I had a seizure while sleeping. but doc says no epilepsy, and pseudoseizures have been ruled out.


.....any ideas?.....

I have a few questions:

What makes you think you had a seizure while you slept?
Did somebody witness it?
What were your symptoms?
Why and how did your doctor rule out epilepsy?
Did you have a 24 hour eeg done? That would record you while asleep, as well as awake. Sidenote: Not everyone with seizures has an abnormal eeg.

My mom winessed them. and i have had all the tests done, MRI, MRA, EEG, 24hr EEG, CT scans, blood work, urine tests, 24hr urine tests, i have had the works. and everthing was normal.

Did your mom come with you to the doctor and tell him/her what she saw?
Your first post said you had a seizure (meaning one), and your second post says your mom witnessed them (meaning more than one). One seizure would not necessarily consititute epilepsy, but if you did in fact have more than one, then I would definitely suggest you get another opinion. Did you go to a regular doctor, a neurologist or an epileptologist?

Also, if you do decide to get another opinion, try and get a copy of your films/reports so you don't have to repeat everything. Perhaps you may need a veeg done - that's a video eeg - in hospital stay to record what's going on. Many of us here have had it, it's very helpful. I hope you do follow this up, as you won't necessarily catch seizure activity on a 24 hr. eeg.

Keep us posted.

yes i have had the video eeg, the last set of seizures i had my neurologist put me in the hospital, because in fact, i had them at school. i am fresh into college and because of these i had to take a 10 week leave of absence which started last week. my seizures started about five years ago no head trauma or anything like that. then they quit for about two years and now they have come back even worse then what they were. when they first started they were like absence seizures and now they are well let me tell you what my friends, family, and instructors have told me. they say at first i go real limp and then turn really rigid. then they say that i have involuntary muscle jerking and that i can breathe air in but i cant gat it to come back out. then they say my lips turn cyanotic. i didnt used to have more than one at a time but now since they have gotten worse i have anywhere from 5 to 10 at a time. my mom has told my doctor everything and so has my instructor. my instructor has had to go to the ER with me and has even told my docotr what she has witnessed and still, nothing.

Go see another doctor.... preferably a neurologist.

If you had a seizure in your sleep, then chances are you have epilepsy and should be put on some anti-convulsant.

I didn't have a seizure till I was 21 and 90 percent of the time they're in my sleep.

I can tell because I've bit my tongue, my body aches and my brain feels like it's been hit repeatedly with a baseball bat.

Another thing to consider, did you "feel" any symptoms before the spells onset?

As odd as that sounds, any clues may help the doctors. Pre-episode symptoms may help the doctors, as might post-symptoms.

Keeping the scope open to any and all, did they consider looking into diabetes? Possible sugar level related issues causing the episodes?

Stress test to see if stress of schooling may be a factor (or part of, with sleep, caffeine, and diet).

Hope that gives you more to look into. Also if you have not yet, check family history for any possible inherited conditions.

--Travis

I can't feel anything when I am sleeping. But when I am awake I smell a perfume-like smeel that no one else can smell, then I know one is on its way. Stress from school has also been brought up but nothigng else was said about it when my instructor told my doctor that I am not a stressed out person, and I agree with her. Unless it hit me and i had no idea.

The perfume-like smell sounds like an aura to me, which precedes a seizure.
Question: Did you have any of these episodes while your veeg was being done?

I still think you need to get another opinion.

yes i did and my neurologist even came up to the hospital to read them. i think i need to get a third opinion. i have already gone to two neurologists. i am so sick of all the meds though. at first i was on keppra then they put me on keppra and lamictal then they had me on keppra lamictal and zyrtec and then they put me on keppra lamictal zyrtec and lexapro. and everytime they put me on a new med the worse the seizures got. then they took me off of everything "cold turkey" and i had a set of bad ones then too. and why they took me off all of those was because the veeg turned up normal and put me on something called buspar.?

I do know that sometimes seizure meds can make seizures worse. Going cold turkey off of meds can also throw people into seizures as well. I never heard of buspar. Could you get ahold of all your records and get another opinion? I know it's a pain to start over but something just doesn't sound right here.

Have they looked into hypoglycemia (low-blood sugar)? If that comes back fine, I really think you may need to see a doctor that specializes in epilepsy.

i have been tested for diabetes an din all the blood work that has been done they said that i have hypotyroidism. no clue what hypoglycemia is.

My father used to find me passed out on the floor of my bedroom many mornings. I was told that I had hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia is low blood sugar. I also found out that I had epilepsy. If you do a search, type in hypoglycemia and seizures or convulsions and see what comes up. If I'm not mistaken, it's a three hour glucose tolerance test to find out, but I could be wrong. Might be worth looking into.

thank you.

You're welcome. Please keep me posted, I'd like to know how everything turns out.

"Buspirone is used to relieve nervousness, anxiety and tension"

Never heard of it myself either.

Usually when going off meds they will "taper" people off to avoid the body reacting from a lack of medication. The exception to this is if there is an allergy to the medication.

I have Nocturnal Seizures (seizures while you are sleeping). If you are sure that it only happen once, then I wouldn't worry about it. It maybe something you came in contact with or a fever that you were not aware of. The question is, how do you know that you are not still having them? How I know I have a seizure at night, my tounge is chewed on the edge and sometimes (depending on how bad the seizure is) I have trouble waking, feel sick, and feel extrem depression 24-48 hours after. They can run a SLEEP EEG on you to be sure.

I still live at home, and my mom witnessed the first set while sleeping (there were 10, one right after the other) and i havent woke up in the hospital anymore. So......?????

I had a seizure while sleeping about 7 years ago. I woke up with paramedics all around me and couldnt remember much of anything. As I spent a few hours in the hospital I slowly got my memory back and was released later on that day. Now being that this was 7 years ago I was able to go and have all the tests done and it didnt cost me anything. The doctors concluded that my seizure was the result of too much alcohol consumption throughout the previous day (it was the holidays). They said that I had a steady amount of alcohol in my system all day long and while I slept the amount decreased at such a rapid rate that it caused me to seize. Since then I have had 5 more and havent been back to a doctor. I know that I have to get to a doctor soon because it is really depressing to me. I do still have a few drinks now and then but my last two seizures were on nights when I didnt have any drinks at all. I have read several messages left by other users and find them somewhat comforting. However, I have always thought of myself as a pretty healthy guy and when you start having seizures in your mid twenties it is very alarming to say the least. If anyone can offer some advice I would certainly take it to heart. Thank you

I assure you my seizures are NOT caused by drinking... My doctors are thinking that they are caused by the environment and its harmful chemicals. other than that no one knows for sure why they are happening.