start having seizures during perimenopause - Page 3

Porkette · 01-29-2012, 01:35 PM

Hi ambrteach,

Wecome to the forum! Depression is all part of epilepsy as well as dizziness and feeling tired. I've had epilepsy since I was 10 yrs. old and I'm 49 yrs. old now. You mentioned that you took wellbutrin this drug is an anti depressant which will reverse the effects of your keppra. Also it has been proven that Wellbutrin can cause seizures for some people and you should let your Dr. know about this immediately. If you are having the same type of seizures that others in your family are having then it could be genetic but if you are having a different type of seizure than those in your family then it is not genetic. Years ago my neuro thought my seizures were genetic but all of my family members had grand mal seizures where I only had absence and complex partial seizures. I would get off of the wellbutrin and start taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day to see if that helps or try taking vitamin B Complex vitamins once a day. Cut back on the caffeine, starch foods and carbs. Hormones changing has a lot ot do with it. If you like peanuts or any type of nuts start eating them because they have progesterone oil in them and it helped me control my sz. when I went through my change. I wish you the best of Luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

ambrteach · 01-29-2012, 02:09 PM

Thanks, darlene and sara for welcoming me. My cousin who has MS told me about Neuro talk and said there is an epilepsy forum.

i am a teacher and so i am out and stressed all day...47 kids in one class...when i had had my seizure before, my neuro said after 3 months of no seizures, that if i couldn't get a ride i could drive back and forth to school on the side roads..no highways, not at night, so that is what i do. I guess I am lucky in that if this is something genetic, I have only had two seizures and now i am on 1000 mg of keppra twice a day. My second one, my daughter said was not as long or violent, so the 500 mg twice a day was doing something. Interesting sara, you said you were artistic...don't know if you have done any historical research on epilepsy, but me being the geek i am know that Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Isaac Newton, all had seizures and it was considered divine...lol...in fact people were supposed to be seers who could foretell the future when they went into fits or a trance..lol..anyway.i have a spike and wave brain pattern..the doctor said my brain waves are too active...i am like "duh, i'm a math teacher"...he also said he sees a lot of scarring behind my eyes..can't think of anything other than a metal swing in my face when i was 5..two black eyes and a bloody nose...lol..in those days no mri, ct etc..i am glad to come to this forum and read your posts and advice..thank u for being here

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darlene

ambrteach,

Hello and welcome, happy to see you have come to be with us, it a great place to be for a supportive and relaxing place. Our shoulders are here for support in many ways.

I have had epilepsy ever since I was 10 and now I am 58. So I just feel it is part of live. I did have surgery in 2009 and have not had another one since and it really feels good, but since I had it in early life I just lived with it and found out who was my friends. My DH has always stood right beside me and so has our children.

Back when I was having them I wood have them a few days before my period, so I knew when it was coming. Most of them accorded in the summer time, everyone is different.

Some of the many these to do is, always stay away from flashing lights as in a theater, take Vitamin B complex, nutra sweet (aspartame) which causes more electrical activity.

Hope I have help you out. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene

Porkette · 01-29-2012, 06:53 PM

Hi ambrteach,

I'm glad to hear that you are a teacher. I also work in public school as a teacher aide in Special Education so I can relate to how school can be stressful. I have noticed in the summer months I have fewer seizures than during the school yr. You mentioned that you had some scarring, the same thing happened to me I have scares on both the right and left temporal lobe and this is what caused my seizures. I had brain surgery twice to help reduce my seizures and it was a big help.
I get into writing poetry and short stories as well as studying history. My Dad was a Science teacher and he taught physics which was way to hard for me. I would take Biology any day over physics.
There are many famous people who have epilepsy like Elton John, Prince, Danny Glover, Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christy, Alan Faneca who played professional football for the NY Jets and the Arizonia Cardinals. and many more famous people.
If staff and students use cell phones while at school take note if this triggers seizures for you. I found out that I was cell phone sensitive and when to many people are using cell phones around me I end up having seizures. I saw a pattern with my seizures early in the morning before school started and then again during the lunch breaks at school it was then that my Epileptologist found out that staff and students were using cell phones at this time triggering seizures for me do to the frequency that the cell phones are in. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!
I also had an aunt who lived in Florida that had MS.
Sue

ambrteach · 01-30-2012, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porkette

