pain causing seizures

[baci2]

Please be patient while I explain my circumstances. I was born premature and they stuck me in an incubator and put a needle in my head.  I still have the scar but it did not show up on the MRI.  When I was a year old, at a department store, I hurt my finger and had a grand mal seizure.  My mother took me to the pediatrician who yelled at her for letting me hurt myself.  After that, every time I would have an injury, I would have a grand mal seizure.  Examples, when I got bit by a dog, when I fell down a flight of stairs, when I get a really bad charlie horse in my leg.  They thought that I would grow out of it but I'm 31 and I've had 52 grand mal seizures.  In July, I had one when my back popped out in my family doctor's office (I had gone because my back had already started to hurt, then I sneezed and I heard it pop, and then it became extremely painful.)  When this happened, I had a GM right in front of my doctor.  He asked me to see a neurologist as well as a cardiologist because I have a strange heart beat as well.  The cardiologist did an EKG, a stress test and an echocardiogram.  While on the treadmill, my pulse was up to 200 after 6 minutes and they made me get off.  A week later they called and said that everything looked fine.  I decided not to see a neurologist at the time because having seizures when I hurt myself was something that I've always done and they just said that it was my body's response to pain.  Then, in November, I had a seizure out of the blue with no injury to provoke it.  My husband witnessed it.  I remembered feeling extremely dizzy (like always), and it kind of seems like the lights get a bit brighter. I layed on the floor and he said that my eyes rolled back in my head.  Then I started convulsing and a few minutes later when I woke up my pupils were fully dilated and I had urinated.  I was not awake for any of this, for this is just my husband telling me what happened.  Nor was I awake at the doctor's office, for he described the same exact thing but of course, I was unaware of what happened after the dizziness.  Because I had never had one without pain causing it, I went to the ER.  They did a cat scan which turned out normal and referred me to a neurologist who in turn referred me to an epileptologist.  The epileptologist did an EEG and an MRI.  All came back normal except he said that there is something rhythmically wrong with my heart and that I need to have more tests done.  My heart rate kept bouncing between 60 and 110 as I was laying there for about 30 minutes during the EEG.  But my epileptologist said that pain is not a trigger for seizures and that he does not want to set me up for seizure monitoring since I only have seizures 3-4 times a year on average.  He does not want to completely diagnose me with epilepsy because nothing showed up on the tests.  He did up my dose of Lamictal and told me that I cannot drive for a year or take baths alone.  He wants me to go back to the cardiologist for more tests.  Am I the only one out there with pain causing seizures?  Thank you for any patience and expertise in this area.  I feel as if I'm the strangest human being on earth. It seems as if everyone else just yells or says "ouch" when they hurt themselves.  What I wouldn't give for an "ouch" instead of a seizure.  Thanks again.

[Gordie70]

Diagnosed with epileptic seizures had been on pain meds many years. Dr. Took me off of them. Without pain meds my seizures are way worse. Does this make sense?

[Gordie70]

Does anyone have or had the same experience as Gordie70 please help. dr.s are no help

[Gordie70]

Does anyone have or had the same experience as Gordie70 please help. dr.s are no help send answers to ***@****

[kajat]

Wonderful! I'm not alone!!!!! I have seizure from pain as well!  I broke my back in a car accident and had such a bad seizure that I bit through my tongue and crushed a tooth, But they told me I didn't have one. I can't get any medication for it because I have pain that comes hand and hand with it and remember it. One doctor said it was a brain event. WTF??? I need help and I'm not getting it.

[Tickiemctickface]

Not all seizures are epileptic. It appears you may have non-epileptic seizures, which can be brought on by stress and may be a result of issue of the signaling of the sympathetic nervous system rather than from within the brain itself.

Now, I say "stress" loosely, as any sort of thing such as pain, anxiety, etc, is considered stress in this situation.

[KInventorK]

I also couldn't remember whether I had taken the seizure medicine or not if whether I took it as soon as I got up or if I forgot to do it then and did it later or completely forgot about taking it at all.

