You are correct, I got them in reversed, I stand corrected.

Correction from my post from earlier
in BLUE - thanks to Tattoo ...


You are referring to Todd's Paresis aka Todd's Paralysis
which follows after a seizure (usually a Tonic-clonic,
aka Grand Mal), and is a gradual recovery:

Todd's Paresis / Todd's Paralysis from Wiki

I suffer from this sporadically and it can be very scary.

NOW in regards to:

Pseudoseizures - is an old terminology, they now use
NES - Non-Epileptic Seizures and PNES - Physiologic
Nonepileptic Seizures

It falls into two categories:

1) Psychogenic - which is related to psychological factors,
such as trauma, abuse, emotional issues, etc.

2) Physiologic - which is related to physical problems,
such as cardiac, diabetic, hypoglycemia, etc.

Such seizures are not faked and they are not "crazy".
However under proper treatment and care they can
be controlled and maintained.

========================

There IS such thing as "FAKE SEIZURES" - to which
people use to gain attention by faking such and have
mental problems; hence why the old terminology is being
discontinued because of confusion. Instead they now
call this Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder - NEAD.


Hope all this information helps!

what type of DNA test.our son is going in for a VEEG in a few weeks to monitor is seizeurs will this dna test help

DNA / Genetic Test is normally used for those who are
under suspicions of a specific possible serious mitochondrial,
genetic medical conditions which Epilepsy is included such as
Autism, Lennox-Gassault, West Syndrome, Angelman's,
and so forth - when in fact some are Epilepsy themselves
and some are associated with Epilepsy.

Others perform this when a child is adopted or there is
no known family background (history) of Epilepsy / Seizure
Disorders. Or the Doctor(s) have some suspicions, it is very
costly and not all Insurances covers it - that is depending on
what they are ordering up.

Sometimes the Doctors / Surgeons are seeing something,
for example in a child's EEG is showing either LGS (Lennox-
Gassault) and West Syndrome; an order of such test would
determine specifically what type the child would have.

Another two would be Oahara (spelling) and LaFlora - and
there are many more, as Neuroscience has progressed and
more and more Doctors are beginning to realize that in
one way of putting it "All that glitters is not necessarily
gold".

Permit me to emphasis this factor; they are finding out that
just because "Epilepsy" is showing up especially in Pediatrics
(babies and children) and Teens - are now usually can mean
something else is going on in there. Which is good news, for
the earlier they are treated, the better and prolonged their
life spans would be if caught early.

This is why when children are very young, even babies, they
perform Neurosurgery after doing tests and finding the conclusions
and affirmation that it is indeed this and knowing where it is
originating from. It is all because the child is still growing and/or
not yet fully developed; meaning there is a higher percentile that
the child will heal and recover; plus have a brighter future than
those who had never been "caught" (tested for DNA/Genetic/and
Mitochondrial).

The other reason is - such factors makes them (including Adults)
a high risk for SUDEP, shorter life spans, more resistant to AEDS
(Anti-Epileptic Drugs), as well as becoming Intractable / Refractory.

While this post is not exhaustive - rather, a gleaning of this and
that to provide an over view insight "skimming across the waters".
There are Foundations out there for such and are associated with
CURE, EFA, FACES, etc. We have a category here in Neuro Talk
for those who have Genetic / Mitochondrial Disorders as well as
specific threads on common Medical Conditions when they can be
related to Epilepsy as well such as Autoimmune Diseases, Autism,
Chiari Malformation & Syringomyelia, Gluten Sensitivity / Celiac Disease
just to name a few in Neuro Talk themselves.

In fact - even Epilepsy can be associated with Psychiatric and
Psychological medical conditions, Migraines and Headaches,
and surprisingly there is correlation between Epilepsy and Cardiology!

Neuro Talk has threads on these too - just as there are websites on
these major well-known Medical Conditions, and they too, indicate
right back at Seizure Disorder / Epilepsy.

The information out there is overwhelming and I surely hope they
find the answer for your child soon and your child will indeed, have
a brighter future!

Hope this helps!

Sharon you are a wealth of information I find your posts interesting important and non-repetitive...You always are able to come up with interesting points and relevant information...thanks

Rhian

:

Dear Aunt Laura,
I have suffered from Psychogenic Non Epileptic Seizures for the past six years.
In 2004, I had a heart attack and had to have a valve replacement. A yr. after this, I began to have what was diagnosed as anxiety attacks, or panic attacks.
I then began to go to Mental Health where I have been on meds and have talk therapy. I had to retire from my job because the seizures rendered me incapable of teaching. Anyway, the Medical University of South Carolina, did every kind of test they could think of to see if I had epilepsy. But there's the problem, sometimes the PNES is actually epilepsy, and sometimes the epilepsy is actually PNES. It's a very fine line.

My triggers are, loud music with very loud bass, being upset, and especially being startled. Being startle can send me into a seizure that is a real you know what. Oh, and there is also one person who is a trigger, and I can't even walk into my old school.

My PNESs actually look like epileptic seizures, but when I am given an EEG,
it comes out normal. (Go figure).