Hi ambrteach,

I'm glad to hear that you are a teacher. I also work in public school as a teacher aide in Special Education so I can relate to how school can be stressful. I have noticed in the summer months I have fewer seizures than during the school yr. You mentioned that you had some scarring, the same thing happened to me I have scares on both the right and left temporal lobe and this is what caused my seizures. I had brain surgery twice to help reduce my seizures and it was a big help.
I get into writing poetry and short stories as well as studying history. My Dad was a Science teacher and he taught physics which was way to hard for me. I would take Biology any day over physics.
There are many famous people who have epilepsy like Elton John, Prince, Danny Glover, Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christy, Alan Faneca who played professional football for the NY Jets and the Arizonia Cardinals. and many more famous people.
If staff and students use cell phones while at school take note if this triggers seizures for you. I found out that I was cell phone sensitive and when to many people are using cell phones around me I end up having seizures. I saw a pattern with my seizures early in the morning before school started and then again during the lunch breaks at school it was then that my Epileptologist found out that staff and students were using cell phones at this time triggering seizures for me do to the frequency that the cell phones are in. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!
I also had an aunt who lived in Florida that had MS.
Sue

Thanks Sue....my friend who has had epilepsy since she went thru puberty told me her seizures were always early morning, so i try to be careful then. The cell phone thing is interesting. I know wellbutrin can cause seizures now, so no antidepressants for me my neuro said..this med is just making the D so low...i think a third tooth has cracked now. Didn't know Prince and Elton John have seizures..we're in good company...no one in my family has had seizures, so who knows? Glad to be here...

loridawn · 03-19-2012, 09:04 PM

HI,
I started having abscence seizures in June 2011, went to a neuro and they did an EEG, MRI, CT and found nothing to cause them. Unfortunately they did not go ahead and put me on any anti seizure meds either. The abscence seizures, auras, etc continued and I had a GM seizure in Nov. 2011. They did all the same tests again and did not find a cause. Before I got out of the hospital they did suggest that it was due to perimenapause. According to my hormone levels at my previous check ups I had been perimenopausal for about a year. They prescribed 250 mg Keppra twice a day. I started on this but reduced to one per day because I literally did not want to move off the couch. I have had one aura since taking the med, I took another Keppra and it passed fairly quickly. I just turned 50 in Feb, I am hoping that the Keppra continues to work for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_jip

Hi There
I started having GM seizures in 2007 and been having it on and off every year or two. My neuro doctor never draw any connection between my hormone changes and epilepsy. He doesn't know what caused them after various tests and scans.

I am on Keppra 750Mg twice a day. Every time I tried to lower the meds for a few months, I had a seizure. I'm sure something else might have triggered it as well (like less sleep, time change, ...). After a seizure, I need at least 16-20 hours of sleep. Then my body aches all over, and it seems I had some respiratory issue for 1-2 weeks afterward.

I read in 'NeuroTalk' and other sources that women with epilepsy can go through changes (epilepsy frequency, etc.) during menopause. I have not found anyone start having epilepsy during menopause in these forums though.

Do you know of someone out there starting seizures later in her life like me?

Darlene · 03-20-2012, 12:32 AM

loridawn,

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. There are great number and caring fellow members here, you will see we are supportive and relaxing place. Our shoulders are here for support in many ways.

I started having seizures since I was real young. At this time I am on Keppra and it has help some. I feel you did the right thing and ease on to the medicine. At one time in my life I got too much dilantin in my blood stream and I felt just like you did, so I was eased off my dilantin.

Some of the many things to do are, always stay away from flashing lights as in a theater, take Vitamin B complex, nutra sweet (aspartame) which causes more electrical activity.

Hope I have help you out. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Darlene