pain causing seizures

[baci2]

Please be patient while I explain my circumstances. I was born premature and they stuck me in an incubator and put a needle in my head.  I still have the scar but it did not show up on the MRI.  When I was a year old, at a department store, I hurt my finger and had a grand mal seizure.  My mother took me to the pediatrician who yelled at her for letting me hurt myself.  After that, every time I would have an injury, I would have a grand mal seizure.  Examples, when I got bit by a dog, when I fell down a flight of stairs, when I get a really bad charlie horse in my leg.  They thought that I would grow out of it but I'm 31 and I've had 52 grand mal seizures.  In July, I had one when my back popped out in my family doctor's office (I had gone because my back had already started to hurt, then I sneezed and I heard it pop, and then it became extremely painful.)  When this happened, I had a GM right in front of my doctor.  He asked me to see a neurologist as well as a cardiologist because I have a strange heart beat as well.  The cardiologist did an EKG, a stress test and an echocardiogram.  While on the treadmill, my pulse was up to 200 after 6 minutes and they made me get off.  A week later they called and said that everything looked fine.  I decided not to see a neurologist at the time because having seizures when I hurt myself was something that I've always done and they just said that it was my body's response to pain.  Then, in November, I had a seizure out of the blue with no injury to provoke it.  My husband witnessed it.  I remembered feeling extremely dizzy (like always), and it kind of seems like the lights get a bit brighter. I layed on the floor and he said that my eyes rolled back in my head.  Then I started convulsing and a few minutes later when I woke up my pupils were fully dilated and I had urinated.  I was not awake for any of this, for this is just my husband telling me what happened.  Nor was I awake at the doctor's office, for he described the same exact thing but of course, I was unaware of what happened after the dizziness.  Because I had never had one without pain causing it, I went to the ER.  They did a cat scan which turned out normal and referred me to a neurologist who in turn referred me to an epileptologist.  The epileptologist did an EEG and an MRI.  All came back normal except he said that there is something rhythmically wrong with my heart and that I need to have more tests done.  My heart rate kept bouncing between 60 and 110 as I was laying there for about 30 minutes during the EEG.  But my epileptologist said that pain is not a trigger for seizures and that he does not want to set me up for seizure monitoring since I only have seizures 3-4 times a year on average.  He does not want to completely diagnose me with epilepsy because nothing showed up on the tests.  He did up my dose of Lamictal and told me that I cannot drive for a year or take baths alone.  He wants me to go back to the cardiologist for more tests.  Am I the only one out there with pain causing seizures?  Thank you for any patience and expertise in this area.  I feel as if I'm the strangest human being on earth. It seems as if everyone else just yells or says "ouch" when they hurt themselves.  What I wouldn't give for an "ouch" instead of a seizure.  Thanks again.

[tg989]

I have low back pain due to having seizures aleast ten in a year maybe more cause sometimes since I have been on Tegretol, when I have a seizure I have two or three in a row....I end going to the hospital with a black eye or broke leg once.....so I think pain causes seizures also I have Scolios and Denergative disc disease...doctors dont care just about the money rollin in....this is system is unbeilevable!

[DORATH]

