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Affect of menopause has on seizures.. Body chemistry??

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Posted 2/20/2008 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
I am truly hoping someone has information or wants to share their experience about the affects menopause has on seizures. I will tell my history in short.. As a child of 5 yrs. old I had grand mal seizures caused by a head trauma, up to the age of ten yrs. old. I started my menstrual cycle at the age of ten yrs. old and the seizures went away totally. Then I had one grand mal at the age of seventeen, and complex partial seizures ever since. Yet when I was pregnant 2x's I never had a seizure. I was on medication and still am, but now I am 52 yrs. old and going through that pere-metapause stage, and my seizures have increased from one every 3 to 6 months to 4 - 12 complex partial seizures a month. To me I see a pattern here, does anyone else?? I am sorry if you are male, and I don't mean to offend you, but both male neurologists I have seen discount it, and really don't think of it. Therefore I am now going to see a female Neurologist and see how she feels about it. But to me, it seems so logical, that it must be a chemical unbalance in my body because of my changes. Please, I would love any feed back.
Thank you, Sharon
Posted 2/21/2008 6:12 PM (GMT 0)

hmmmm... I can see the pattern too. It is true that body chemistry will affect your brain in terms of electrical activity, which in turn can have an effect on seizures. Im not sure why so many male neuro's discount this so quickly. It certainly sounds viable to me, although being a man I dont know huge amounts about menopause! lol

Darren

Posted 2/21/2008 7:21 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Darren for your feed back. I appreciate it. :)
Posted 2/23/2008 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Clever,
I went to a presentation in my early 50's by a female neurologist on women & epilepsy and for the first time learned that estrogen is pro-convulsant, and progesterone is anti-convulsant. Yes, seizures are definitely affected by hormones and keep looking until you find a neurologist who is at least willing to do the research - male or female. I've had male neurologists all my life, and was quite annoyed that no one had ever told me this. It made all the sense in the world as I was going through menopause, because for the first time I began having things like menstrual migraines, and an increase in partial seizures right around my period. I'm now 58 and menopausal, and things are back to where they were in my forties.
Posted 2/24/2008 2:29 PM (GMT 0)
PAlady, Thank you so much for your support. I don't wish anyone the frustration of being discounted. Did you start taking a progesterone? I have a friend that uses a natural herbal progesterone cream for her night sweats, and hot flashes. I am going to bring this up for sure with my neurologist. I hope she will be better than the others. I hope to keep in contact with you too. Take care, Sharon
Posted 2/24/2008 6:58 PM (GMT 0)
Well, the hormone thing got very tricky for awhile, as I was having "flooding" from uterine fibroids - which also didn't start until my early 50's. At this point in our lives we need a neurologist AND gynecologist who are both sensitive and knowledgeable about this overlaps to help us through the transition. It can be dangerous to take hormones unsupervised, although my when my gyn gave me progesterone (for a couple of weeks at a time to control bleeding, my nervous system would feel so "soothed" and my male neurologist would just dismiss that. Now I know why. I've had a seizure disorder since I was 14, and we get pretty sensitve to our bodies, right? Then add menopausal issues on top of that. The good news it that the latter is time-limited. I don't check this board very often, but I'll try to look out for your posts. Good luck!
Posted 2/26/2008 7:31 AM (GMT 0)
Yes, hormones can definitely have an effect on seizure activity...they even have their own title...catamenial, if I remember correctly. Try going to Brainchat org, EAS...epilepsy action Scotland or BC epilepsy sites...
Complex partial are the most difficult to control...I wish you the best and hope that all goes well...
Posted 2/26/2008 11:45 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Ipso, It is so nice to hear "see" the support I am recieving here. I love learning new information also. I went onto the web sight you shared and I was very confused..to no surprise because of my CP skills, but I really appreciate your help. My daughter will be over tomorrow and I will have her help me figure it out. Sharon
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