After staying up all night last Wednesday into Thursday to finish work for my Advanced Construction class, I was ready to go back to my room and pass out. However, I decided that I needed to run home first and grab my new printer that had just arrived in the mail. A friend and I jumped into my car and drove to my house which is about 20 minutes west of NJIT. We picked up the new printer and stopped at staples on the way back to get some paper for it. While on 280 heading back towards school, we spontaneously decided to drive to Ikea in Elizabeth and pick up a replacement for the plant in our room that has since died. We drive in and get nearly front-row parking, and wander through the store to do our shopping. Here's where the fun begins.
We go up to the self-checkout lanes to pay for the new plant and two strings of christmas-light things we picked up. I scan everything, swipe my credit card and sign the pin pad, when the whole world starts to go woozy. The next thing I know, I'm flat on the floor, listening to someone (I have no idea who) telling me that they just called my dad on my cellphone. After another blackout, I'm in the back of an ambulance. I ask the EMT who is with me what happened, and he informs me that I had a seizure. Apparently sometime during the drive to the hospital, I called my dad on my cellphone as well, though I don't remember doing this at all. The only things I remember doing in the back of the ambulance were telling the EMT that the clock above the door was an hour slow, and having a brief conversation about being an architecture student.
We get to the hospital, and I'm unloaded from the ambulance into a waiting bed and pushed into the ER. Since my case is so mild (by comparison to others in the area), they push my bed up against the wall in a hallway. Over the next four hours, they give me an IV, draw blood, take my vital signs, do an EKG, and take a CAT scan. Finally the doctor on duty looks at everything and decides I can be released. What she does tell me, and what is sort of the point of this entry is this: the NUMBER ONE causes for non-epileptic seizures are sleep depravation and stress. When she heard that I had been up for close to 36 hours before my seizure, she pretty much wrote that off as the most likely cause. I still have an MRI and an EEG on monday to double check and make sure I'm not epileptic, but it's most likely not the case. All that's wrong with me at the moment is general body soreness and a severely bitten tongue. I'll post an update when I know more.
9 Comments
whew. hope you're feeling better.
Also driving after serious lack of sleep is very stupid/dangerous. Research shows it's more dangerous than drunk-driving. You could've killed someone...but how's your new plant?
Wow,
Glad to hear your ok. Be careful.
Also, as someone who had a number of running off the road experiences as a result of sleep deprivation, during my undergraduate year, i can confirm driving when extremely tired is (almost) worst that DUI...
PodZilla, I'm glad you are alright and safe. Two years ago I had a similar incident. Mine was working 7 day weeks, and like you when it was all done my system crashed. I haven't had another one since and don't plan to either, but I did dislocated both my shoulders in the process! Keep safe, and sleep!
Oh also I'm sensing a trend with architects and seizures
Thanks everyone. architechnophilla... I'm more than happy to have doctor's orders to not have to pull any more all-nighters. I'd happily figure out how to manage my time so I can factor some sleep in there. I didn't dislocate anything, but I did manage to bite my tongue pretty badly, to the point where it still hurts to chew stuff.
that happened to a friend of mine after he took a hit off a doobie. he hit the floor like pruit igoe and busted his jaw.
I learned Revit, and no more all-nighters -
Sadly, Revit isn't so good at scripting an Urban design...
I hope you are feeling better and that you are taking care of yourself and getting rest. Something similar happened to me last semester - but after some tests, it turned out that I actually have an unexpected medical condition that precipitated the event (not that sleep deprivation helped, and in fact may have exacerbated the likelihood of it happening, but exhaustion turned out not to be the cause.) So please do make sure to rule out every possible cause and don't miss anything! Sometimes doctors are too quick to make what seems like the easy and obvious answer, and you need to make sure that you are getting the care you need. If you want more info about what happened to me, shoot me an email. And please get some damn rest ;)
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