Seizure Logging

What Seizure Logging Measures

A seizure reflects a disrupted balance between the neurons that excite brain activity and the neurons that inhibit it, and that imbalance can arise from genetic factors affecting ion channels or neurotransmitter receptors, or from acquired causes.^[1] Catamenial epilepsy describes a specific pattern layered on top of that baseline: cyclic exacerbation of seizures tied to the phase of the menstrual cycle.^[2] Research recognizes three commonly described patterns, named for the cycle window in which seizures cluster: perimenstrual (C1), peri-ovulatory (C2), and a pattern spanning the entire luteal phase in cycles without ovulation (C3).^[2]

How It's Logged

Seizure logging is a dated, self- or caregiver-reported record of when a seizure happened. Researchers studying catamenial epilepsy use the same basic tool: diaries that chart seizures against the day of the menstrual cycle, which is how the three catamenial patterns were originally identified.^[3]

Why People Log Seizures Alongside Cycle Data

Catamenial patterns are defined by timing relative to the cycle, which means the pattern is invisible without a dated record of both seizures and cycle days across more than one cycle. A log that pairs the two directly answers the question research diaries are built to answer: does seizure frequency cluster in a particular window of the cycle, or not.

That timing question is the entire basis for the research field. It's also why cycle-tracking data specifically, not just a seizure count, is what the catamenial epilepsy literature is built on.

How Go Go Gaia Tracks Seizures

Go Go Gaia logs seizures with a 1-click entry, dated and charted against your cycle phase alongside everything else you track. That gives you the same kind of dated, cycle-referenced record that catamenial epilepsy research is built on, without needing a separate paper diary.

What the Research Shows

The foundational study defining the modern three-pattern framework followed 184 women with complex partial seizures over one menstrual cycle, charting seizures against menses and midluteal progesterone levels. Seizure exacerbation fitting one of three hormonally linked patterns, perimenstrual, preovulatory, or luteal-phase inadequacy, was seen in 71% of women with ovulatory cycles and 78% of women with inadequate luteal-phase cycles. Using a stricter threshold, a twofold or greater rise in daily seizure frequency in a given cycle window, about a third of women with intractable seizures met the definition of catamenial epilepsy.^[3]

A later update names the three windows more precisely: perimenstrual (day -3 to +3 relative to the start of bleeding), peri-ovulatory (day 10 to -3 before the next period), and the entire luteal phase in anovulatory cycles.^[2] The research identifies three pathophysiological threads behind the pattern: the neuroactive properties of estradiol and progesterone, how the levels of those hormones vary across the cycle, and how susceptible a given person's seizure activity is to those hormonal shifts.^[2] One proposed mechanism for the perimenstrual pattern specifically is the premenstrual withdrawal of progesterone, which is accompanied by withdrawal of allopregnanolone, a neurosteroid that positively modulates the GABA-A receptor, alongside a shift in that receptor's subunit composition.^[2]

Related Terms

Frequently Asked Questions

Educational information based on published sources. Not medical advice. For personal concerns, please consult your doctor.

What is catamenial epilepsy?

Catamenial epilepsy refers to the cyclic exacerbation of seizures in relation to the menstrual cycle.^[2] Research describes three commonly recognized patterns: perimenstrual, peri-ovulatory, and a pattern seen across the entire luteal phase in anovulatory cycles.^[2]

How common is catamenial epilepsy?

In a foundational 1997 study of 184 women with complex partial seizures, 71% of those with ovulatory cycles and 78% of those with inadequate luteal-phase cycles showed a pattern of hormonally linked seizure exacerbation, and using a stricter twofold-increase threshold, about a third of women with intractable seizures met the definition of catamenial epilepsy.^[3]

Why log seizures against cycle data?

Catamenial patterns are defined by their timing relative to the menstrual cycle, so identifying one requires a dated record of both seizures and cycle days over more than one cycle.^[2] Researchers themselves use charted seizure-and-menses diaries to study the pattern.^[3]