We cannot exclude that subjects might have been more prone to seizure occurrences due to AED non-adherence. Furthermore, we cannot exclude hypoglycemic episodes caused by acute heavy alcohol consumption (26), which may have contributed to the manifestation of epileptic seizures (27). You could have alcohol withdrawal seizures if you often drink large amounts of alcohol and stop drinking suddenly. You may be alcohol dependent if you have a strong desire to drink and find it hard to control your drinking.
Alcohol consumption
If you or someone you care about abuses alcohol, you might be concerned about the negative consequences of drinking too much. Below, you’ll learn more about seizures, how they can be linked to alcohol use, abuse and alcoholism, and how to know whether you or someone you love might be addicted to alcohol. A report from 2021 also found that alcohol-related deaths were five times more likely in people with epilepsy than those without the condition. Symptoms are generally mild during the first 12–24 hours of withdrawal but increase in intensity around the third day without alcohol. This may be due to alcohol’s effect on the brain, sleep, and anti-seizure medications.
Addiction Questions?
People with epilepsy should consult their doctor before using alcohol, as alcohol can affect epilepsy medications. Alcohol use can also trigger seizures in people with epilepsy if withdrawal symptoms begin to occur. Epilepsy can cause seizures to occur with more mild levels of alcohol withdrawal than would occur in most people.
- His age was lower compared to mean, had a lower AUDIT score, no withdrawal symptoms and had seizures within the first 6 h following alcohol consumption.
- Call 911 and tell the operator you think the person is experiencing an alcohol seizure.
- If you’re worried about your drinking, get in touch with your local GP surgery, who will be able to help.
- According to the Epilepsy Foundation, some studies have linked chronic alcohol misuse to the development of epilepsy.
- It’s really important to resist any urge to start drinking again ‘to help get off to sleep’.
Alcohol misuse and epilepsy
For some people, insomnia caused by stopping drinking can be challenging. It’s really important to resist any urge to start drinking again ‘to help get off to sleep’. Find out what they are and what you should do if you are experiencing them. Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.
If people have an alcohol use disorder, they can talk with a healthcare professional about treatment options. If people withdraw from alcohol after heavy use, it is important to do so with medical supervision. Alcohol-related seizures in those with epilepsy mostly occur due to alcohol withdrawal alcoholism and anger management rather than the act of drinking itself. It is possible for chronic alcohol consumption to cause seizures in people without a history of seizures. Although severe withdrawal symptoms can take up to a year to fully recover from, most people feel better within a week of stopping drinking.
People who drink large amounts of alcohol and suddenly stop are at a higher-than-usual risk of seizures. About 5 percent of people detoxing from alcohol abuse will have alcohol withdrawal seizures as part of the process of quitting drinking. This can happen whether or not a person has epilepsy at the time of the withdrawal. However, people with epilepsy may be more likely to have seizures while going through alcohol withdrawal. Developing a tolerance for alcohol has a direct impact on the central nervous system.
Cerebellar degeneration caused by alcohol occurs when neurons in the cerebellum deteriorate and die. The cerebellum is the part of the brain that controls coordination and balance. This is a severe and short-term neurologic disease that can be life threatening. Consuming too much, especially over months or years, can result in severe symptoms. Nerve cells in the brain, known as neurons, create, send and receive electrical impulses. Anything that disrupts the communication pathways can lead to a seizure.
These include effects on calcium and chloride flux through the ion-gated glutamate NMDA and GABA receptors. During prolonged intoxication, the CNS adapts to the effects of alcohol, resulting in tolerance; however, these adaptive effects seem to be transient, disappearing after alcohol intake is stopped. Although the relationship of seizures to alcohol use is likely to be dose dependent and causal, the available clinical data do not suggest that alcohol use results in seizure genesis. However, a genetic predisposition to alcohol withdrawal seizures is possible. Other seizures in alcohol-dependent individuals may be due to concurrent metabolic, toxic, infectious, traumatic, neoplastic and cerebrovascular diseases and are frequently partial-onset seizures.
Socialising with friends and family can be important for wellbeing and good mental health, so it might be frustrating if your drinking habits need to change. This page is to help you understand how alcohol could affect you and your epilepsy. According to the famous alcoholics you never knew about Epilepsy Foundation, seizures by themselves typically are not fatal. However, they may cause people to fall and sustain potentially serious injuries, such as head injuries. One participant described alcohol exposure as “triggering” thoughts about alcohol.
Ultimately, everyone’s brain is different and responds to alcohol in different ways. You may choose to try a drink or two of alcohol in a controlled environment to find out if it triggers seizures, or you may decide drinking is not worth the risk of having a seizure at all. It’s important to discuss drinking with your doctor, especially as it relates to any medication you may be taking.
According to older research, alcohol consumption may have a causal relationship with seizures, and people who drink 200 g or more of alcohol daily may have up to a 20-fold the ultimate guide to alcohol recovery books increase in seizure risk. Binge drinking is drinking too much at once or over long periods of time. Alcohol usually does not trigger seizures while the person is drinking.