Just found out having simple partial seizures
 

Hello everyone! I'm new to all of this and can use some support & guidance. I'll tell you a little about myself. I'm 32 years old. I have 2 children. I have a history of anxiety that started in college. Right after my daughter was born I was walking up the steps in my house and had this overwhelming sense of deja vu. It's like I caught a glimpse of a t.v show in my head that was familiar to me but I couldn't place it. I had tingling throughout my body, smelled something unpleasant (again familiar but couldn't place it) and after wards felt nauseous. Because I had nothing else to compare it to I thought it was anxiety related. Fast forward 4 years and I am still having them. They only last about 30 sec to a minute. I will have 3 of them in a weeks time and then nothing for a month or longer (I never recorded them b/c I thought they were anxiety related). I'm now pregnant with my 3rd child and had 4 episodes 2 weeks ago. I decided to write down all my symptoms to talk to my Dr. about it. I never brought it up before b/c I felt crazy saying "deja vu". I did an Internet search for anxiety with deja vu and it came up with a forum and a lady was describing her simple partial seizures that were misdiagnosed as anxiety and depression. I did a search for simple partial seizures and almost fainted when I seen all my symptoms matched. I made an appt. with a neurologist and she confirmed that she thinks I am also having them. I go for an EEG next week and she said I am not allowed to drive until we get them under control. I'm a stay at home mom in a rural area. I am having trouble getting my children to school, getting myself to all my dr. appts. (My husband works long hours). I am very scared and feeling a little lost. Any advice on meds, how long until I can drive again, what tests I can expect, anything would be appreciated. Thank you for reading.

Hi Beanogirl,

Welcome to the forum! I've had epilepsy for 39 yrs. I started out having absence (petit mal seizures) when I was 10 yrs. old and then I began having complex partial and simple partial sz. by the age of 12. One big thing that can trigger sz. is stress, lack of sleep, and hormones changing. Sometimes when a woman is pregnant she might stop having sz. but there are other times when the sz. will increase. You are playing it smart by getting a calendar and writing down what time you have any sz. along with a discription of the sz. My Epileptologist (Dr. specializing in epilepsy) told me to do this and they could see a pattern in my sz. and found out that I was having sz. certain times of the day and certain days of the month. Taking vitamin B12 once a day will be a big help for you. Also take note if you have any sz. when there's a low pressure in the weather sometimes a low pressure will trigger sz. for some people.
You will have to have an e.e.g., CT scan, MRI, and possibly and SPECT or PET scan done. Stay away from anything with nutrasweet (aspartame) in it because it has been proven to trigger sz. Also stay off the cell phone because many times the frequency that a cell phone is in will trigger sz. for people who are cell phone sensitive.
One thing that they have found out is that certain color food dyes will trigger sz. for some people the food dyes red, yellow and blue and the worst ones red causes cancer also and the yellow can trigger sz.
The best thing for you to do is to go to an Epilepsy Center which are usually at University Hospitals and see an Epileptologist I've gotten the most help from them and had to take the least amount of meds. To find out what med to take as the Dr. to do a DNA test on you and from that they will be able to find what seizure med will work the best for you with the least side effects. In regards to driving each state law is different. I know in NY a person has to go 1 yr. without a sz. and have a Drs. written statement saying you are sz. free and it's safe to drive. Here's wishing you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Welcome to the family!!
 

Beanogirl,

Hello and welcome to NeuroTalk. Happy to see you have come to be with us. Just let us know if we can be of any help. I agree with what Sue has told you. One other thing is avoid being around bright flashing light, epectially in theaters. The Epileptologist that I saw help me a great deal. I have lived with epilepsy ever since I was 10, this is the first time I am controlled, so check it out. I am in the studing for my driver's license. It has been one and a half year since I had my last one since a surgery I had back in December 2009.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you. :smileypray:

Darlene :hug:

Do simple partial seizures always get worse? Right now they don't really bother me and I can function but I'm scared I will have a bigger seizure in the future home alone with the kids.

I go for my EEG tomorrow. They don't want to do an MRI until I'm further along in my pregnancy.

I'm feeling overwhelmed right now so thank you for all the information.