[KInventorK]

(Almost 21) I have been subject to a couple seizures here and there over the past several years. Not sure how many, when I was 7 my skull got busted open by a very large rock and I had to get stitches (only remember the bee sting, and turning to my dad before it hit me the entire rest of summer is a blacked out block. I have bad memory as well no matter what I do. Including before childhood memories have started inching ever slowly back.) recently I've had three seizures and have had back pain all my life that when I was 15/16 only got worse when I got into it with someone about three of me together. And at 19 I got busted up in the head pretty good.and had one around then.  Anyway after my seizures I feel numbness and tingling and I shake everywhere slightly, sometimes it's jerks, long before I even go into a seizure it's like my body knows it's happening and doesn't want to do anything to make it worse so it stays seated for as long as possible and then I get up and move to be comfortable when I know I need to get comfy. I lose consciousness, get worse pain in all my joints, sustain a slowly worsening irrational heart beat from beginning to long after its stopped, I can't remember anything I blank out and stare at nothing when my body starts getting ready I guess? And some other things a bit worse; my dad has seizures for a couple years now and idk if that's in the family. Mental illness is and addiction and other things. But should I take the medicine I found ( lost it about week or so ago) if it's been about a week or so without me taking it and it's the first I've had since being prescribed. Only half-3/4 of the 1 month supply is gone. (***hospital prescibed after I had my back to back seizures about a half a month ago or a bit more.***) it's Levetiracetam 500 mg tablets and they make me tired weak and dizzy, but they work I suppose? Not sure why I had this seizure last night but just curious on the input.
Sorry my mind speaks a little differently to me than some so if my comment confused any I'll rewrite it when I can word like everyone else.

[pinkbarbie76]

I get the same thing .. I'm tired of telling my doctors about my seizures induced by severe pain... I'm 39 and still having them and all Dr's keep saying that is not true that pain does not cause pain... heck is my body going thru it how would u know.. I want my life back is all I know... and here I thought I was the only one .. hopefully they can now see all of our comments and maybe do research and finally help us out...

[Nutters22000]

I also have a seizure following severe cramping in the calf muscle. Not very nice.

[Shoom40]

Maybe this reasoning would help.  I know that pain medications - narcotics - mimic the same endorphins released naturally in fight or flight cycles AND narcotics LOWER the seziure threshold -- meaning it is more likely that one would experiance a seziure while taking pain medications, possibly the same is true when a situation is first presented in childhood where the child feels like they have no control and no information to resolve an incoming threat -- especially a painful one.  


When we perceive a significant threat to us, then our bodies get ready either for a fight to the death or a desperate flight from certain defeat by a clearly superior adversary.

Endorphins, which are the body's natural pain killers, are released (when you are fighting, you do not want be bothered with pain–-that can be put off until later.)


Physical changes

Fight or flight effects include:
•Our senses sharpening. Pupils dilate (open out) so we can see more clearly, even in darkness. Our hairs stand on end, making us more sensitive to our environment (and also making us appear larger, hopefully intimidating our opponent).
•The cardio-vascular system leaping into action, with the heart pump rate going from one up to five gallons per minutes and our arteries constricting to maximize pressure around the system whilst the veins open out to ease return of blood to the heart.
•The respiratory system joining in as the lungs, throat and nostrils open up and breathing speeding up to get more air in the system so the increased blood flow can be re-oxygenated. The blood carries oxygen to the muscles, allowing them to work harder. Deeper breathing also helps us to scream more loudly!
•Fat from fatty cells and glucose from the liver being metabolized to create instant energy.
•Blood vessels to the kidney and digestive system being constricted, effectively shutting down systems that are not essential. A part of this effect is reduction of saliva in the mouth. The bowels and bladder may also open out to reduce the need for other internal actions (this might also dissuade our attackers!).
•Blood vessels to the skin being constricted reducing any potential blood loss. Sweat glands also open, providing an external cooling liquid to our over-worked system. (this makes the skin look pale and clammy).
•Endorphins, which are the body's natural pain killers, are released (when you are fighting, you do not want be bothered with pain–-that can be put off until later.)
•The natural judgment system is also turned down and more primitive responses take over–this is a time for action rather than deep thought.

