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Sleep Apnea and seizures.
Hi Everyone, I'm new here and have a question.
I was diagnosed several years ago with an Arachnoid Cyst. This is a benign cyst which is located in the center of my brain. It was found 5 years ago when I had a seizure after only having 2-3 hours of sleep in 2 days. It is controlled with the drug Dialantin. Sleep Apnea has caused problems for me because I don't get the sleep my body needs. Although I have not had any seizures for several years, there are many occasions when I get what doctors call an "aura." It's the strange feeling you get before the seizure. This really causes a problem for me because I don't dare get in a car and drive. You just never know.
Is there anyone else out there with this problem???
I was diagnosed several years ago with an Arachnoid Cyst. This is a benign cyst which is located in the center of my brain. It was found 5 years ago when I had a seizure after only having 2-3 hours of sleep in 2 days. It is controlled with the drug Dialantin. Sleep Apnea has caused problems for me because I don't get the sleep my body needs. Although I have not had any seizures for several years, there are many occasions when I get what doctors call an "aura." It's the strange feeling you get before the seizure. This really causes a problem for me because I don't dare get in a car and drive. You just never know.
Is there anyone else out there with this problem???
Views: 402
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Daniel on
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I don't know if this is relevant to your situation, but I have a patient who suffers with seizures during sleep and was also diagnosed with sleep apnea. Once we got him to be successful with CPAP and using it every night, his seizures have been greatly reduced. Not eliminated, but dramatically lessened. I don't know anything about medications he may or may not be taking.
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Permalink Reply by Steven Y. Park, MD on
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Karen,
There a a number of studies that show that treating OSA can improve seizures significantly, sometimes even curing. It's clear that lack of deep quality or quantity of sleep can lower your seizure threshold. To date, I can't say that sleep apnea causes seizures, but if you have this condition or are predisposed to it, sleep apnea can definitely aggravate it.
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Permalink Reply by sleepycarol on
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Good replies Daniel and Dr. Park.
It is always amazing at what one learns on the forum.
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Permalink Reply by KAREN JAFFE on
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Dr. Park and Daniel,
I appreciate your responses. My Neurologist, has not been able to give me much of an answer. What seems strange to me is I had the 1st seizure about 5 years ago (I was 48 yrs old) but was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea only about 8 months ago. An MRI done 5 years ago, showed the cyst in my brain and my doctor had me go in for an EEG. I was told to stay up all night and have the test done the next morning. The test showed that I was prone to seizures when I did not get enough sleep. She knew about my poor sleeping. I had told her about it several times. I'm surprised and a bit upset that my doctor did not go any further then that. She should have also had me go in for an overnight study. I could have been diagnosed with Apnea 5 years ago instead of going through life thinking I was slowly losing my mind!!!
I am so thankful I found this site. I now know I am not alone....
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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glad to hear you're learning valuable things here, Karen. Your story about the doctor's oversight is a common one. At the end of the day, we only have ourselves to make sure the proper things are done. Sad, but true in my experience. learn all you can, and become your own advocate. that's what we're all here for.
KAREN JAFFE said:Dr. Park and Daniel,
I appreciate your responses. My Neurologist, has not been able to give me much of an answer. What seems strange to me is I had the 1st seizure about 5 years ago (I was 48 yrs old) but was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea only about 8 months ago. An MRI done 5 years ago, showed the cyst in my brain and my doctor had me go in for an EEG. I was told to stay up all night and have the test done the next morning. The test showed that I was prone to seizures when I did not get enough sleep. She knew about my poor sleeping. I had told her about it several times. I'm surprised and a bit upset that my doctor did not go any further then that. She should have also had me go in for an overnight study. I could have been diagnosed with Apnea 5 years ago instead of going through life thinking I was slowly losing my mind!!!
I am so thankful I found this site. I now know I am not alone....
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Permalink Reply by Kristina Zabala on
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NOTICE: This reply is not for the squeamish:
My neurologist was the first to prescribe a CPAP for me after I started having seizures from an old brain injury. Seizure meds didn't work for me, and I would usually have seizures right before it was time for me to wake up. I have since had brain surgery and no more seizures. Lack of sleep was a big trigger for mine too. CPAP helped with that part of it, but didn't really keep me from having them.
While I was in the hospital preparing for surgery (hooked up with wires on my brain to machines for a few days while they induced seizures to "watch" them, he said that I was still having seizures while using the CPAP, but I think I was having them less often when I was sleeping better. (No grand mals since the surgery). My neurologist was surprised to hear that years later I was still using a CPAP after he told me it wasn't keeping me from having seizures, but another sleep study proved that I still needed it because of the apnea. It's very nice not to wake up feeling like I've been holding my breath for too long, regardless of whether it helps my brain or not.
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