Hi Beanogirl,

Sometimes the simple partial sz. can lead into different forms of sz. like complex partial sz. or absence sz. a lot of it depends on what is causing the sz. to begin with. If I may ask when you have a simple partial sz. do you get a nervous feeling in your stomach or do you see colors flashing in your eyes at all? I get these feelings and I was told to tighten up all the muscles in my body and make my hands into tight fists by doing this it will stop the sz. I learned about this from the neuro I had back in the late 1970's. Another thing you can do it start taking your temp. 4 times a day each time before you eat a meal and then again before you go to bed. Write down what your temp was and also count how many times a day you yawn and write down what time you yawn. Also write down your temp. after a sz. I was in a medical study last yr. where they have proven that the more yawning a person does the cooler the brain this in turn stops sz. If you get a feeling you are going to have a sz. take a cool wash cloth and put it on your face and on the back of your neck this will calm the neurons down in your brain and stop the sz. from happening. It works great for me. I wish you the best and May God Bless You!

Sue

I am so happy to know that I am not going crazy! I too have experienced the exact same experiences as you have with the dejavu episodes etc. The only difference is that I passed out with this last one. I just spent 3 days in the hospital having several tests done and still no clear cut answers except a diagnosis of epilepsy and that I display "classic symptoms of simple partial seizures". My last episode during daylight was in 2006 although I believe I have them at times when I am sleeping. The "dream" is significantly different than your normal dream. I always feel a bit unsettled by it. Do you have any thyroid issues? I had 80% of mine removed in 2005 due to hashimoto syndrome and take a hormone replacement. They did find that my hormone levels were off and increased my dosage. In my research I did find that his could be a contributing factor. I also drink an enormous amount of caffeine daily in the form of diet soda. Who knows? I have to go back for an MRI and hopefully will get some more answers. Like me, you probably know when it is coming on so sit down until it passes. You may end up on the floor in a store like me! Hang in there...:hug:

Hi Cindylouwho1,

Welcome to the forum! I wanted to let you know that problems with the thyroid and taking homrone medication can cause seizures because the hormones changing in a persons body can throw the chemistry off and trigger sz. for many people. Women whose estrogen level is to high causes excitment in the brain which will trigger sz. Progesterone helps calm the nerves and in turn you have fewer sz.
In regards to diet soda that is one of the worst things a person can do because the nutra sweet (aspartame) as well as the caffeine will trigger sz. for a person. I found this out the hard way when I used to drink diet soda a lot and I saw a big increase in my sz. When I spoke to my Epileptologist about my sz. increasing I told him what I was eating and drinking and the moment I told him diet soda that's when I was told to stay away from it because it causes more electrical activity in the brain. I was also told to drink only 4 cups of caffeine in a 24 hr. period. This would also include chocolates, soda, coffee, and tea. Play it safe and stay away from the diet soda and cut back on the caffeine. Also have your Dr. check your hormone level to make sure everything is balanced. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Hello and welcome to our loving family.

There are great number and caring fellow members here to assist you. Our shoulders are here for support in many ways. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around.

Darlene

I have simple partial seizures. I have to stay away from nutrasweet/aspartame, as well as MSG (monosodium glutamate), and its other forms, such as protein isolate, hydrolyzed protein, extractives, and protein concentrates, whether in the form of soy, vegetable protein, yeast extract, etc. These things all cause seizures in me, even on medication. I find that a whole foods diet, no fast foods or canned, frozen or prepared foods, is the key to keeping me okay. I have to read lots of labels to make sure the foods are okay. It sounds overwhelming, but once I got to know the brands I could eat, it was easy. You would be surprised how many products in grocery stores have these ingredients. Wishing you well!

Hello Beanogirl,

Sorry you have to put up with the seizures. I have several different types, which surprised me because I didn't think I would have more than one. But my whole brain has it's brain farts and I have to put up with them.

I hope you are ok...you should have your eeg results, how did you go?

Cheers
Rhian

{{hugs}} I've btdt with having young children and experiencing my first seizures. I didn't have any neurological problems until I was in my mid 30s, with two children. My first seizure happened when my youngest was 18mo. For me (and another woman I came across), it happened around the time I was weaning my son, and it was a grand mal seizure. My guess is that it was related to the returning hormones combined with vulnerability. (My seizures *are* related to female hormones-"catamenial") (well, I should qualify that; they were for many years, but with increased stress load and a bad stretch of high stress, I am experiencing many more assorted problems that aren't only confined to a small monthly window) Any chance you can pinpoint during the month when you experience the symptoms? One tip I picked up from here was that progesterone only pills helped me, as mine were at the end of the month.

