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Neurology (Expert Forum)
'Seizure like episodes'
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'Seizure like episodes'
by Jade McKarthy, Jan 24, 2003 12:00AM
I know a young girl that is 15 years old. She has been having "Seizure like episosodes." She has been to ERs, Doctors, Neurologists, had several tests and no one has been able to completely identify what is worng. She had eegs, ekgs, catscans along with others. Her eeg came back abnormal. Last spring she was struck in the center top of the head with a bat while playing softball. Her ears began rining and she almost passed out later that day. The next day she had her first episode. After that she would have them anywere from daily to weekly. Then her last one was on August 31. After that her eeg came back normal. They had stoped and now she has had another. She is able to feel them comming on, but sometimes when she feels them coming on they don't come. When she has one her body becomes limp, her eyes twitch at a half open flutter, and her body shakes. The doctors don't want to call them seasures because she stays coherent durring them and is able to answer questions. After it is done she remembers very little of what happend durring the seasure. She is currently on no medication. She has become very distressed over this problem. She has not been able to relate these to anything other then the slight possibility of stress. Please help.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT, Jan 25, 2003 12:00AM
The most important thing that she needs to do is figure out whether or not these are actually neurological seizures so that she gets the appropriate workup and treatment. Whenever there's a question of what a spell may be, we like to admit the patient to an epilepsy monitoring unit, where they're hooked up to a continuous EEG monitor as well as 24hr videotape. We then attempt to "capture" an event in the next few days so that we can look at the EEG and video to see if it's a real seizure. If she has a spell and the EEG is completely normal, then it's unlikely that these are really seizures. They may represent stress, psychological problems, or even cardiac problems (although usually there's an EKG attached too). Psychiatry, antianxiety/psyche meds or counseling may need to be initiated. IF on the other hand, there is a change on the EEG then she's probably having seizures and will need treatment. Just because you stay awake and answer questions does not mean this isn't a seizure. Have her discuss this with her parents and primary care physician to see what direction they want to pursue. Good luck.
Here is a link for more info and a link to a forum:
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/
http://neuro-mancer.mgh.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&number=33&SUBMIT=Go
I hope this is of help to you.
Hope you find your answers. You can look up the epilepsy foundation at www.efa.org to see if a center is located near you.
I have had numerous tests done, all of which I have found to be somewhat helpful. As for the overnight stay in the hospital, after being admitted, the doctors will take you off of all medications that you may be on. They hook you up to an EEG unit and proceed to try to induce seizures. The seizures are recorded to monitor any physical happenings during the episodes. In many cases, the doctors will see the signs of an oncoming seizure before the patient does. The brain waves begin to increase quite rapidly. When my seizures started, the nurses would come into the room and begin to time the episode. They'd give me a password, any word, just to see if I could retain any information. They'd ask questions and wait for me to respond.
I currently go to the Cleveland Clinic in Florida and soon I will be having surgery at the main facility in Cleveland. Best of luck and remember to do yoiur research! :)