Might be a starting point to research anyway, hope it helps : )

[mbfrosty]

I had a TBI from a 80 ft fall and broke my neck and back 22 surgies over 10 years 4 years to learn to walk talk eat ect...I lived that was a miracle they say I was put on kepra for them but the years went by they came back worse I know its from the conic pain if I turn my head the wrong way I get pain shoot up my neck in to my head and them it starts I also get a taste in my mouth and then I know I going to have one they think I am nuts they do not belive me and the meds do not work they have to fix my back that is total compressed from l1 to l5 also 3 fracted disk my back and neck r a wreck I aslo lost my leg I have had 31 surgies in 15 years I am 55 this started when I was 39 and it gets worse as I am aging

[suemlou]

I Have been having sever pain with arthritis .made an appoiment with doc ,for this week.in the meantime i have had 2 seizurs.so very scary.as i live alone .

[drriley]

question, have had gran mal seizures since I was 17 they stopped at 21 and didn't return  til I was 27. then i was diagnosed with epilepsy and have been now for many years. I am 53 now and still have seizures. meds seem to partially control them. Mostly brought on by stress or lack of enough sleep which is under 9 hours. eeg recently showed no  activity but mri came back with scaring. The neurologist  first sayed I had a benign tumor but then said it
was the scaring and with my past seizure activity their might be a procedure I might be eligible for.  scary for me. any thoughts

[Lex27]

When I was in 1st or 2nd I fell and hit my head on the floor in wall mart, woke up and seemed to be ok and days after went to school and bent my middle finger back to far and just passed out with my head down, woke up sitting with all the kids on the floor still and the teacher was still talking. Never thought about it again. Then Years later im 16 I started smoking cigs and one day my boyfriend barley hit me in my side, just enough to hurt a little and knock the air out of me. I went down to my knees and dreamed I got up but I really woke up in his arms and he said I looked like I just had a seizure. I fell out of a lifted truck one night lol and twisted my ankle a little and I got really hot and dizzy and I could tell I was about to go into a seizure so I told my sister see you in a minute lol, i shook just a little they said and Woke up and was a little tired but I was fine. I walked around in the tx heat trying to find this place and it was like 5 in the afternoon and i hadnt eaten a single thing all day but i was smoking a cig while in the heat, got to where i was suppose to be and then had this pain in my stomache and then all the sudden i got dizzy and hot like always grabbed my sister and crouched down and had one for no damn reason. Had a few more incidents but only one with pain not being involved. I thought the cigarettes triggered this weird pain seizure thing when i was 16 so after 3 years I'm now 19 and I quit smoking finally, I recently cut my foot and started to get really hot and dizzy and felt like I was going to go into one but my adrenaline just rushed and made me feel kinda sick and eventually I cooled down and could aid my foot which wasn't that bad. I have not had one lately but I also have not been hurt badly. I've never urinated on myself or had violent or long seizures, but pain definitely is the cause no doubt! Maybe my head injury when I was younger and the cigarettes triggered it or maybe I was bound to get them when I got older because of the head injury, idk. But yall are not alone and im glad to know im not either, But I'd like help so these can end, it is embarrassing and scary to be alone.

[kole95]

I've had seizures since I was ten, I am currently 18 and never took any medicine for them. They had seemed to have stopped after the 5th grade but after about 4-5 years I started having them again. The doctors have done tests and redone some of them and found nothing wrong that they can tell. So far the triggers have been sever pain, stress, or  illness like the flu. The last couple of times I've had a seizure I have actually stopped breathing. I do not think the doctors even believed I had them until I got sick and had one in the doctors office while the were checking my blood pressure. I can usually tell a couple of second (long enough to notify someone nearby) before I have one. Before I have one I usually get a funny feeling similar to the kind of feeling you get by standing up to fast. Then I black out and according to my parents and sister who have been present during most of these 'episodes' I start twitching and lose bladder control, and stop breathing. When I come to Its as if I am waking up from a dream I slowly become aware of the world getting hearing back first then vision and controlled movement of my arms, legs, and head. Afterwards I am exhausted for hours and sometimes its even days before I feel like myself again. I would like to know if anyone with a similar condition has found a way to completely prevent them so that I can have a normal life. I would also like to know if it would be safe to have children or if it would be to great of a risk for both myself and the child. Also to those who say it is impossible for pain to be the trigger that is because you have not experienced it. People also used to say it was impossible to land on the moon yet we have. Think about all the deseases that have gone undiagnosed for years until resent advances in medicine.

