Aa
Please help
I have pseudotumor cerebri (2002) and chiari malformation 1 (Dec 2011). On March 29, 2012 I had my 1st seizur in my sleep I couldn't wake up I could hear everything. I have been tested and the drs call them non epaliptic-spelled wrong sorry. I don't just have them when I'm sleep, I can be walking, or in the middle of a convo, in the tub, washing and folding clothes. They just come from nowhere. Right before I have one I taste a lil vomit and like when u bite your tong watery and bloody. I've have so many the muscles around my spine are swollen. I went to Jackson Er yesterday n they are going to try to help. I have all the symptoms of both conditions on top of the sezuirs, is there anything you can do to help?
Thank u so much. U have explained things better than the Drs who have my family n life history in a file!!! I take 1000mg of diamox a day 100mg of topamax- on before spells. Celexa 40mg, Elavil 25. So I think it's pretty bad I ware a patch behind my ear too. So my days are medicated. I wanted to know cause I was being told its not, are there meds that can help me?? I take so many pain pills I don't know where I am half the time. I just wanna know if the spells can be stopped!!!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.
Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I cannot tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
When you say you were tested, you mean you had a video EEG monitoring where they captured your spell and looked for evidence of seizures on the EEG?
The advantage of the EEG is that it can read the electricity patterns being generated by the brain, so when a patient has any activity which looks like a seizure, the EEG can tell us whether the patient was having a n electrical distubance in the brain which could account for the motor activity/convulsive activity seen.
If no electrical disturbance is seen on the EEG during the period when a seizure activity is happening, then there are two possibilities. One is that the electrical disturbance is too mild to be picked up by the EEG scalp electrodes (this possibility is unlikely if the patient is having a grand mal like seizure activity). The other possibility like you related is “non epileptic seizures” or non epileptic events.
Non epileptic events are not uncommon. One cause of it like it was explained to you is possible masked depression/anxiety/stress. It is important to realize that production of the motor/convulsive activity in a nonepileptic event is not intentional. The brain acts through pathways to convert masked stress/anxiety/depression into motor/convulsive activity.
I am not sure how bad your symptoms from the pseudotumor cerebri are, whether you have headaches along with vision loss or not. I would advise maintaining followup with your local neurologist for control of all these symptoms. Hopefully I have helped you understand the nature of “non-epileptic spells” as your doctors have diagnosed you.
Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.
Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I cannot tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
When you say you were tested, you mean you had a video EEG monitoring where they captured your spell and looked for evidence of seizures on the EEG?
The advantage of the EEG is that it can read the electricity patterns being generated by the brain, so when a patient has any activity which looks like a seizure, the EEG can tell us whether the patient was having a n electrical distubance in the brain which could account for the motor activity/convulsive activity seen.
If no electrical disturbance is seen on the EEG during the period when a seizure activity is happening, then there are two possibilities. One is that the electrical disturbance is too mild to be picked up by the EEG scalp electrodes (this possibility is unlikely if the patient is having a grand mal like seizure activity). The other possibility like you related is “non epileptic seizures” or non epileptic events.
Non epileptic events are not uncommon. One cause of it like it was explained to you is possible masked depression/anxiety/stress. It is important to realize that production of the motor/convulsive activity in a nonepileptic event is not intentional. The brain acts through pathways to convert masked stress/anxiety/depression into motor/convulsive activity.
I am not sure how bad your symptoms from the pseudotumor cerebri are, whether you have headaches along with vision loss or not. I would advise maintaining followup with your local neurologist for control of all these symptoms. Hopefully I have helped you understand the nature of “non-epileptic spells” as your doctors have diagnosed you.
Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.
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