Seizures and Sleep Quality: Are They Related?

Seizures and sleep quality go hand-in-hand for a lot of people with epilepsy. Our brains are very active while sleeping especially while in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, and research shows that sleep plays an important role in seizures. In fact, some studies have shown that too much or too little REM sleep can increase the risk of seizures by over 25%.?

Nocturnal seizures, or seizures during sleep, are a particular concern for people with epilepsy because Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) tends to strike when a person with epilepsy is sleeping. Having nocturnal tonic-clonic seizures can indicate a 15-fold higher risk of SUDEP. Given this complex relationship between sleep and seizures, it’s important to manage sleep quality, stress and insomnia to get the best night’s sleep possible.

Stress, Medications & Chronic Insomnia Affect Sleep Quality

Stress is a very common seizure trigger, and for people who have nocturnal seizures like myself, getting enough sleep and keeping your stress levels low can potentially help with reducing your seizures while sleeping. Stress can also naturally lead to insomnia, so it’s important to manage your sleep hygiene. What’s challenging is that for many people, certain antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) cause insomnia, which can lead to poor sleep and more seizures. This can then defeat the purpose of AEDs and be a vicious cycle for someone with nocturnal seizures. In these cases, sometimes trying an additional supplement of high-quality CBD oil can help with sleep. If you’re interested in learning more, I recommend reading my article about how CBD and Cannabinoids can help people with epilepsy.

If your medication is disrupting your sleep, you can also work with your neurologist or epileptologist to find a better AED, yet I also understand switching these kinds of psychotropic drugs isn't easy. It can take weeks, even months to slowly wean yourself off of your current medication while slowly increasing a new medication, and each medication has a set of their own withdrawal symptoms and side-effects. In fact, the side-effects you experience during these trials affect your brain, body, and therefore, your everyday life in so many ways that a lot of people try to avoid switching AEDs if at all possible. When trying a new AED is the best option for you, be sure to talk to your doctor about any other options to help with the transition.

If it is safe for you, other things you can do to help you relax and experience better sleep include light exercise, relaxing meditation, making a quiet and comfortable environment in your home, developing a daily routine and trying natural supplements like high-quality CBD products. Depending on your situation, you could also talk with your neurologist or epileptologist about seeing a sleep doctor for additional support and even a sleep study.

For more information on sleep and epilepsy, as well as help finding the right amount of sleep for you, check out this video and article with Epilepsy Foundation.

Written and edited by Amber Kaiser and originally published on the Neureka blog