Are non epileptic seizures related to a past history of anorexia

[aireus]

My girlfriend experiences non epileptic seizures about 6 times a year for the past 2-3 years now, usually after dealing with an extended period (1-2 weeks) of high stress. She has a past history of anorexia and was briefly hospitalized (2 days) at one point (4-5 years ago). Her weight is now normal even though she still only eats once a day. As a child she passed out easily (needles, blood etc) and was told she would grow out of it. Instead she now has seizures. She is in her early 30's and is starting (past 4 months) to experience migraines more frequently as well (2 times a week). She does grind her teeth at night and wears a guard in her mouth while she sleeps to help prevent head/jaw aches from the grinding at night. Can the seizures/migraines be linked to anorexia or past history of anorexia?

[justwanttohelp09]

My 16 year old niece has pain and seizure- like fainting after she eats anything. She has been extensively tested and nothing was found by cardiology, gastro, neuro., etc. They have observed these "seizures" and said they are not true seizures. She was referred to psych. My sister believes this is physical and does not want to think it is psychological even though my niece has a history of bulimia (to what extent I do not know), trouble at school, and her father's death . She also has been diagnosed with shingles and has had several outbreaks in the past few years, leading my sister to believe it could be related to that. She has missed alot of school and her drivers test! Any advise would be helpful.
Thanks,
trying- to -help

[aireus]

Thanks so much for your information, my girlfriend and I will continue to research, watch for signs pointing to which kind of seizures she's having and maybe go get her checked out again to hopefully find a way to control these instances. Once again, thank you very much for your time, it is very much appreciated.

Hope you have a nice weekend

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hi.

Well, if her EEG is normal "during" a seizure, I would say these are pseudoseizures. They do not damage the brain. She may hurt herself, but very minimally. Generally, they don't injure themselves during a pseudoseizure.

There are a few signs on clinical examination which can easily differentiate between true seizures and pseudo seizures. One of them is the Babinski's reflex. Immediately after a true seizure, the Babinski's sign is positive. If you lightly stroke the side of the sole with a pointed object, the toes go up. This sign is negative in a pseudo seizure.

There's a lot of hard work involved in solving the pseudoseizure puzzle.

Regards

[aireus]

So based on the information I gave you, you would say there is a high probability that she is experiencing pseudoseizures not regular seizures right? And my last question for you is, are these pseudoseizures damaging to brain or body long term or is it harmless but just a big nuisance to deal with?

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hi.

There are deep emotional issues related to pseudoseizures. You may take her to a counselor or a psychotherapist. It helps to resolve the issues that are emotionally driven.

Regards

[aireus]

You may be on to something there I don't know a whole lot about epileptic seizures but from what my girlfriend has told me they can be caused by flashing lights, certain noises and she even said that seeing the toilet flush (the swirl of the water) can even cause some people to have them. She told me that she was checked out and they did sound tests, light tests and I even think they took an MRI, and everything came back normal. One reason I think you may be right about it being pseudoseizures is that she almost always can feel when they are coming (she has about a 45 second to 1 minute window to lay down or sit before they happen) The only unexpected one she had was at the vet when her dog yelped from a shot and she hit the floor. She is afraid of shots herself and is always scared she'll have a seizure when she is getting a shot. She has danced professionally for 10 years now and has never had one on stage, not once and there are flashing lights everywhere. So...I think you could possibly be right and that means that maybe she can learn to control them right?

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hi.

A seizure is an episode of Brain dysfunction. And this shows up on the EEG (Electroencephalogram). Was an EEG done to rule out seizures ?

Her past history does suggest that she is more prone to have such symptoms which mimic seizures. They are called pseudoseizures, or conversion disorder.

Regards