new_mom

It is possible to have seizures in your sleep and not know it. I was diagnosed w/ epilepsy when I was 12. I started out having small seizures where I would go into a daze and then it progressed to petit mal where I would have small trembles. My last seizure was in 1995 and it was a grand mal. I was 16 and working at a fast food restaurant. My Dr. started taking me off my meds to see if I had outgrown the seizures. But with the stress of being a teen and working in a fast pace enviroment, I had a grand mal at work one night. I had never had one before and that was my last one. I was in the back away from customers and co-workers and I clearly remember having an aura where my body started to go numb. I fell back and hit my head on the corner of one of those stainless steel tables. I was paralyzed and kept thinking, "God, please help me." I had no control over my body, but I was conscious for a few moments until I blacked out. I felt really embarrassed when I woke up in the ambulance. It can be really scary, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I remember when I was diagnosed, the Dr. explained epilepsy to me in a way that a 12yr old could understand. He said that we all have roads like highways in our brain and electricity travels on these highways carrying info to other parts of our brains. Well, people with epilepsy have potholes in these highways and when the electricity hits these potholes, it can't stay on the highway so it goes to other parts of the brain instead of continuing on the road. That is when you lose control of your body b/c you're getting an electric shock to parts of your brain that controls muscle control. People with small seizures or few seizures have less potholes and/or very small potholes where those with grand mal or frequent seizures have many large potholes. I hope this has shed some light for you. I always like to say when the going gets tough, it could always be worse. Many people cannot control their seizure thru meds. Most of us can.