Hi all!
I've been having a lot of weird dreams and nightmares lately which has me a little concerned. I used to have them and they were usually accompanied with seizures which makes me wonder if I'm having night time seizure activity again. I had complex partial seizures and simple partial seizures before surgery (almost 5 years ago). Now I have simple partials and the occasional cp, generally brought on by music or lights or something in my environment. I'm wondering what's going on, does anyone else experience anything like this?

stef

Hi Stef,
I was told by my neurosurgeon that anything a person dreams about is really something that they are thinking about or in relation to something that happened that day or something they saw on tv. My Dr. told me that it's so deep in our subconscious that we don't even realize we're thinking about it and then when we go to sleep the brain is the most active and leads all these thoughts into dreams.
Just like you I have cp and sp sz. It sounds like your sz. are caused by audio and visual matters where you might be sensitive to certain sounds and maybe colors which trigger the sz. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

I have very extreme dreams from time to time but I attribute them to my AEDs. Some of my dreams are so complex, there are actually plots and themes. I wouldn't worry if I were you, actually I'm pretty happy I can remember them.

donimo

I hardly ever have dreams but I don't get REM sleep too often. I have had dreams where I had seizures in my dream and woke up knowing I had a seizure (aftermath). When I drink tea (any kind of tea), I have nightmares or bizarre dreams.

Almost 10 years ago I did a study because of bad dreams, they said it was night terrors (PTSD) and after 3 months of highly medicated/sedated sleep they finally passed. I feel for anyone who has nightmares, at one point I was so afraid to sleep because of them.

Hopefully they pass soon and make sure you avoid things like caffeine prior to going to bed, I hear it helps. I personally have coffee before bed, it's only tea that does that to me. Probably stress, too. If it continues and is bothersome, try bringing it up to your doctor.

Donimo-

I know what you mean about attributing your dreams to your AED's... When I was on Lamictal I had constant nightmares and bizarre dreams. Granted that was also before I had the tumor taken out and when my seizures were at their highest, but I've heard that from other Lamictal takers. Come to think of it I had problems with Trileptal too.

I've heard many times that dreams are really things that your subconcious are thinking, but I don't know how much I believe that. Some of the things I dream are so far out there (talk about a wild imagination), there's no way it's something that's happened in my daily life.

I did recently refill an anti-depressant that I take ( to help control the mood swings attributed to lobectomy surgeries,one of the nice side effects), and as I was reading through the pamphlet that you get with it and it mentioned that if you start having nightmares to consult your physician.

It could have something to do with the fact that I'd had a drink and maybe the combination didn't mix too well. Although I've done that before and not had that reaction many times. Who knows. E is such a fickle thing isn't it?

Stef ~ Could I ask you an off topic question? (I've had two left temporal lobe surgeries - first to remove tumor and second- May, '07 - hoping to finally stop continuing pc seizures)

What anti-depressant are you taking and is it doing you any good? On my last visit to epi, about 7 weeks ago, she made me take some tests and prescribed Celexa (sp?). Since then I've been sleeping !! I take at least two 2 or 3 hour naps a day. It's horrible. I cannot stay awake.

Last week my regular doctor said I should throw it away and immediately start Prozac
I have no idea at all what to do or what might help. I'm truly miserable and truly sleepy.

Peppermint-

I take an older drug that has been hard to get. The first drug I tried gave me really bad headaches (I already have migraines on a daily basis, which the Topamax thankfully controls). The current one is Amitryptiline-Perphenizine (sp) and so far it's been helping more than going without. Before I took the drug I would cry over anything (and I do mean anything, or more appropriately nothing at all), lose my temper frequently (also over nothing). I don't cry nearly as much and my temper is better (although I'm still a bit of a hot-head over little things) it's not as bad as it was.

As my neuro says, I have to be really careful which anti-depressant I take because most have side effects of headaches and guess what? Seizures! Great news for someone with a really low seizure threshold.

No news as to why your doc wants you off your current med? I wonder if it has to do with the side effects? I'm sorry to hear you are so sleepy, hopefully it will pass once you adjust to it. how long have you been taking it?

I was reading on another site, that lack of dream recall can be due to a deficiency of Vit B6.

If you do not remember your dreams, you can be fairly confident that B-6 is part of the picture.

B-6, is critical in converting your proteins such as tryptophan into key neurotransmitters such as serotonin. It certainly may aggravate your depression if you are low. Vitamin B6 is important for the brain and nerves to function normally. It also helps the body break down proteins and make red blood cells.

It should be used with caution in patients taking levodopa, phenytoin, and Phenobarbital as it reduces the serum concentrations of these drugs.


Found this list to be interesting to: http://www.drmyhill.co.uk/article.cfm?id=327