So I was playing Skyrim the other day...

[Antwerp Caveman]

And then I woke up in the hospital.
And I don't mean in-game.

I remember checking the clock Saturday at 15.00 while playing and the next thing I know I'm in th ER at 17.00.

Just got home today (Monday 15.00)

I did everything right, I was playing during a semi-sunny day in a wel-lit room, 7 feet from my TV.
Now my girlfriend forbids me from gaming while she's at work...

 

[Jonluw]

Uh. What happened?
How did you manage to fall unconscious while gaming? Epileptic fit or something?

 

[repeating integers]

I blame the Thalmor. Those damn elves definitely had something to do with it.

 

[mikey7339]

This is the only time I have heard, first-hand, of someone having an epileptic seizure (I'm assuming that's what happened) from playing a video game.

Has this happened to anyone else on here?

 

[CODE-D]

Must have taken an arrow in the knee, should really watch out for those things.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

(sorry, I should have included this in OP)
I am 26 and have been gaming in different ammounts for 20 years. I have gamed 10 hours a day and months have gone by that I only played Gameboy on the bus, I have never had any problems.

The doctors expect an epileptic seizure, because my girlfriend heard me shout, then found me shocking on the floor, bruised my head, bit my tongue.
This would be my very first experience with anything like epilepsy.

CT-scan and EEG were inconclusive so tomorrow I get a full MRI with the results expected a week later.

 

[mikey7339]

CT-scan and EEG were inconclusive so tomorrow I get a full MRI with the results expected a week later.

Shouldn't a seizure be proof enough?

 

[Scrustle]

(sorry, I should have included this in OP)
I am 26 and have been gaming in different ammounts for 20 years. I have gamed 10 hours a day and months have gone by that I only played Gameboy on the bus, I have never had any problems.

The doctors expect an epileptic seizure, because my girlfriend heard me shout, then found me shocking on the floor, bruised my head, bit my tongue.
This would be my very first experience with anything like epilepsy.

CT-scan and EEG were inconclusive so tomorrow I get a full MRI with the results expected a week later.

When I was younger I used to have epilepsy and what happened to you does seem very similar to my experience and what I was told. But I don't see how anything in Skyrim would make any strobing that would set off a photosensitive seizure. I personally didn't have the photosensitive type of epilepsy that is set off by TVs, but usually the kind of stuff that would set that off would be a game like Geometry Wars or Child of Eden. Do you use a CRT TV or use interlaced scan on your HDTV?

 

[Melon Hunter]

CT-scan and EEG were inconclusive so tomorrow I get a full MRI with the results expected a week later.

Shouldn't a seizure be proof enough?

Not at all. There's a whole host of conditions that can cause seizures, not just epilepsy. I had three seizures at the age of 13, but they were a result of some funky hormone imbalance combined with extreme fatigue. They had nothing to do with epilepsy, though. Seizures can even just be a one-off thing that had nothing to do with an underlying condition.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

@Mikey7339, yeah, but what caused the seizure? Disease? Congenital? They were talking about scartissue on the brain.

@Scrustle, I have a 1080p Plasma, Panasonic, 42"

 

[DoPo]

CT-scan and EEG were inconclusive so tomorrow I get a full MRI with the results expected a week later.

Shouldn't a seizure be proof enough?

Well, since OP doesn't seem to have a history of seizures - who knows.

Then again, I don't know if that would be a seizure. I've fainted before and it was exactly that - I was standing there listening to my mom talk, next thing I know I'm lying on the floor and she's shouting asking me am I OK. Boy, did I freak her out that time. But I've done is a couple of times more. Here, I'll try to describe it:

Imagine how you wake up in the morning but you find out that you're on the floor and slowly you remember how you've doing something completely unrelated before that. For example, you were walking to the next room. And you don't have any memories between the process of walking and lying on the floor. All the times I've fainted was because I stood up too suddenly (and I'm a tall guy, which apparently wreaks havoc with your blood pressure).

I can't really say if that was what OP experienced but he only suspects a seizure. And seizures don't automatically mean epilepsy.

Antwerp Caveman, I hope you'll be all right.

 

[mikey7339]

CT-scan and EEG were inconclusive so tomorrow I get a full MRI with the results expected a week later.

Shouldn't a seizure be proof enough?

Not at all. There's a whole host of conditions that can cause seizures, not just epilepsy. I had three seizures at the age of 13, but they were a result of some funky hormone imbalance combined with extreme fatigue. They had nothing to do with epilepsy, though. Seizures can even just be a one-off thing that had nothing to do with an underlying condition.

My bad, I'm not that familiar with what causes them.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

Ok, so all the testresults were in, 2 tests were done to determine the cause: a bloodtest and an EEG. Everything was fine and no cause was found.
2 other tests were done to look for consequences like permanent damage. A CT scan was done the same day and an MRI was done a few days later. Both of these came back negative as well. There are no signs of damage.

This was my first contact with the healthcare-system (for the americans: yes, it's socialised medicine, like Obama-care but waaaaaaay further)!
My only complaint was that the paramedics, the ER nurse, the on-call ER doctor and even the guidance counselor gave me the line "Aah, you were playing a videogame, well that explains everything". Only the attending neurologist asked what I was doing but didn't jump to conclusions.

Not only did the EEG test rule out any effect of brigt flashes on my brain; no link between gaming and seizures has ever been proven.
As is very simply explained here: http://www.epilepsy.com/info/family_kids_video (30 second read)

But I only read stuff like that and the studies after I was discharged.
So now, everytime I turn on my X-box (and set my timer on my phone for 1 hour) I get kinda nervous... Is this going to happen again? Probably not, but it just stays in your head... The doctors kind of got to me and I might never be as relaxed on my own couch ever again.