I’m not sure if these are dreams or if I’m actually suffering from seizures during my sleep

[Emz2019]

Since last year I think I’m either having these very strange dreams or I am having seizures in my sleep, however I’m embarssed to see my Gp incase they are just dreams, the first time it happened was last year after an illness where I was poorly with the flu, I hadn’t slept well
For a good few nights and was exhausted, when I fell asleep I believe it was late on in the morning maybe 5am when I woke up because I felt my right leg shaking like crazy, it woke me up but not enough to jump out of bed, but I was just awake lying there for a couple of seconds thinking what is my leg doing then my other leg began and my whole body joined in shaking rapidly my back tensed up my neck tensed and my head dug in to the pillow and I was aware of strange noises coming out of
My mouth almost grunting noises that I had no control over, this seamed to go on for a moment or 2, then it stopped but I was completely paralysed and could only move my eyes to look down towards my feet and realised I was still I bed and was safe, I then believe I fell back asleep and woke up
Startled and quickly woke my partner and we both freaked out and done some Googling and thought perhaps it was a dream however I’m 100% sure I was awake when I felt my leg shaking as it woke me up. I pushed it aside and carried on my life, since then it’s happened around 8 times, and I keep telling myself of it does happen again I’m going to call my gp, however now they don’t usually wake me up just before hand I’m only aware when it’s happening and I believe I feel my full body shaking rapidly for a moment or 2. Iv tried to download apps on my Apple Watch that would maybe let me know if I am having seizures rather than just very strange dreams but I’m so confused and a little worried, my partner says it’s never woke him up and he thinks they are dreams, but Iv been poorly some nights with stomach aches (I have gallstones) and I’m up and down all night being sick and getting pain killers and using my hot water bottle and Iv sat awake all night and he’s had no idea Iv been in and out the bed 20 times over so even if I was having seizures I don’t think he would feel it! Has this happened to anyone else? How did you find out if it was dreams or seizures? Sorry this seams such a bizarre post

That sounds really frightening for you.

I don’t think it’s up to you to decide if it’s a dream or a seizure. I think this needs a professional. Please go and see your GP.

I have a child with severe epilepsy and sleep related seizures are most common in the falling asleep and waking up phases of sleep. So the early morning one would be typical and yes you sound like you are describing seizures. Sorry.
You need an eeg to confirm them and this can be carried out whilst asleep and they can film you at the same time.
You need to see.GP and ask.for a referral to a neurologist specialising in epilepsy. There is a good chance anti epileptic drugs will work so try not to worry.
Ps lack.of sleep and stress can make them worse so try to stick to a good sleep routine. X

I do worry they if I’ve only had 8 in 1 year how long would I need to stay in hospitals for a sleep study ?

Well that's the problem catching one. They may try medication anyway to see if it helps . Worth getting it checked out . You may be having more seizures than you realise if they are sleep related. Seizures can often be v subtle and you may be having different kinds of seizures . Seizures are not just the full on jerky ones people think and can take many forms.

You do need to contact your GP. Unfortunately you won't be able to drive and you must contact the DVLA and inform them, if your GP thinks they were seizures.

I think these sound like seizures. Please contact your GP. Don't panic and there are a million things it could be but you need to get it checked out.

Hard to tell. There are approximately 40 different types of epilepsy.

Seizure is a possibility. How do you feel afterwards? Exhausted? Feel like you’ve been hit by a truck? Confused? Loss of memory? Paralysis? Need for sweet tea?

Epilepsy is not that easy to diagnose. An EEG is pot luck whether it catches a seizure. I was ‘lucky’ if that is the right way of putting it and did have a seizure whilst having an EEG. Eye witness accounts and video are valuable. Not easy to capture as they are all nocturnal.

Other forms of telemetry are sleep deprived EEG where you are awake for 24 hours or telemetry over a few days where you are videoed whilst having the sensors glued to your head.

You need to go to the gp and explain how those episodes are for you.

Epilepsy is manageable. Medication takes a while to get right. iInfections , stress and poor sleep are common triggers.

Definitely speak to your gp about it.

Also, I'd recommend having a camera (with night vision) installed in your bedroom so that if/when you next have one, you can show your dr the footage xx

The camera in my room sounds a great idea. I have downloaded apps on my watch that claim to track a seizure of the watch finds you jerking but after downloading them and paying for them they don’t do that at all and if you feel a seizure coming on you can alert your contacts, which was not what I wanted to do. Iv checked my heart rate during my sleep and it does spike up and down but it does most nights however I’d assume if my whole body was jerking like crazy that would take a lot of effort and my heart rate would shoot up, however it hasn’t went past 100 so I’m not really sure as even if I walk up a flight of stairs my heart rate is 160, I have 2 heart conditions so I’m aware that is not a healthy heart rate in a young woman. I’m confused and not sure what to do, did call my gp this morning but no appointments today they have reached their maximum and I can try again tomorrow they said but did not ask what the issue was. I do worry about losing my license I have children one of which is disabled and I use the car daily to get him around

fortifiedwithtea…. Yes afterwards I am paralysed and feel like Iv been hit by a truck and absolutely exhausted, I don’t know how long that feeling lasts maybe half an hour or an hour then I wake up.

