Alcohol and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: do not pop the cork PMC
There is a 15- to 20-fold increase in the risk of seizures for persons who drink 200 grams of alcohol or more on a daily basis. Taking cannabis, ecstasy, speed, cocaine, and other recreational drugs can trigger, or increase the frequency of, seizures for some people. Taking recreational drugs increases the risk of seizures and of mental and physical health problems, which in turn may make seizures more likely.
Alcohol consumption
These changes mean that the person would be more likely to have seizures in future, even if they stopped drinking alcohol altogether. Whether to drink alcohol or take recreational drugs is a personal choice, but it is worth knowing the possible effects they could have on your epilepsy. Alcohol withdrawal seizures (delirium tremens) occur when the body undergoes severe and unexpected nervous system changes after an alcohol-dependent person stops drinking.
Status epilepticus: What’s changed, what to know, …
Those with epilepsy who have alcohol dependence and stop drinking suddenly have an additional risk of withdrawal-induced seizures. Some AEDs have side effects that include lowering tolerance for alcohol. This means a person will become intoxicated faster than they used to before they were on the medication.
Alcohol and risk of SUDEP in a person with epilepsy
- Only subjects ≥18 years who had suffered from epilepsy for at least 1 year were included.
- Toward the end of the interview, patients were questioned on illicit drugs.
- It could be that most of these products may be illegal in the UK, even those called CBD oils.
- However, Epilepsy Society is unable to provide a medical opinion on specific cases.
- This can happen whether or not a person has epilepsy at the time of the withdrawal.
- It’s important to discuss drinking with your doctor, especially as it relates to any medication you may be taking.
- The then applied syndromatic allocation, however, may not be in exact conformance with the present classifications (16, 17).
This indicates a potential selection bias and our results may not be generalized to all epilepsy patients without restrictions. Amounts of different alcoholic beverages that correspond to 1 standard drink as defined by the World Health Organization. This illustration has been shown to the participants of this study to guide them in estimating their individual average alcohol intake per drinking occasion. A report from 2021 also found that alcohol-related deaths were five times more likely in people with epilepsy than those without the condition. A typical alcohol withdrawal seizure is a tonic-clonic seizure (also called a grand-mal seizure).4 This episode involves a epilepsy and alcohol loss of consciousness accompanied by violent muscle spasms. But some people can experience smaller episodes that don’t seem like full-body seizures.
- Alcohol and some antiseizure medications can have similar side effects, and taking them together can cause potentially dangerous complications.
- Although these are general guidelines, your tolerance or consumption recommendation can vary based on your overall health, size, and medical condition.
- Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a condition that occurs after an abrupt stopping of heavy drinking in people with alcohol use disorders (AUD).
- In a 2022 review of 8 studies, researchers found that the risk of epilepsy was 1.7 times higher (95% confidence intervals from 1.16 to 2.49) in people who consumed alcohol compared to non-drinkers.
- Drinking too much alcohol can lead to life-threatening conditions, such as seizures.
Treatment
Most of these medications lower your alcohol tolerance, causing you to become intoxicated or feel the effects of alcohol more quickly or severely. ASMs can make you more sensitive to the sedating effects of alcohol, leading you to feel drowsy or feel intoxicated more easily. Mixing ASMs and alcohol can also reduce the effectiveness of medication and/or increase side effects by affecting how the ASMs are metabolised, increasing the risk of seizure activity. The interaction of alcohol and ASMs makes driving more hazardous, even if you have consumed an amount within the legal limit, so you should avoid driving in these circumstances. The most direct way alcoholism causes seizures is during withdrawal, which is when someone with alcohol dependence stops drinking.
A heathcare provider can assess whether light or moderate alcohol drinking is safe. Alcohol-related seizures can happen when people are acutely intoxicated. It can also occur when an alcoholic suddenly stops drinking and experiences alcohol withdrawal. It’s also important to understand that quitting alcohol after a period of alcohol abuse or misuse may be harder for people diagnosed with epilepsy than it is for those without it. People with epilepsy may have a higher risk of withdrawal seizures than others. Most of these antiepileptic medications also have side effects that mimic those of alcohol.
It is highly likely that subjects with well-controlled epilepsies on monotherapy are more likely to consume alcoholic beverages than those with difficult-to-treat variants. Physicians’ advice that “a light alcohol intake is harmless” was identified as an additional predictor for alcohol use. Patients with epilepsy may feel unsure about alcohol consumption on chronic medication and therefore may be willing to follow physicians’ advices more often.
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