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Seizures during sleep???

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Posted 9/9/2007 8:24 AM (GMT 0)

hey everyone,

     i have a question that i want to ask. is it possible to get seizures in your sleep? i think ive heard of people getting them in their sleep. the reason why i suspect im having seizures in my sleep is because sometimes i wake up with bites or bite marks on my tongue. even when im awake i sometimes bite myself but not very often, its weird. i also get this odd feeling that makes everything feel so surreal. i wouldnt be surprised if i still am getting seizures. i took keppra for two years and just got an EEG about three or four weeks ago. i still dont know the results but i should find out soon. my neuro made it seem like i just had to take my meds for two years and then id be ''cured''. what do you all think?

     by the way, i think i might have to go back to my meds if my EEG results come up bad. i really dont know if i can put up with having to take meds again. i mean i cant deal with the depression that goes with it(i told my doc about this too and he just pushed it aside like it was nothing and said ''oh yeah, youll get that'',) and IM ONLY 16! what if i cant get my license? *sigh* all of this makes me so upset and angry and i dont have anyone that i can talk to about this. thanks for listening if youre not replying.

Posted 9/9/2007 8:19 PM (GMT 0)

AnonymousMe,

Re: Your question about having seizures during your sleep? If your brain isn't getting enough oxygen due to mild Sleep Apnea, and you find yourself waking up in a "postictal" state (out of it, confused, angry or over agressive or still feeling tired and not rested) you should get your Doctor to refer you to a sleep specialist. They will do an EEG while you sleep.

You may find out that you have seizures during your sleep as a result of you stopping breathing and possibly reduce your medication. 

This could cure other health problems as well. 

Maybe it's worth checking into.

Randy

Posted 9/10/2007 9:39 PM (GMT 0)
Hiya,

For various reasons, it is possible to have a seizure during your sleep. I have them sometimes and I usually wake up with a graze on my arm or a very big headache! When you talk about "having a licence", I am assuming you are talking about a driving licence. Im not sure where you are from, but in the UK you cannot drive a car until you are 17 and you only need to be sz free for 1 year before you can apply for a licence. If you are in the US you would need to look at specific laws (Probably State Law).

Darren 

Posted 9/10/2007 11:37 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Darren,

I'm from Canada and the driving age here is 16.

If you have a seizure, you get your licence removed until you can go two years  seizure free (in some cases only six months) medicated or otherwise(as long as as your seizures are under control)

Randy

Posted 9/11/2007 4:03 AM (GMT 0)
is there any way to tell if you really had a seizure in your sleep? how do you know if you've had one after you have waken up besides seeing the obvious signs?

yeah, i was talking about my drivers license. i live in the US by the way. i have been seizure free (i think) for a little more than two years now. im just worried that my EEG results will come back with bad news and my doc will decide to not let me drive or worse yet, put me back on my meds.

Posted 9/11/2007 9:47 AM (GMT 0)

Putting you back on the meds might not be a bad thing if you achieve control. It would be better to wait for your driving licence than risk having a seizure at the wheel.

As for telling whether you have had a seizure during the night, I am not aware of any way of telling other than the obvious signs and sometimes you dont even get them.

Darren

Posted 12/29/2007 12:28 AM (GMT 0)
Yes it is possible to have szs while you sleep. I've had them for 15 years. I wouldn't know about some
of them but my partner tells me. Also, the occassional dislocated shoulder is a pretty clear
indication of a GM.

Hope you find a med that works.

Jim
Posted 2/14/2008 6:39 PM (GMT 0)
Almost all of my seizures are while I am sleeping. My wife notices my lip smacking during the night. Sometimes I wake up and am out of it.
Posted 5/28/2008 5:14 PM (GMT 0)
I was asleep and dreaming i was talking on the phone. My girlfriend blew in my ear all of a sudden and i felt really dizzy (while asleep) i hung up the phone i was talking on and started to say stop. When i woke up i was still saying stop, but it lasted for about 7 seconds. Could this have been a seizure? or just something from being asleep? FYI i'm 19 and never had a seizure before.

Posted 5/30/2008 8:09 AM (GMT 0)
When I have strange things happen like that I usually put it down to exhaustion and deep sleep. I am a sleep walker and talker, so often have extremely vivid dreams that seem to keep going once I (think I) am awake.

All of my siezures have been in my sleep. I always wake up with a feeling of 'wrongness' - confused, even after a few hours, dizzy, hangover kind of feeling. Not to mention the body aches and pains. I have only bitten my tongue twice, once until it bled.
Posted 6/5/2008 11:05 AM (GMT 0)
Mom use to wake and I am sure she had been having a seizure just by the faraway look and dazed look in her eyes as well as her being totally out of it

It never happened alot but I know she had fallen a coulple of times tripping over blaket when geting up to go to bathroom and dad did nt hear her.....

Bless
All
Posted 9/11/2008 6:15 PM (GMT 0)

hello,

in response to all of the above, i have had nocturnal complex partial seizures for 4 years now.  it is 100% possible to have seizures in your sleep.  sleep seizures can be tested by sleep EEGs which can last from a short period of time to the entire day.  in order for me to be diagnosed properly i had to be sleep deprived prior to the EEG.  someone with epilepsy should not have a problem acquiring a drivers license unless they had had a recent seizure.  however, if you have nocturnal seizures this won't be a prolem but the seizure can ONLY occur in your sleep or immediately upon awakening in which case you CANNOT lose your drivers license. hope this helps.

Posted 12/16/2008 2:40 PM (GMT 0)
good god, i hope someone can help me.

my girlfriend does the 'lip smacking' thing at nite.  i can't get any sleep unless i'm wearing earplugs.

but i really can't believe she's having seizures.  she doesn't trash around, and if i poke her, she's immediately awake and lucid (and annoyed at being woken up).

please tell me someone's found a solution to this.  especially if it's something as simple as drinking some water before bed (i'm assuming she's just got cottonmouth or something).

if it makes a difference, she says she dreams almost every nite.

thanks much in advance!

 

Posted 12/20/2008 4:07 PM (GMT 0)

   Yes, it is possible to have seizures during sleep. It's because when your sleeping when brain is acting more actively. I would have to sleep with my mom just so she could count how many seizures I would have in my sleep. I fell asleep while watching a movie with my mom once and she told me that i had 5 seizures within 30 minutes.

Posted 12/28/2008 1:34 AM (GMT 0)

My son had some seizures in his sleep.  He woke up knowing he bit his tongue and his muscles were sore.  He is on 3 meds now.  He takes Keppra, Zonegran and Lamictal.  Lamictal not only helps with seizures but it helps depression.  But it could have a side effect of a bad skin rash which means you have to stop taking it right away.  Luckily my son tolerated the Lamictal well.  He does have the side effect of irrritablility with the Keppra but having him seizure free is worth him being a bit crabby.  And he will have to take his meds for the rest of his life but he says that's OK because he is leading a normal life, has a full time job and drives.  If your neurologist won't give you the answers you are looking for I would get a second opinion, and if you can, find a neurologist who specializes in epilepsy.  Good luck.

Aurora

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