Driving laws are actually state-by-state, so it depends on what state you live in. Sometimes, it's a mandatory wait (like 6mo after last seizure); sometimes it's with a doctor's ok, etc. I understand your frustration a bit, as I've been in your place. It IS hard to parent and not be able to drive :( We take it for granted until we can't. The first time I couldn't drive, I lived in a suburb and couldn't get anywhere. The second time, I lived in a small town and had to bus around; would take me an hour to get just a few miles across town to my doctor. I can't imagine living out in the country.

If your husband works a lot, maybe stress is contributing? I know stress lowers my threshold. By a lot.

Question....
 

I am new to this website, and don't really understand how everything works...but while everyone on this page is talking about something I think I have....may I ask a question?

Great to meet you!!
 

Hi BusinessGirl,

Welcome to the forum! As Darlene said feel free to ask anything. I hope we can be of help to you. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Hello there, I am having similar symptoms, I am very scared and willing to share info with you anytime.
For the past 2 years. I have been having these spells. After an EEG which did not show much other than a bit of frontal lobe slowing, the doctor says they are probably "simple partial seizures". To describe them: first I get a sense of deja-vu then a weird sensation goes over my chest, then I can't understand what people are saying for a bit too, it lasts for about 1 min or so. I get them at different times, I may have 1 in a month or 30. They come at odd times, I get very bad headaches and memory loss and sometimes my words are mixed up a little.
I had my Sleep deprived EEG . While i was there I had one of my "spells" which is a good thing i guess. At the end the technician brought in a neurologist to talk to me. He said that I have definite epileptic seizure activity that will need more looking into. They will have to do an MRI for that soon. He said it could be scar tissue from something that happened to me at birth or early childhood. There are other things it could be. He said that my slight memory loss and my jumble words when I speak are also caused by this. I have been on different meds for over a year now and they are obviously not working and they will be getting me on track for that,,, I am also on an anti depressant.
They have taken my drivers license away and I work full time and this has been so difficult. I am told that I need to be seizure free for at least 6 months to a year but in Canada, each province is different on that.
I am taking dilantin 200mg twice a day. I have not had a seizure since middle of Sept.
I hope we can talk more sometime.

Hi BearPaw,

I'm sorry to hear that you are having simple partial (aura) sz. The first thing you need to do is stop taking the anti-depressent because this will reverse your sz. med and it can cause sz. for you. I had to have an MRI, CT scan, SPECT scan and PET scan to find out what was going with me because the brain damage was so deep in my brain that they couldn't pick up much of it.
Start taking vitamin B12 once a day 1000 mcg. for adults 500 mcg. kids dosage cut back on starch food and carbs and cut back on caffeine. Stay away from nutra sweet or anything with nutra sweet (aspartame) in it because it causes more electrical activity in the brain. If you use a cell phone take note if you are having sz. before or after you've been on the phone even if you're texting because you may be cell phone sensitive. I found out that I was cell phone sensitive when I'm around others using a cell phone it will trigger a sz. for me do to the frequency of the cell phone and the electo magnetic field. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Gluten!
 

My 10 yr old son started having simple partial seizures in dec. last year. He had a few "biggies" and then settled in to having about one every week. Doc started him on Trileptal which caused a rash and more seizures. ER visit...Keppra. Lots of Keppra. He had a horrible reaction...hallucinations an some time in the ICU. We tried Topamax, Vimpat, Klonapin. Seizures continued to occur... between twice daily and every other day. He missed over a month of school. sadly, he wasn't the same boy I knew for a decade. He was scared, unfocused, unmotivated, and dull (brain altering meds).

I suspected something more than the doctors offered as an explanation (heads of neurology at children's hospital - we saw several). A visit to a DO, left us encouraged for the first time in months!

We went gluten free. We tested it by eliminating it for 2 weeks, and reintroducing it with one cookie. Within minutes he was crying. His face was red, palms sweaty, and getting electric shocks and zaps. The next day he was an emotional wreck and unable to concentrate at school. Since then, there have been a few accidental gluten ingestions...all end the same...with an over emotional boy, sweaty palms, electric zaps, stomache pain, and brain fog.

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity or gluten intolerance causes neurological symptoms. Google it.

My boy is back...bright again! He's happy and thriving. He has an episode about twice a month, but he is back to himself and off all drugs. Our neuro doesn't even care to see him anymore!

So so grateful.

Greetings!!