[SMCnz]

I have had two seizures due to cutting my finger. Once when I was 12 the other 22.  Both times I was working, so my heart rate would have been up, I also at times have iron deficiency. The first time I cut my finger- I passed out seizured came to passed out again seizured. The second time I got dizzy and sat down, passed out, seizured, wet myself, came to. Someone came to my aid, and told me my eyes rolled back and my body was shaking. I'm about to get my four wisdom teeth out tomorrow, and for some stupid reason I thought these seizures didn't need to be discussed. Now I'm a little worried. Don't want to seizure with a scalpel in my mouth!

[DeeDeeH75]

Has anyone here looked into Cataplexy as the cause for the episodes? Cataplexy looks exactly like epilepsy, even a grand mal seizure but is brought on by emotions, fatigue, heightened emotions. It is common for cataplexy to be paired with Narcolepsy, but not always. I feel I have a minor case of Cataplexy and was told by my sleep doc after a sleep study that my test looked as if I am actually a narcoleptic but because of the meds I am on and must be on, he can't formally diagnose it. The good thing about cataplexy is that it can be treated, but very differently than epilepsy and one is not the other. Good luck to you all!

[Turkish55]

My daughter has reflex sympathic dystrophy  and is having seizures. She says it is like someone is breaking her neck and the pain goes down her spine. She has recently been hospitalized twice and they could not find out anything. She had all the tests. What do you think?

[ChuckC324]

My wife has had a Migraine since Easter Sunday and was admitted to the hospital after the ER depts had no luck relieving her pain....she has suffered with migraines since she was 16 and she is 45 now. While in the hospital she began having seizures as many as 7-8 per day in some cases. They last between 5 & 6 minutes...they all start and end the same way. The first sign that one is coming is her left hand starts to shake...as soon as that happens she is non-responsive, her right side (leg and arm) become rigid, her left side (leg and arm) become very active kicking and grabbing, her eyes dart around but are non responsive to snapping my fingers in front of them, she also drools and blows spit bubbles. I can tell when the seizure is going to end because her right hand and arm start to move and she always reaches for her head ...because now her head is throbbing. As I am holding her down she will try to bite me as if she is protecting herself.....if she is alone when the seizure happens she ends up wandering as if sleep walking (this happened in the hospital) and the nurses thought she was trying to be difficult. She has anxiety and depression issues and well as migraines and they are trying to tell us there is nothing medically wrong.....it has to do with her being stressed, depressed...etc...She has had sleep walking episodes in the past, but they did not present the same as these seizures. There have been times when I thought she was alseep watching TV and I have seen her left hand shaking..I always assumed she was dreaming and never worried about it. Most times she would wake up in a panic, but now I wonder if it was just a less violent seizure....they did EEG's and MRI's wit contrast and said it was all negative with the exception of an area of the brain on the MRI that has to do with memory..there is a follow up MRI in June.....They also did a Lumbar Puncture to check for a virus or infection....they tried 5 times over 2 days before they got it right....the Dr. who finally got it said they first Dr.'s were too low on her back (in the wrong spot)....now since then she has had no control or strength in her right leg. They sent her home with a walker and are going to do a Visiting Nurse /Physical therapy......what the hell !!!!

Does this sound familiar to anyone.....and btw they say the leg problem is also in her head.

[Dimples1170]

Hello,I totally agree that pain is the cause of my seizures.I was hurt on my job years ago and thats when the seizures started.They seem to had stopped for a year then returned weekly.Some days i have 10 at a time.I'm on keppra 750mg twice a day which makes me very tired along with the other meds that i take.

