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Anyone with nocturnal only seizures?
Epilepsy & Seizures | Last Active: Jun 3 5:27pm | Replies (28)Comment receiving replies
I had a complex partial seizure during the night in 1994. EEG did not show any abnormalities. But because my husband witnessed it and I was taken unconscious to hospital I was started on Dilantin. I stayed on the medication for 2 years ( so I could drive). I was seizure free til April,2025 . I woke up several hours later than usual and had bitten my tongue. Taken to hospital , EEG, discharged without a diagnosis. Then seizure in June, 2025. Again woke late, had wet the bed. A sleep deprived EEG showed left temporal lobe seizures. Currently on keppra and seizure free. My mother had epilepsy. I think stress is also a contributing factor.
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Hi @eltje
Welcome to our group at Connect!
Your experience of living with undiagnosed epilepsy doesn't surprise me, unfortunately. I myself lived for decades with undiagnosed temporal lobe epilepsy with seizures on my left side, just like you. All my EEGs were clean until one doctor recommended a sleep-deprived EEG and that, just like in your case, was the turning point that finally brought my diagnosis. As I learned later, a clean EEG simply means that the person didn't have epileptiform waves or seizures during the exam. Later, with a specific MRI, a small mesial sclerosis on my left hippocampus was also identified.
Stress is indeed one of the most common seizure triggers. Identifying my triggers and learning to manage them has helped me greatly. I'm sharing here an article about the most common seizure triggers, as well as a discussion about them in our group:
Seizure Triggers - Epilepsy Foundation
https://www.epilepsy.com/what-is-epilepsy/seizure-triggers
Which Seizure Trigger Is Your Hardest Battle? - Mayo Clinic Connect
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/which-seizure-trigger-is-your-hardest-battle/
I'm glad to hear you're seizure-free on Keppra, which is also one of the medications I take.
You mentioned having complex partial seizures and tonic-clonic ones. I'm curious, do you also experience auras before your complex partial seizures? Have you also had an MRI?
Chris
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