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Living with epilepsy - Introduce yourself & meet others
Epilepsy & Seizures | Last Active: Jun 29, 2023 | Replies (462)Comment receiving replies
If I had sleep apnea the seizures wouldn't necessarily happen at night, correct? They could happen during the day too I guess because I wasn't getting a good night's sleep. I have nasal congestion and snore and was told once I stopped breathing but don't know that I have sleep apnea. My neurologist told me to have a sleep study at the hospital when I first saw him. It wasn't something that he said I should do right away. I think he thought I should have it done because I snore. He resigned so I am seeing another neurologist there. The only thing the appointment with the sleep specialist has been canceled twice so I am thinking of looking for another doctor who does sleep study. The one time it was canceled because of the virus and another recently saying she couldn't see me and to reschedule.
I have an appointment with another neurologist next month. It is a Level 4 Epilepsy Center so maybe they can give me some answers. It would be closer to home too. I think they would have a sleep specialist there.
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I have seizures during the day and I know I have them at night due to EEG results. I say night when I should actually say while asleep. My original sleep study shows...what is it they called them, can't remember now...essentially interruptions of normal sleep. My CPAP machine provides the same report. The first machine I had over 30 years ago didn't.
I would certainly think an Epilepsy Center would be the place to go. I don't keep up as well as I should but I would hope the specialists have made the connection between sleep apnea and epilepsy by now. It sounds like your neurologist has. I encourage you to get the sleep study done, get a CPAP even if it is the epilepsy that ends up justifying the CPAP. Get a loner CPAP from the doctor if there are any questions. No one would have known the effects of CPAP on me without the loner.
The sleep study will show the number of sleep abnormality instances (when you quit breathing) without a CPAP, then they will give you a CPAP and record the number again. That is what mine did but that was 30 years ago. It was an eye opening experience for my sleep study doctor, my neurologist and my primary care at the time. By now I would hope they have studies showing the correlation between these sleep abnormalities and frequency of seizures.
As I look back, it is unfortunate the doctors took my word my seizures decreased as opposed to recording the results with an EEG. I think we were all so excited we forgot about the science.