Has anyone seen a sudden onset of seizures in an adult?

this discussion thread is "Has anyone seen a sudden onset of seizures in an adult?" The answer is YES, this happens all the time. Seizures do not start just in children. It can be any age. I am 71yrs old and had my first tonic clonic seizure a year and a half ago and another minor one about 8 months ago. All tests were negative so doctors have no clue. Life goes on. God Bless
ray hippele

Thanks Ray! I'm still determined to figure out a cause...as I've told my daughter in law, won't know unless we try to find answers...been a long 2 months but I think I've convinced my son it's worth a shot to go try to get some answers. Praying we find them. I can't imagine starting this at your age...had to be frightening and frustrating.
Deb

there is a tremendous amount unknown about seizures. doctors usually can only throw a pill your way to help your situation. hopefully in the future we will know more......God Bless!

wanted to add another comment....there are several known causes of seizures such as a stroke, brain tumor, brain infection and many others (ck the web) but many times there is no known cause such as my case. they put me through all the normal tests while I was in the ER and all were negative. at that point all they can do is send you home with a pill. the general rule is if you are seizure free for 2 yrs you can be weened off the pills. I know of one neighbors child who is 32yrs old now who had seizures at around 20-21 yrs old but has been seizure free for 10 yrs now....she still takes pills and I asked her why and she said just for precaution. its the patients choice....life goes on....God Bless
ray hippele

Why take pills after a number of seizure free years? For many of us, it’s to be able to drive. State laws vary but all reasonably don’t allow you to drive if you are having seizures. For me, my need to drive is coupled with the knowledge that the ‘ scar on my brain’ is never going away. So, after 7 seizure free years I still take the med’s.

so....assuming you are driving but only because you take the pills? what if you did not take the pills? you are still seizure free for 7 years.....not sure I get it...thanks
God Bless
ray hippele

The way I understand this, the anti-seizure med’s act on the brain chemistry to keep down the uncoordinated electrical charges which cause seizures. I assume that in those 7 years, without the drugs, I would have had multiple seizures because until the med’s, I was seizing twice a month. As the neurologist played with the med’s, the seizures became less and less intense until they finally disappeared. I’m assuming it was the med’s working and because I know I have some physical damage to my brain, if I stop the med’s, I think that the seizures will be back.

The way I understand this, the med’s don’t heal the damage. The damaged cells keep misfiring, but the med’s keep the electrical impulses from spreading through more of the brain.

My son started Depakote when he was around 10. We tried taking him off when he was 18. After about a month or 2 of being off the meds, even though he didn't have any seizures I had the doctor do an eeg and it showed seizure activity. We put him back on Depakote and he has been taking it ever since. He is 23.

where did the physical damage to your brain come from?