your Dr about switching meds. There's no reason to live with bad side effects. There are some other seizure medications on the market that actually help anxiety and migraines. Topamax and Lamictal come to mind off hand. There are many options out there for things that would work and help you feel better.