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.

[SMCnz]

I have had two seizures due to cutting my finger. Once when I was 12 the other 22.  Both times I was working, so my heart rate would have been up, I also at times have iron deficiency. The first time I cut my finger- I passed out seizured came to passed out again seizured. The second time I got dizzy and sat down, passed out, seizured, wet myself, came to. Someone came to my aid, and told me my eyes rolled back and my body was shaking. I'm about to get my four wisdom teeth out tomorrow, and for some stupid reason I thought these seizures didn't need to be discussed. Now I'm a little worried. Don't want to seizure with a scalpel in my mouth!

[DeeDeeH75]

Has anyone here looked into Cataplexy as the cause for the episodes? Cataplexy looks exactly like epilepsy, even a grand mal seizure but is brought on by emotions, fatigue, heightened emotions. It is common for cataplexy to be paired with Narcolepsy, but not always. I feel I have a minor case of Cataplexy and was told by my sleep doc after a sleep study that my test looked as if I am actually a narcoleptic but because of the meds I am on and must be on, he can't formally diagnose it. The good thing about cataplexy is that it can be treated, but very differently than epilepsy and one is not the other. Good luck to you all!

[Turkish55]

My daughter has reflex sympathic dystrophy  and is having seizures. She says it is like someone is breaking her neck and the pain goes down her spine. She has recently been hospitalized twice and they could not find out anything. She had all the tests. What do you think?

[ChuckC324]

My wife has had a Migraine since Easter Sunday and was admitted to the hospital after the ER depts had no luck relieving her pain....she has suffered with migraines since she was 16 and she is 45 now. While in the hospital she began having seizures as many as 7-8 per day in some cases. They last between 5 & 6 minutes...they all start and end the same way. The first sign that one is coming is her left hand starts to shake...as soon as that happens she is non-responsive, her right side (leg and arm) become rigid, her left side (leg and arm) become very active kicking and grabbing, her eyes dart around but are non responsive to snapping my fingers in front of them, she also drools and blows spit bubbles. I can tell when the seizure is going to end because her right hand and arm start to move and she always reaches for her head ...because now her head is throbbing. As I am holding her down she will try to bite me as if she is protecting herself.....if she is alone when the seizure happens she ends up wandering as if sleep walking (this happened in the hospital) and the nurses thought she was trying to be difficult. She has anxiety and depression issues and well as migraines and they are trying to tell us there is nothing medically wrong.....it has to do with her being stressed, depressed...etc...She has had sleep walking episodes in the past, but they did not present the same as these seizures. There have been times when I thought she was alseep watching TV and I have seen her left hand shaking..I always assumed she was dreaming and never worried about it. Most times she would wake up in a panic, but now I wonder if it was just a less violent seizure....they did EEG's and MRI's wit contrast and said it was all negative with the exception of an area of the brain on the MRI that has to do with memory..there is a follow up MRI in June.....They also did a Lumbar Puncture to check for a virus or infection....they tried 5 times over 2 days before they got it right....the Dr. who finally got it said they first Dr.'s were too low on her back (in the wrong spot)....now since then she has had no control or strength in her right leg. They sent her home with a walker and are going to do a Visiting Nurse /Physical therapy......what the hell !!!!

Does this sound familiar to anyone.....and btw they say the leg problem is also in her head.

[Dimples1170]

Hello,I totally agree that pain is the cause of my seizures.I was hurt on my job years ago and thats when the seizures started.They seem to had stopped for a year then returned weekly.Some days i have 10 at a time.I'm on keppra 750mg twice a day which makes me very tired along with the other meds that i take.

[ksmith2743]

I myself is going through the samething.  I have been in pain for over 3 years none stop then about a year and a half ago it got to be just almost constant severe pain.  I started falling in september 2012 and I have now started falling and becoming unconscious.  The doctors told me that I have pain elepsey except.  I asked him how can we fix it.  The doctor said," by controlling the pain."  I am on morphine, diluated, valume and more if this isn't helping what can and I am on the high dosage.  I am unable to work at the moment, but every week I have to get an off work order because I am not well yet.  I still fall two times a week and that is not working.  I was worse when I worked.  I fell almost everyday.