ive had seizures sense i was 6 years old and they usally happen when i am ill or when i get bad pain,i know when there about to happen and i can sometimes even prevent them from happening, but when they do happen i can remember everything,ill get really dizzy and my ears will begen to ring, then ill be out for about a min. i dont twich or anything but i do get stiff up sometimes, then ill wake up and in a couple of min, ill be perfictly fine but sometimes ill be really exhausted and ill sleep for a long time.and when i tell people that they are brought on by pain most of the time they dont belive me when i tell them this and all the docters say that they dont know why i have them.ive had e.e.gs and m.r.is done and they all came out normal.everyone tells me that pain can not bring on seizures and theres no way im haveing them because of pain but yet almost all of my seizures were brought on because of pain, like today i almost had one at the dentist when he stoke the nidle in me to numb my gums.im positve that pain can bring on seizures because im living proff, and so are all of you.people always talk to me about my seizures and tell me why i could be having them and tell me that im wrong when i tell them about pain, but yet im the one who has them!..when i was 4 i feel and craked my head opean on a corner of a brick.then when i was in first grade i ran into the blechers and i had a seizure.then a little while after that i step on a piece of glass and got really dizzy and had another.after that i was 7 and was banging on my door and my hand went through a glass part on the door, i got really dizzy but i sat down and breathed slowly and i calmed myself, i prevented that one from happing. when i was in 8th grade i hit my funny bone really hard and i had one. when i was 14 i felt really sick and dizzy i layed down and breathed slowly and calmly and i prevented that one.when i was 16 i fell off my skateboard and broke my arm, i had a seizure when they poped it back in place at the hospital.2 weeks ago i broke my knuckles and i had to be walked out of class because the pain was so bad i was getting dizzy and almost had one but i prevented that one too. so to everyone out there that doesnt belive that seizures can be brought on by pain your wrong!! they can be and i have them and so doese these other people. belive us and help us because this is not something we would lie about, we want are lifes back so why the heck would we lie??!!..i absolutly know that seizures can be brought on by pain and all you other people that belive it too are right! i hope that the docters will start listening to me because i want my life back and i want help..i hope that they can help us all..

[mampha67]

my sons 18 and he too has suffered the same experiances they called it some shock syndrome..but hes allways had learning difficulties and his memory is poor hes due to see a neurologist on 13 oct but all the other doctors have drawn a blank...its uch a worry he cant even get a job because of his lack of confidence and hes such a fantastic lad..he want to work on a building site but im so scared in case he hurts himself..his father has epilepsy and has all his life so dont know whether anything has been passed on so fingers crossed we get a result....

[weezzee]

I have suffered from the same thing my whole life.  It is a pain and it is embarrassing.  If I even so much as bump an elbow i have a seizure.  If I cut my finger I have a seizure.  Basically anything that causes pain causes a seizure.  All the doctors have blown me off and said that I am crazy or it is all in my head!  Sad thing about it is that while they are blowing me off I am still having seizures with no end in sight.  I don't like to have seizures at all much less over something as little as a bump on the knee or elbow.

[tiny2011]

it is nice to see i am not the only one who thinks there is a connection between pain and seizures.  i'm sure most of you have heard the general "triggers" (brain trauma, lack of sleep, stress, strobe lights, some sounds, etc.)  i started going to the epilepsy center in the cleveland clinic 3 years ago.  after some intense testing, scar tissue was found the right temporal lobe of my brain. the scar tissue is thought to be the result of a severe car accident my senior year of high school. (2005)  i am now 23 and currently working on a master’s degree in mental health counseling with a goal of earning a phd in counseling psychology.  however since my car accident, the seizures have worsened.  before the surgery, the seizures averaged out to around one every 3.5 weeks. in 2009, the doctors performed an operation called a temporal lobectomy where a golf ball sized portion of my skull was removed to allow the surgeon access the scar tissue…the scared tissue was then removed….my skull was stapled back into place via titanium staples. this is now, the second winter i have experienced since the surgery, although the pain of ’10 – ‘11 has been much worse than the ’09 – ’10.   the cold temperatures in the single digits have taken a toll and come with severe headaches.  the headaches are so strong, i can check my pulse by simply counting the pain sensations for ten seconds and multiplying by 6.  with every heartbeat comes a throbbing pain. since the first of december, i have experienced three (the last two being less than 3 weeks apart).  every day i had a seizure, i had been outside for some part of the day long enough to allow the cold to screw with the staples and develop severe headaches.  i do not believe that is a coincidence and pain can and are causing my seizures to worsen…..although some say i am only looking for a good reason to move to florida.  hahaha  seriously though, if you do not live in a cold climate to be bothered by the metal, you may want to look into the surgery and to see if it may be an option.  dr. william bingaman was my surgeon at the cleveland clinic. the clinic has a very helpful staff and i recommend the click to anyone.  i hope this was helpful to anyone curious about the subject.....  : )

[KittyJGHG]

When I do this, my blood pressure drops dangerously low- like 60/40. I do have high blood pressure and have taken medication since the 80's. Even with meds, it still ran about 145/ 90ish. But now that I take Keppra. it runs 120/80. BTW, I am 56.
  Jeanette