Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us
Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network
Home
Discussion Groups
General
GeneralCardiologyVisionDentistryPharmacyLaboratoryNutritionAlternative
Diseases and Disorders
AIDSAlzheimer'sArthritisAsthmaCancerBreast CancerDiabetesEpilepsyGlaucomaHepatitisHerpesLupusProstate BPHProstate CancerProstatitisSinusitisTinnitus

Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Epilepsy / September 2005

Tip: Looking for answers? Try searching our database.

concentration as a trigger for SP?

Thread view: 
Enable EMail Alerts  Start New Thread
Thread rating: 
Ole Kvaal - 11 Sep 2005 19:51 GMT
Hi all.
One of the things that may trigger my simple partials, seems to be
concentrating very hard on something that may a combination of
theoretical and practical task. For instance, last summer I had bought a
 new PC, and was trying to figure out how to copy from the old
machine's HD to the new one, following a manual. My thoughts would
somehow stop, even the simplest things I was trying to do or even had
recently done, seemed to be totally impracticable. A few months ago I
was going to rig my PC and stereo in order to digitalize some old LPs
for a colleague, something I have done a hundred times before, but
trying to remember and actually do this thing, seemed to cause the same
sort of black outs or memory leaks or whatever. All this leading to a
rather uneasy feeling of being tired. The same thing happened when
trying to configure a new mobile this summer. A few years ago, the same
thing happened during an exam, fortunately at the very end of it.
Feeling tired, loosing threads. Trying to calculate to share a bill at
restaurant, likewise. Understanding the 'rules' when playing Monopoly
with my kids when they small, etc. The examples are inumerable.
As I also suffer from insomnia, in most cases I _would_ be tired, but
most of the time I'm able to handle those things. Other times, they may
lead to a tonic clonic, but not very often.
So I wonder, do these symptom sound familiar to anyone else around here?

ole k

Signature

If a problem can't be solved, there is no use to worry about it.
If a problem can be solved, there is no need to worry about it.

(Shantideva)

Alicat - 13 Sep 2005 21:47 GMT
> Hi all.
> One of the things that may trigger my simple partials, seems to be
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> ole k

Just interested to know if you already take medication for epilepsy as I
find that any drugs I take to contol seizures really affect my ability to
concentrate, so you could be in a real catch 22 situation.  I find if I
concentrate on something really hard I lose my train of thought, which I
blame on the medication, which leads to frustration, which can lead to
feelings almost similar to a panic attack which then slips into a partial
seizure.  Is this anything like you're talking about?

Take care,
Ali
Ole Kvaal - 14 Sep 2005 12:42 GMT
> Just interested to know if you already take medication for epilepsy as I
> find that any drugs I take to contol seizures really affect my ability to
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> feelings almost similar to a panic attack which then slips into a partial
> seizure.  Is this anything like you're talking about?

Hi. I started having these concentration 'black-outs' so long ago, that
I can no longer which drug I was on at that time. Anyway, after a while
I was set on Tegretol Retard, and changed again to Orfiril Retard in
-98 or thereabouts. From May this year, Lamictal was added to the
Orfiril (sorry I don't know the American names for these drugs). This
concentration thing, though, has been with me all the time since the
early 80's. However, it does not happen every time I have to concentrate
hard, only when I'm tired or exhausted (most of the time). Perhaps it is
some kind of stress reaction. I don't know.

ole k
E.B. - 15 Sep 2005 06:55 GMT
This sounds exactly like what I experienced.  I take Lamictal (300 mg
daily) and Keppra (3500 mg daily).  I take 2 mg of lorazepam for the
simple partials if they occur.  They don't occur as much now that I am
taking so much Keppra.  3500 mg is the maximum recommended, but I'm
6'5" 250 lbs.

The SPs would always occur if I was tired and then trying to
concentrate on something like you described.  I would then feel sick
and take the 2 mg of lorazepam, and take a nap. That would fix it. It
would still go away if I was drinking coffee, the caffiene not letting
me nap.

I experience this presently only if I don't sleep enough at night.
Lamictal causes insomnia (like drinking of cup of coffee), so my
neurologist says to take one dose in the morning and one mid-afternoon.
That lets me sleep at night.
culprit - 13 Sep 2005 22:22 GMT
> Hi all.
> One of the things that may trigger my simple partials, seems to be
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> a tonic clonic, but not very often.
> So I wonder, do these symptom sound familiar to anyone else around here?

i have very similar symptoms (without the tonic clonic), but i think they're
med related.  they started with Lamictal and got much worse when i added
Topamax.  every time i get a dose increase, it gets worse.  work is becoming
impossible.

-kelly
Karl Magnacca - 14 Sep 2005 05:20 GMT
"culprit" <culprit00@msn.com> wrote:
>> Hi all.
>> One of the things that may trigger my simple partials, seems to be
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>> would somehow stop, even the simplest things I was trying to do or
>> even had recently done, seemed to be totally impracticable.

Sounds similar to what I sometimes get just before (minutes or seconds)
an absence seizure.  Things that are automatic become impossible; to
read I have to look at words one at a time and try to remember the
meaning.  Once when it lasted for several minutes (usually I lose
consciousness quickly), I spent about five minutes trying to open a
door.  Couldn't remember that you had to turn the knob; I just kept
pulling and getting more and more frustrated.

> i have very similar symptoms (without the tonic clonic), but i think
> they're med related.  they started with Lamictal and got much worse
> when i added Topamax.  every time i get a dose increase, it gets
> worse.  work is becoming impossible.

Is it being unable to think, or having a hard time focusing?  When I
first started Lamictal and trying to find the right dose, I found that
when I took too much (at least in proportion to Carbatrol) it gave me
*extremely* vivid dreams, to the point where I had a hard time
distinguishing waking from dreaming.  As part of that I basically didn't
get any restful sleep, and was very jittery and unable to concentrate
during the day.  I've found that Lamictal and Carbatrol (generic
Tegretol XR) seem to counteract each other's side effects.  Without the
Lamictal I'm practically comatose with exhaustion all day.

Karl

Rate this thread:






 
Sign In
Join
My Latest Posts
My Monitored Threads
My Blog
My Photo Gallery
My Profile
My Homepage

Start New Thread
Enable EMail Alerts
Rate this Thread



©2008 Advenet LLC   Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.