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Can Scary, Bad Or Nightmares Dreams Cause Seizures?

A MyEpilepsyTeam Member asked a question 💭
Loughborough, UK

I know this sounds silly, but if you have stress related epilepsy (like me) and you have a bad, scary or nightmare dream can it trigger a seizure? If a dream is very realistic and life like and causes you to feel strong emotions such as worry, anxiety, anger and distress what are the chances it can trigger a seizure? I also have night terrors where I wake up screaming, can these also trigger seizures? I often go through phases when I have are bad dreams and I get scared of sleeping.

April 24, 2016
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A MyEpilepsyTeam Member

The only odd very rare times i even remember any dream - they're always bad ones on the nights i have seizures.

April 24, 2016
A MyEpilepsyTeam Member

Probably. The only way I can think of how is if you had a good startle and your seizures are triggered by stress from the body or mind. Other than that, I dont think so. I havent had that. I have had seizures in my dreams that I found where real when it woke me up while I still seized.

April 24, 2016
A MyEpilepsyTeam Member

I too have seizures after vivid, scary nightmares.

July 1, 2023
A MyEpilepsyTeam Member

As for me I have not had seizures due to night mares. But my night mares always centered on real life traumatic events. A pastor with pathological narcissistic traits who I confronted. And a couple of other traumatic events. But in those cases I convinced myself that no matter how horrid the night mares I would wake up again in real life. That worked for me
But I am not saying that seizures due to nightmares is not impossible.
@OliviaPeaceDagnin the nightmare your daughter had where she yelled "NO NO No Don't" before having a seizure makes me think she might have experienced some kind of trauma in real life that she might have been dreaming about irregardless as to whether it caused her to have a seizure or not. I had a gf who said exactly what your daughter said. I knew they were nightmares and why: trauma that she shared with me in detail. I'd just wake her up and get her out of that misery. Tell your daughter that you are there for her if she needs to talk about some disturbing event in her real life. The dream tells me something bad might have happenned to her.

May 30, 2020
A MyEpilepsyTeam Member

I’ve never had that issue. But I can see it being possible. I’m sure the brain can stressed during an extreme type of dream. Whether it’s a nightmare, dream full of excitement, very weird or what ever the type of dream it is.

This all my opinion, since I don’t specialize in dreaming phenomenons.

November 4, 2019

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