[ksmith2743]

I myself is going through the samething.  I have been in pain for over 3 years none stop then about a year and a half ago it got to be just almost constant severe pain.  I started falling in september 2012 and I have now started falling and becoming unconscious.  The doctors told me that I have pain elepsey except.  I asked him how can we fix it.  The doctor said," by controlling the pain."  I am on morphine, diluated, valume and more if this isn't helping what can and I am on the high dosage.  I am unable to work at the moment, but every week I have to get an off work order because I am not well yet.  I still fall two times a week and that is not working.  I was worse when I worked.  I fell almost everyday.

[machou]

Hi my name is Martine. Are you still having the seizures? I am having a similar situation as you? Any progress, if so please explain. Thank you.

[k4182]

I have been dealing with the same issues for the last three years. I've had 4 seizures now. I have taken time off of work to see the best of the best at the mayo clinic in Minnesota and still no one agrees. I 've been diagnosed with tension headaches, seizures, hyrniated discs, and fybromyelgia. but they have nothing to do with the seizures. ugh.

[smtlove]

Hey guys, I am with you all.  I started having seizures when I was about 14, just after hitting my arm on the washing machine.  I then did not have another one after having 3 children and 2 miscarriages until I broke a small bone in my foot which at first my husband and daughter laughed at me because I would pass out three times before they could get me into the house, only about 25 feet.  Then I had another one right in front of my neurosurgeon while he was checking my back at my two week check up after back surgery.  My daughter looked it up and it is called anoxic seizures, which are triggered by anything that reduces the flow of blood to the brain.  The report seem to say that it might only be children but from the sounds of all of us it isn't.  I too get light headed, I feel as though the room gets grey looking and I then don't remember the rest.  Well I hope this helps all of you out.  I have not been diagnosed with seizures nor do I take any special meds for it either.  I really think this is what I have.  Please let me know if you agree.

[dawn9771]

My exhaustion and stress causes my seizures too. You are not alone and it's quite frustrating dealing with doctors who think they know our bodies better than we do. I have grand mal seizures when I am tired, during my sleep, and upon awakening. I have been diagnosed with epilepsy and these types of seizures occured several years after my head injury that put me on disability. I believe it is from my injury but no one wants to believe me.

[TesseractToo]

Wow. I just had a pain related seizure 2 days ago. My good pain doctor retired and now I'm stuck with a moron who doesn't believe stuff. He must be omniscient since he knows everything. They have taken away my rescue meds for breakthrough pain. I'm in big trouble until I can find a pain management dr that doesn't suck. Fortunately the neurologist who I saw with this took the report on the seizures in stride and believed me.

[susalcapr]

I just read your post with great interest.  I am 50 and have been having what I thought were pain-triggered seizures since I was about 10, when I was diagnosed as epileptic after a grand mal seizure  that was triggered by a classmate slapping me on the back.  I had several seizures from 10-14, all triggered by some kind of sharp pain, e.g., biting into very hot food, swallowing wrong, hitting my funny bone.  Was put on phenobarbital and then dilatin.  In late teens, was seizure free and weened off of the drugs.  Since then I have had pain-triggered seizures very occasionally from a blood draw, whack on the head, etc..., with no repeat triggers until today (i.e., have had many blood draws since one that caused seizure. none causing a seizure).  

What I have learned over the years is that I can feel an episode coming and stave it off by putting my head between my legs and sitting/squatting down for a while.  However, I just whacked my funny bone.  I felt the pain intensifying (it spirals and grows), made my way to the grass, and put my head down.  I woke a few minutes later with my head down and realized I had just had an episode, but am nearly certain there was no rigor, or muscle tensing/spasms, which led me to the computer to see what it was...

Reading your post makes me wonder if I have actually been having vasovagal syncope and NOT epilepsy all these years.  I am loathe to talk to my doctor about this as what I have has always been labeled idiopathic.  My grand mal seizures in the past did involve spasms, per eye witnesses, but I now wonder about that...also, I have a very high pain threshold in general, two children via natural childbirth and not registered pain at levels most people do.  HOWEVER, certain pain I find intolerable and those are my triggers: funny bone sharp pain, quick blow to the head or back (e.g., slap on the back), swallowing wrong.  I have also just started taking Lisinopril 2 days ago for slightly elevated blood pressure and will be carefuly to see if this is affecting me negatively.