My little boy, he’s 4 now, but when he was a baby he had open heart surgery a few times but after his second one when he woke up he began suffering seizures and a lady came into the ICU to stick a lot of wires onto his head and set up a camera, just as she finished setting it up he nodded off but he had only nodded off for a few moments when he eyes sprung up and rolled to the top then his whole body was stiff and nurses came running over trying to move each of his limbs so they could quickly see which parts of his body were effected by this, it was so lucky it was all caught at that moment and it was proven to be a seizure, he suffered 6 more that day in the space of 12 hours, he was just 12 weeks old and had never suffered one before, they assumed he had suffered from a stroke during his surgery, he was rushed to CT scan but it was clear and he was put onto epilepsy medicine. The other 6 seizures he suffered were all different, some he would go stiff, some he would jerk and make noises, some only certain limbs would jerk, it was awful and so traumatic for me to see, I know he will never ever remember that, and now at 4 years old he’s been diagnosed with sever learning disability, sever global developmental delays and autism. I try not to remember those early days of his life as it was such a dark time for me of not knowing how his life would all pan out. But I know just how lucky it was that they caught that seizure on video and all wires on his head.

Could it have been sleep paralysis? Wikipedia can explain it better than I can, but I get this sort of thing from time to time. It’s related to insomnia and other sleep disorders. I also get severe myoclonus very frequently every day! I wish I could suggest something, but if you feel it is some form of a fit then you should definitely see your GP

It sounds like sleep paralysis to me. I get it when I’ve been sick or stressed.

I’d second the camera.

No harm going to gp too.

Typically if it was a tonic clonic seizure as the movement would suggest, you wouldn’t be aware/ awake. I’m by no means an expert but to me it doesn’t necessarily sound like epilepsy. Definitely worth discussing with your gp though.

A long time ago my neurologist quoted someone I can’t remember the name of but basically it was this

“If the human brain were easy to understand we would be too simple to understand it”.

Please ask your gp for a neuro referral. Somethings you have said sound like seizures ,other are more akin to sleep paralysis. Good luck

Opiate withdrawal?

Keep trying to get a GP appointment to have it checked out and keep a note of when it happens to see if there are any particular triggers. Even if it is seizures, it may still be possible to continue driving depending on if they are controlled by medication and/ or only happens in sleep.

Hiya... i just want to know if any of you moms had this happening to your child ...so i have a 2,5 year old daughter, most of the time fussy eater ... on Tuesday morning she vomited 3 times which i thought ok maybe she ate something and had a bad tummy as she didn't vomit after that it was one off ... but then she hardly ate for the rest of the day because she was vomiting in the morning... Wednesday she was again put off her foods but she had some cereal in the morning, few bites of banana and couple spoons of yogurt wasn't really interested.... then for dinner she had few spoons of rice curry and then we took her to the park and she looked absolutely fine she was happy running around ..... she didn't want to eat anything after that .....so had a bath and went to sleep ....shes not diabetic but on Thursday morning i had the most scariest day in my life ... she slept longer than usual she usually wakes up at 6.30am .. but that day she woke up at 8.30 which was unusual but I thought well maybe she needs it ... she woke up asking for drink .. took her out but she didn't want to walk where normally shes crazy and happy in the mornings..that morning she wasn't... i gave her a drink and she looked so tired and drained out her hands were slightly shaking so i put her on the sofa and she lay on there and after 30 mins she fell back to sleep .. I immediately thought..ok shes coming up with something but about 1h later she woke up and had a fit .. well thats what i think it was .. she was sleeping on her tummy and she woke up her bach was arching up wards and her head and arms and she was crying it was horrible to see i immediately hugged her and could feel her body stiff and after few seconds she relaxed at the same time I rang the ambulance and she told me it looks like it was a fit and then after few minutes ambulance came and done all checks everything was ok but her bloods were really low... the dropped to 2.9 where normal is between 4 and 8 .... so they were a bit concerned as it was low .. tool her to hospital she had blood tests and there she was so hungry she ate a toastie with some cookie .. she was drinking but still very weak .. her bloods came back all good they said her bloods went down properly because she didn't eat properly the last few days and they said she seem yo hav3 mild throat infection which probably made her not want to eat..and after few hours in hospital after she had a sugary drink and food her bloods went back to over 4 ... I know i already spoke to doctors but I wanted to see if there is any moms out here who had similar situation with their little one as i am so paranoid now .. it kind of scared me now and because shes a fussy eater i am literally worrying like mad every time she refuses to eat that it will happen again ... I am so worried that this will come back again if she skips her meal or has few days without eating like she should but its so hard to make her eat and I am so scared and worried constantly.. just wanted to see other people's opinions on this ... 😢😢