This Saturday at my early Birthday celebration, I suddenly and unexpectedly experienced a seizure. I was dressed in a ball gown and had the seizure in front of friends and colleagues who came to see me for the first time since my aneurysm.
Days before I had just reached my 3-months post rupture and coiling where an artery to my temporal lobe was sacrificed resulting in a stroke. Three weeks prior I had an MRA and DSA from which my sleep patterns never recovered from and were getting progressively shorter. Has anyone had this happen?
I had no idea that brain tissue that scars can be a risk factor for seizures. EEG and MRI show seizure type activity. They have me on Keppra now. Has anyone had LITT Laser surgery?
I’m really sorry you went through that Mari, especially during a time that was supposed to be a celebration. I don’t have personal experience with seizures or LITT, but I’ve seen others in this community mention that seizures can sometimes happen after a rupture or stroke, so you’re definitely not alone in that. Hopefully the Keppra helps stabilize everything and that you’re able to get back on track with your rest. Wishing you a steady recovery!
Hate to read you experienced a seizure during a celebration. I imagine your loved one’s concern skyrocketed.
For your first question, I’ve usually been given a MRA/I and then a week later the DSA or fix attempt. Everyone but the one with my stent disrupted my sleep patterns. The MRAs apparently were not the culprit as I’ve had a good many of them granted she hasn’t used contrast dye after the first or second year. The culprit, I believe was the anesthesia and contrast dye (allergic) it could take many months for me to straighten out. They also could set me back, sometimes to ground 1 or 2, never 0 thankfully. Sometimes I would wake up with something different that would become part of me, like my FSA. But I’m not in any way shape or form someone with a medical background so take that for what it’s worth.
A couple of Neurologists tried to tell me the tremor I had developed in my right hand was a type of epilepsy issue and prescribed drugs which none worked for me and early on made things much, much worse. This year an OT suggested a heavy band such as they use for folks with Parkinson’s and something else. Dad’s old Timex works like magic.
As I vaguely understand coiling and stents, the glial cells become active and begin the process of scar tissue which helps the coils to occlude the aneurysm. This article is old and way above my understanding but it talks a bit about the process and stroke. The Fibrotic Scar in Neurological Disorders - PMC Perhaps with your love of biological science you can find something better and you understand what this one is saying.
I’ve got no experience with LITT so can’t help there. Hopefully someone else can speak to it.
I have had seizures post craniotomy. This isn’t too uncommon, whenever we get into the brain either by coiling or brain surgery it hates it. Some of us are prone to seizers afterwards. I am one of them, talk to your neurologist about it, mine put me on keppra years ago and i have been seizer free ever since. So not to worry….yet. Talk to your doctor, if you don’t have a neurologist ask for a referral.
Good luck,
Thank you all so much for being so willing to share your own experiences. There is a peace and hope in knowing that this is survivable and you all are proof of that. Thank you!
I had a 2-CM Brain Aneurysm with Sugita on December 27, 1997. They gave me a 10% chance of surviving. Long story short, I survived. In 2010 I had a Grand Mal Seizure while I was on my way home from work. Luckily I survived and stupidly drove home. Six months later, I had another Grand Mal seizure. Three days in the hospital making tests and they finally decided what caused the seizures was the Titanium clip in my brain and my brain finally noticed several years later a foreign object (the Titanium Clip) so they put me on Keppra and I’ve never had any other seizures since then.
Hi, I’m on Keppra also, I have tolerated it well so far. No seizures, or any bad side effects. It made me tired at first, taken it in the evening So it seems to work and I have more energy.
@Pat_M and @constance thank you both for sharing your journeys with me. This has been a little overwhelming and it’s reassuring to know this isn’t too uncommon.
Keppra was a fail for me, we are playing find the right medication now.
big hugs, 
me too