Hi all

Advice needed. on the 7 & 9 July I had prolonged seizure (40 min). Partials.
rescue meds given.

The day after I was extremely dizzy and had a fall and everyday since I have been the same. and I have noticed all sudden my heart races and returns to normal I get short of breath walking, and dizzy and head is weird.

I went to see my doctor and he gave me some tablets for dizziness. but I have been getting worse.

on 22nd I had chest pain radiating into left arm and back. chest pain went but arm heavy didn't. went hospital and gtn spray relieved it. however the D Dimer blood test(clots) came back positive. got admitted

they did lung cat scan and didn't find anything. got sent home. I still feel the same ie dizzy, heart rate, head etc. I know the headache isn't a migraine as had them before.

why after 21 days from the prolonged seizures that I am having these symptoms. and is it related.

Hi Tigeress,

I don't know what's going on with you, this is far outside my experience. But.. How would you characterize communication with your doctor? To me pills are not a diagnosis, they are a way to say go away, is he really listening to your story? One of the questions I ask when leaving an appt for a problem is to cover how long I should give treatment/time/whatever before calling back if no improvement (I like to know why there are certain wait times, sometimes I've already waited the right amount or more so they need to move to next step asap). I always mention I will call immediately if things get worse (wash, rinse, repeat). I am also up front with asking if there needs to be a referral to someone else, etc. With symptoms like yours, the doctor should be hearing from you a lot, because you most likely can't address the problem until they figure it out.

hope you find the answer!

Hi Tigeress,

It sounds like your drug level may be at a toxic level which in turn may be causing the dizziness and sz. along with the rapid heartbeat. This happened to me a few times over the yrs. then my Dr. did a cbc (complete blood count) along with checking my drug levels and they found out it was toxic and I had the same problems as you did. I then was cut back on my meds and after about 4 days I was a little better.
I know when I started taking vimpat it caused me to have a rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath every now and then so I let me Dr. know and I found out it was the drug. You may want to speak with your pharmacist to find out the side effects of any of the meds you are taking.
I have also heard that heart problems can often lead into sz. and maybe you should see a heart specialist to be sure nothing is wrong. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Thanks Porkette

All my bloods were absolutely fine (unremarkable)they said, however about 14 days after I was discharged everything got worse and I had bad chest pain radiating and then when went arm heavy/achy didn't go away went a&e and was given GTN spray and that stopped it. but also my d dimer test for blood clots came back positive. they did lung ct and found nothing and then discharged. (ecg normal)

I am wondering if it heart related, but the ward doctor didn't do anything else whilst I was there. even though ive had heart problems in past. (angiogram normal)



2 weeks after then I had a scheduled major operation and afterwards had problems like a wave going over me feeling if I was blacking out for a min and heart races to above 120.

I am still suffering after the op with pressure feelings in head (not migraine) etc

But its a while before I see my consultants.

thanks for the help

michelle

HI Michelle,

I wasn't sure if you got my e-mail so I wanted to drop you a line and tell you that when I took Neurontin it caused me to have sz. that would last 40 min. to 3 hrs. my Dr. called them absence status sz. and it was later on when I was watching Dateline that I found out that the drug co. ended up with a $240 million lawsuit because they found out the many people who never had epilepsy started to have sz. once they were on the drug. If you are taking vimpat that can sometimes cause a rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath. I've been taking it for 2 or 3 yrs. now and it's happened to me a few times.

You may be having more sz. if you are having heart problems and there is a shortness of blood flow to the brain. This is one thing I have been told by my Epileptologist. If you haven't seen a heart specialist yet I would advise you to see one my dad had a triple bi pass done a few yrs. ago and come to find out he had hardening of the arteries. He also had main in his shoulder and arm before he had the bi pass done. What really surprised me is his Dr. told him to drink 1 glass or red wine a day and this would help his arteries so they weren't so hard and it's worked well for him. You should also eat dark grapes and drink grape juice. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue