I am currently switching off of Tegretol, which I have been on for over 10 years, and onto Keppra. I had absence seizures in my early teens and then 3 tonic-clonic seizures before I was out of college, but have been seizure free for about 12 years at this point (knock on wood). The switch onto Keppra is (a) to reduce the fatigue side effects and (b) preserve bone health.
In all these years, I have never had an aura before a seizure. But, on Saturday night, I was looking at one of the posters in our living room when I noticed flashing lights along the neck of the guitar in the picture. It only lasted like 10 seconds and a grand mal seizure did not follow, but I was wondering if this might be an aura. If so, does that mean that I should be expecting a seizure in the next few days? It has already been 1 1/2 days at this point, but since I know so little about these I thought I'd check in with you guys.
Also, can you just suddenly develop auras if you've never had them before? I have been very tired and relatively stressed of late, and I am transitioning my meds, could that have caused it?
I appreciate any help you guys might be able to offer. Thanks!
I can't say for sure if it was an aura, but it is possible. Auras are just simple partial seizures. So it could be possible that you're just having a standalone simple partial (which is what I get), or it could have been an aura that might lead up to something bigger. Either one could be caused by the switch to a new med.
I have experienced differnt auras with differents meds in the past. When I took Mysoline, I could actually talk myself out of having a seizure. Taking Dilantin I could tell when I was going to have a seizure when I felt like I was spinning down a hole, go figure. With Depakote it was a smell. Now that I am taking Keppra I may get 1-2 petite mal seizures and then wham bam there is the Big Daddy grand mal. Hardly any warning with this med, but I don't have the horrendous headache I usually get after my seizures and I am not tired after having the seizure. My husband says the seizures I have had while on Keppra are different they are not so violent. Hope this helps to understand some auras, but keep in mind we are all differnt. What happens with one of us does not necesarily mean it will be like that for everyone else.
