Is epilepsy a contraindication for driving?

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• Main reasons
• Classification of alcoholic epilepsy
• Symptoms
• Consequences
• First aid
• Treatment of the disease

Alcoholic epilepsy is a neurological disease, one of the most serious complications of chronic intoxication with alcohol-containing drinks. It has similar symptoms to the classical form of pathology, manifested by incoherent speech, causeless aggression, hallucinations, convulsions and impaired consciousness . An alcoholic epilepsy attack can occur in people who are not addicted to a single use of strong drinks.

Convulsions

Seizures may be accompanied by convulsions or occur without them. The type and severity of attacks range from slight clouding of consciousness to status epilepticus.

Seizures without convulsions occur more often. They can be recognized by motor automatisms, severe dysphoria, and clouding of consciousness.

In the case of convulsive seizures, the tonic phase predominates. Absences (short shutdowns), psychosensory (ringing, flash) and psychomotor (changes in consciousness in combination with convulsions, motor automatisms) are observed less frequently.

Some types of seizures are impossible for the average person to recognize. For example, when a patient suddenly interrupts his speech, pronounces inappropriate words or phrases, becomes anxious and irritated for no reason. This is usually taken as a sign of withdrawal.

Treatment

1. First, doctors make a diagnosis and determine the causes of the disease.
2. Treatment is prescribed, medical and psychological consultation is carried out, and necessary medications are prescribed.
3. Treatment prescribed by doctors is carried out.
4. It is possible to attempt intraoperative adjustment of the damaged nerves.
5. A special diet is prepared for patients.

As a conclusion, we can conclude that alcoholic epilepsy is not a death sentence ; getting rid of it is possible by giving up alcoholic beverages, prescribing the right treatment and undergoing a course of rehabilitation. After the first seizure, you need to sound the alarm and be sure to consult a doctor.

Does your relative or loved one drink alcohol excessively? Contact us through a request on the website or by phone. And call a narcologist to your home to help you get out of your binge. The doctor will provide immediate drug treatment and provide an IV to alleviate the patient’s condition.

Causes

Ethyl alcohol is a poison that negatively affects the functioning of all body systems.
The main load falls on the liver and kidneys, but most of the substance is absorbed through the walls of the stomach. Then it enters the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body, causing harm, including to the brain.

Alcoholic epilepsy develops due to long and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, if these are surrogates or denatured alcohols with a large proportion of toxic impurities. Additionally, its occurrence can provoke health problems:

• • vascular atherosclerosis;
• • previous meningitis, encephalitis;
• • mechanical head injuries;
• • deterioration of blood supply;
• • genetic predisposition;
• • tumors in the brain.

What kind of disease is this

Epilepsy is a serious neuropsychiatric disease characterized by brain damage and recurrent seizures (“fits”). During such seizures, the patient is not aware of what is happening, cannot control his actions, individual movements, and may also temporarily lose auditory or visual perception of the world.

The cause of this disease can be either heredity or physical trauma to the brain. It is worth noting that the disease itself is still little studied and experts can name its exact cause only in 20% of cases.

Another important point is that the sick person cannot help himself and is in dire need of outside help. Often, in the absence of this help, seizures can be fatal.

For these reasons, for patients with epilepsy, serious restrictions are legally established not only on driving, but also on permissible types of activities.

The list of restrictions includes:

• work at height;
• professional sports;
• work with electrical installations and power lines;
• work with units under high pressure;
• work in positions requiring the handling of weapons;
• practicing medicine;
• work in the food industry;
• teaching and educational activities.

True, an established diagnosis is not a lifelong ban, and in some cases these restrictions can be lifted (we will discuss this below).

What other types of epileptic seizures are there besides classic ones?

Elena Morozova : There are an incredible variety of them.
There are so-called reflex seizures, which are now classified as epileptic. There is epilepsy of reading, eating, hot water... This is when some ordinary action or conditions common to most people become the provocateur of an attack. For example, I had a patient who worked as an accountant. Her attacks were triggered by reading - and sometimes they developed already on the second page. There are so-called mental attacks - like one student from KFU who came to me completely depressed: she was constantly tormented by a violent stream of consciousness. She said, “I don’t want to think about it,” but couldn’t get rid of the stereotypical, repetitive thoughts. Among the frequent non-generalized attacks, a kind of freezing is also noted, when a person simply switches off for a few seconds without losing consciousness. In our practice, similar attacks were recorded, which were noticeable only on the EEG, and the parents did not even notice it. And they turned to me because the child’s performance had dropped sharply. By the way, if your child has a clear decline in academic performance and is obviously losing academic skills, it makes sense to conduct monitoring just in case. In a word, I want to say: the presence of clearly visible attacks is not necessary. Dmitry Morozov : the most difficult age for diagnosis is children in the first year of life. Babies can have many strange movements that are very difficult to distinguish from pathological ones. And this is the most difficult group of patients in terms of distinguishing and identifying attacks. We are often brought babies who have physiologically normal movements, but inexperienced parents think that something is wrong with them. With such suspicions, an epileptologist is needed who differentiates normal movements from pathological ones.

