Epilepsy or Stress related seizures

Hello,

about 1 month ago my daughter (20 Years Old) had some sort of seizure while driving.  Fortunately she was travelling at a low rate of speed and was not hurt and the crash did not involve any other vehicles.

The person that was first on the scene said she was unresponsive for several minutes like she had a seizure of some sort.  She could not remember what happened.  She had been put on another sleeping med the night before and we attributed what she had to that.

The ER tests all came back OK but they did recommend we see a Neurologist for further tests.  We saw a neurologist and he did an EEG and said everything looked normal but also offered the option of putting her on medicine.  (I think he was just protecting himself from future liability if she did have another seizure)

We did not take him up on the medicine due to no definitive conclusions reached with the EEG.

Well it has been several months and my daughter has moved out of the house and is having finals this week.  The person she is living with called and said she was having a seizure of some sort.  My wife talked to her on the phone and she could not repeat what she had just told her over the phone.  We told her not to drive and that we would take her to class for the finals even though she did not feel well. 

Just not sure what to do at this point.  We definately do not want her driving and the neurologist we initially took her to just said that this may just be stressed induced and that we can put her on medicine.  (Do not really care for this Neurologist and his advice or lack thereof) 

We are thinking of finding another neurologist to get a more definitive answer.  Should she have an MRI performed or any other tests?  She is on anxiety medicine and sees a phycologist.

I have heard that stress and lack of sleep and poor diet can all contribute to seizure type symptoms not necessarily epileptic related but is there a way to rule out something more serious that does/does not need medicine?

Any advice would be approciated

Concerned parents

Thanks for the info.

As a further update, we took my daughter to another neurologist at Emory in Atlanta.  We provided the Emory Dr the MRI disk and the EEG from the 1st Dr.  He decided to perform another EEG as the notes from the previous neourologist were not clear.

The results from the 2nd EEG showed abnormal wave patterns and the Emory Dr. said it may be due to a spot on the brain per the MRI, which the 1st Dr said was nothing to worry about.  Emory asked if my daughter ever had a head trauma or anything and we did not know of any except the possibility of when she was in a car accident 2 years earlier.

In any event, my daugher has always been very emotional (currently on Prozac) and when she heard this news she automatically assumed that she was going to die beacuse she thought she had a brain tumer.  She has only had 2 seizures and they were several months ago.  We always try to calm her down but she has always been a drama queen and worrys about everything.

However, upon hearing this news, and the fact she probably was not taken the antiseizure medicine twice a day as prescribed, lack of sleep from worrying, and lack of eating regularly she had 2 seizures within 48 hours which appear to be gran mal seizures.  It was very scary for me witnessing this and she appeared to have some memory loss after it. 

So we are going to call the Emory Dr on Monday to discuss next actions:

We decided now that we will dole out her daily medicine; (To make sure she takes it)

Told her that she needs to get proper sleep (She told us she is scared of sleeping alone in case of a seizure)  - She is now sleeping with my wife and hopefully that will calm her down and get her back on a normal sleep routine;

Needs to eat 3 proper meals each day and be properly hydrated;

Also needs to quit smoking (Which she picked up a few months ago) and stop drinking coffee (extra stimulant).

My daughter being 20 has been striving for her independence and has been somewhat rebellious at times but now is having to rely more on us to ensure she is safe and gets proper treatment.  (She cannot drive obviously, she just started a new job as a waitress but now must quit until we can get her situation under control as the restaurant does not want any liability with this which I understand).

I hope my daughter does quit the smoking and hopefully will start to live a normal schedule of sleeping and eating correctly and taking her medicine as prescribed.  (I think she is scared enough that she will hopefully fall in line)

It seems like the trigger to her recent seizures were when she is most emotional about an issue and had very little sleep.  We are also worried that she may have issues with going back to college and the stress of the classes.

Is there any other advice or tests that can be conducted by Emory?  If the spot on the brain is from an injury what if anything can be done for it if anything.  Will she have to be on antiseizure medicine for the rest of her life?

Can skipping taking anti-seizure medicine induce a seizure?

I know she was on the cell phone during a few of the seizures can that fact also attibute to seizures?

So many questions....so few solid answers

Thanks In Advance

 

Acute stress can trigger seizure and so can lack of sleep ,food or hydration.lack of oxygen to brain or combination of all .
For me had one major seizure and was on medication for about few months.
It was scary and emotional ,surreal experience ,was a grand mal,I thought I was dead...

Several years later and medication free ...I have anxiety and depression,
Medicines are medicines,no natural product can come close .

For me they were lifesavers as my parents were devastated by this as I never had history of seizures,this was only incident and shocked doctors as well.
She cannot miss her medicine.

Anxiety can cause strange symptoms ....she will be fine.
Good luck...

Hello All,
I am a 33 year old female, who just today received a phone call from my newly assigned neurologist that he would like to place me on Keppra at 500mg each night for 1 week, and increase to 1000mg each night thereafter.
I realize these posts are over 1 year old, however, I found them to be rather interesting due to the nature of the onset of kdienv 's daughter's symptoms. I've only had one documented tonic-clinic seizure. Having been on vacation in Mammoth Lakes at about 11k feet elevation, done some moderate hiking, but having had horrible sleeping all week. It was after having had extremely minimal sleep, getting up extremely early, not being properly hydrated, and stressed about the fact that my wife and I are going through a grueling process of infertility treatments that we were to be facing that weekend, and an IUI transfer coming up for her.

So, lots of stress happening, and then my wife said I made a fumbling noise, as well as an audible cry or noise. Being that one of our dogs has had seizures ( no mess for her, just control her stressors), she immediately checked on me and I was laying on my side having a seizure for about 5 min. Then s/p, was not responsive for about 30 min ( still breathing and with pulse). EMS was called out, and I was able to limp to the stair chair, just feeling tired and worried. So far, have had a CT of brain (clear, no abnormalities), EEG that showed 2 short bursts of 3mHz that indicates to him that I have some sort of generalized seizure activity. He is saying that all things lined up to create the perfect storm which lowered my threshold in my brain, allowing me to have a seizure. I'm not too certain that starting this medication is for me. I'd like to try the homeopathic remedies if possible, and avoid the medication if possible. Have had no seizure since 10/7/2016 ( date of event), and not able to drive until January 2016, at which time I can reapply for my license suspension to be lifted. But my neurologist wants me to take this, and I have read about many interactions between my HTN Med (Amlodipine). I don't want any problems with my BP since it's controlled. I haven't had any additional appts with any other neurologists, and since I have Kaiser Permanente insurance in So. California, I'm not sure if they will allow me to see anyone else.

I'd like to try managing this on my own without additional mess if possible. Esp since my wife and I are now confirmed that she is 6 weeks pregnant and I am planning on going back to school in the next year or so for my Nurse Practitioner license and degree. I know, sounds like I'm adding more stress, but as a Heart Surgery nurse, I'm looking to overall reduce my stress for the future.

Any help or support that can be given would be greatly appreciated.