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unexplained "seizures"
I have had 3 "seizures" in the past 3 months. We will call them seizures for lack of a better term.The Drs. dont know what happened. The 1st seizure, when the paramedics came to pick me up, I was naked from the waist down and babbaling and had fallen a few times which you could see from the bruises. I remember nothing They did a cat scan, EEG,EKG, MRI and found nothing.They sent me home because I have no insurance. I got home I was very dizzy and I was hallucinating.I went to bed and slept 16 hours. The next 2 seizures just involved the gibberish talk and sleeping 18-24 hours. I did a follow up exam with a nuerologist and he found nothing, He wants to attach electrodes to my head and record my brain waves for 24 hours. I had a bad fall in sept.09 and came close to breaking my nose. Ive had quite a few ear infections, and had to clean up major flood damage to my moms home in 08.He did not ask any history from me about maybe other causes for this behavior. I hate to spend 1000.dollars and they dont find anything. Dont you think they would have seen something in the emergency room,all the tests they ran? Do these tests show if you have had a seizure? I really need a second opinion. Thanks for your time Cathy
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 can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
Episodes such as those that you describe above are obviously very challenging, because they are only detected after they end, so that details are unavailable. However, in general, there are only a few categories of things that could lead to alterations in awareness/consciousness that then resolve without sequalae. These include non-neurologic disorders such as low blood sugar (hypogllycemia), low blood pressure (hypotension), etc. but these would have been detected by routine testing on arrival of EMS.
The description of the episodes certainly raises concern for seizures. With seizures, EEG, MRI, most testing could be entirely if the EEG is done during normalcy i.e. when an episode is not happening. That is when prolonged EEG is done, for several hours or even sometimes days, to try to capture one of these attacks so that its nature can be better determined (whether or not it is a seizures).
Another possible cause of transient alteration in awareness is what is called a TIA (transient ischemic attack due to lack of blood flow to an area of the brain), this most often is accompanied by weakness on one side of the body or the other etc but in less common cases can present with altered consciousness, babbling as you describe above etc.
Until the nature of these episodes is better clarified, safety precautions should be taken. It is important to discuss with the physicians the safety of driving (it would be highly unsafe for you to drive if these were seizures),bathing or swim unsupervised, etc, basically anything could result in injury to yourself or others should such an episode occur.
Continued followup with your physicians is recommended.
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 can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
Episodes such as those that you describe above are obviously very challenging, because they are only detected after they end, so that details are unavailable. However, in general, there are only a few categories of things that could lead to alterations in awareness/consciousness that then resolve without sequalae. These include non-neurologic disorders such as low blood sugar (hypogllycemia), low blood pressure (hypotension), etc. but these would have been detected by routine testing on arrival of EMS.
The description of the episodes certainly raises concern for seizures. With seizures, EEG, MRI, most testing could be entirely if the EEG is done during normalcy i.e. when an episode is not happening. That is when prolonged EEG is done, for several hours or even sometimes days, to try to capture one of these attacks so that its nature can be better determined (whether or not it is a seizures).
Another possible cause of transient alteration in awareness is what is called a TIA (transient ischemic attack due to lack of blood flow to an area of the brain), this most often is accompanied by weakness on one side of the body or the other etc but in less common cases can present with altered consciousness, babbling as you describe above etc.
Until the nature of these episodes is better clarified, safety precautions should be taken. It is important to discuss with the physicians the safety of driving (it would be highly unsafe for you to drive if these were seizures),bathing or swim unsupervised, etc, basically anything could result in injury to yourself or others should such an episode occur.
Continued followup with your physicians is recommended.
Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.
Thank you so much for your reply. Im scheduled for a ambulatory EEG tomorrow,Thursday. I hope it finds something.
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