Temporary health conditions

Many temporary health conditions or injuries will prevent you from driving. For example, if you were under anesthesia, your doctor will advise you not to drive for at least 24 hours. Injuries such as broken bones will also affect your ability to drive.

In most cases, temporary conditions and injuries will not affect your ability to drive and you do not need to report them to traffic authorities. However, you should consult with your doctor to determine whether the injury affects your ability to drive.

Having a certain medical condition does not mean you have to stop driving. But it is very important that you closely monitor your health. If you or someone you know is concerned about your driving, talk to your doctor and consider taking a driving test.

Consequences and risks

The consequences of seizures are the most dire, especially if the alcoholic is often left alone. Convulsions are accompanied by loss of coordination and loss of consciousness. In this condition, the patient is capable of injuring himself by falling or further in spasmodic attack. In addition, severe pain and disturbances in the functioning of the heart can provoke many negative consequences, causing a stroke or other problems.

If you do not take action and do not treat both epilepsy itself and alcoholism, which creates a negative background for many other problems, the situation will end in death or irreversible brain damage. If you notice the first symptoms of a seizure or a tendency to have one, you should immediately seek help from specialists.

EPILEPSY - GROUP 1

12.1. Drivers with epilepsy driving vehicles classified as group 1 must be monitored and undergo periodic medical examinations until the duration of remission (episode-free period) reaches 5 years.

The diagnosis of epilepsy is an indication for restricting the right to drive a vehicle and requires sending a notice to the authorities responsible for issuing driver’s licenses.

12.2. Provoked Seizures: In cases of provoked seizures associated with known precipitating factors that are not likely to occur while driving, driver license applicants may be found fit to drive on an individual basis, depending on the opinion of a neurologist (assessment should be based on other important sections of Annex III (for example, in cases of alcoholism and other related diseases).

12.3. First or single unprovoked epileptic seizure: if the first unprovoked seizure occurs, permission to drive a vehicle is given to the applicant for a driver’s license after 6 months. attack-free period, subject to a detailed medical examination. Legislative bodies of specific countries may allow drivers with additional factors indicating a favorable prognosis to begin driving sooner.

12.4. Episodes of loss of consciousness of other etiologies: Episodes of loss of consciousness should be assessed depending on the existence of a risk of recurrence while driving.

12.5. Epilepsy: Drivers or driver's license applicants may be considered fit to drive after a seizure-free period of 1 year.

12.6. Epileptic seizures occurring exclusively during sleep: Drivers or driver's license applicants who have never had an epileptic seizure other than an epileptic seizure occurring exclusively during sleep may be considered fit to drive if the seizure pattern persists for a period of time not less than the duration of the seizure-free period required to obtain a driving license for patients with epilepsy. If an epileptic seizure occurs while you are awake, the seizure-free period required to obtain a driver’s license is 1 year (see section “Epilepsy”).

12.7. Epileptic seizures that do not affect consciousness and motor activity: applicants for a driver's license or drivers who have never had an epileptic seizure, other than seizures that do not lead to impairment of consciousness and do not cause functional impairment, may be considered fit to drive a car if the seizure the pattern persists for a period of time no less than the duration of the seizure-free period required to obtain a driving license for patients with epilepsy. If an epileptic seizure of any other type occurs, the duration of the seizure-free period required to obtain a driver's license is 1 year (see section “Epilepsy”).

12.8. Epileptic seizures that occurred against the background of changes in therapy and provoked by a decrease in doses of antiepileptic drugs: the patient is recommended to stop driving for the period of discontinuation of antiepileptic therapy and for 6 months. after stopping treatment. Epileptic seizures that occur due to a change or discontinuation of antiepileptic therapy prescribed by a doctor require abstinence from driving for 3 months. subject to resumption of previous, previously effective therapy.

12.9. After surgical treatment of epilepsy: see section “Epilepsy”.