I would suggest that you go to Google or Bing and search all you can on PNES, because for a long time, I was told it was all in my head. (Please excuse the pun). It was also discovered that I was bi polar. I don't know if that has anything to do with the seizures, but I thought I would put it in there.

Thanks for letting me tell you that your hubby isn't the only one. There are more of us out there than we think.

Sincerely,
Snorkelswimmer

PS: Epilepsy drugs and talk therapy have helped alot.

Hi Snorkelswimmer,

Welcome to the forum! There is often a connection between heart problems and seizures. From what you are discribing you maybe having audio seizures and that's where certain sounds will trigger seizures. Along with stress. I can't believe that they won't let you teach anymore that is not right! I've been working in a public school as a Teacher Aide for 25 yrs. and the only problem I had was when I had brain surgery done and my boss complained about me being out of work for 3 wks. for recovery.
I have family that has had triple by pass done as well as valuve replacement done on their heart and each time this happened in my family that person was depressed. Take my word it's all part of the heart surgery.

Before I had the surgery done I had a lot of tests done and my Epileptologist, and Neurosurgeon only found a problem on the right temporal lobe of my brain but when they opened me up for surgery they found 3 different areas in my brain that were triggering seizures. The problem was that the damage was to deep in the brain to pick up with any test and this may be what's going on with you.
My best advice to you is to see an Epileptologist if you are not seeing one yet at an Epilepsy Center which are usually at University Hopsitals and also see a Neuropsychologist who will do tests on you and find out what's going on in detail. These 3 Drs. work together as a team and come to a final conclusion as to what's really happened. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Hopeing that someone can give me some insight here, because I'm pretty much at my wits end...

My fiance was diagnosed as an epileptic at 11 years old, he experienced absense serizures. He is currently 34 years old and is still experiencing problems. Every day (now up to twice a day) he has episodes on "spacing out" These last anywhere from 10-45 minutes, usually lasting 30 minutes at a time. During the episodes he is able to respond, but responses don't always make sense (for example, while watching a football game and experiencing a space out, he responds "everyone" when asked who is winning) His eyelids droop, his head rolls to one side, his speech becomes slow and slurred. People that are not aware of his condition assume he is exteremy innebriated. After his space out is complete, it seems like a switch was flipped and he is bag to normal in an instant. He usually has no recollection of anything that happened while he was spaced out. He is currently on Tegretol, Kepra, and an anti depressant twice a day. (Not sure of the dosages off the top of my head, but he's pretty much maxed on the teg and kepra) No other medical problems. His doctor is unsure that his episides are epilepsy related (I brought a video of his space outs for our last appointment.) He is not working now, because his doctor thinks that the space outs are stress related and psychogenic. We have an ambulatory EEG scheduled for next Monday. A video EEG is not available in our area, so I will take it upon myself to video tape the process to share with his doctor.

I was wondering if anyone else is experiencing something similar? What were your outcomes? I am stressed beyond my means right now. We can no longer do things as a couple because of the space outs, we are resigned to staying home. Our relationship has definitely taken a toll. He is frustrated because he doesn't know what is going on, I am frustrated because I feel like I 'lose' him for good parts of our day.

Any help you can give is greatly appreciated!

Cassie

Hi Cassie,

Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry to hear that finace is having seizures that are lasting so long. I started having absence seizures when I was 10 yrs. old and they led to complex partial seizures. What you are describing sounds like absence status seizures and that means the seizure is lasting much longer than it should and there's a possibility that it can be causing more brain damage. If a person has a seizure of any type and it lasts for 15 min. or longer it is known as a status seizure. A few yrs. ago when I was put on neurontin it caused me to have absence status seizures where I would be out of it for 30 min. to 3 hrs. this caused me to have more brain damage.
I have taken tegretol and keppra and I found that the keppra increased my seizures. Your fiance should get of the anti depresent because it's going to mess up his tegretol and keppra and he needs to understand that depression is part of epilepsy and his seizure meds. I've found taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day a big help. to reduce my seizures.

Stress and lack of sleep are the 2 main things that can trigger seizures for a person because the stress effects the hormones which in turn will cause seizures. I've had many e.e.g's done along with cat scans, MRI's , Spect scans, angiograms, and Pet scans and the Drs. only found I had to many brain cells on the right temporal lobe but when I had surgery done to reduce my seizures they found more brain damage that was never shown on any of the tests because it was to deep in my brain and this could be the reason why the Dr. isn't getting the detail of what's going on with your fiance brain. If you haven't started get a calendar and keep track of all the seizures by writing down what time the seizure happened along with a description of the seizure. Take note if your fiance is sick with a cold or virus because that can always trigger more seizures and also take note of the weather and if there's a low pressure in the weather sometimes a person can have seizures when there's a low pressure. My best advice to you is to have your fiance go to an Epilepsy Center and see a Epileptologist (Dr. specializing in epilepsy) I've gotten the most help from an Epileptologist and I'm on fewer meds. I also found out to stay away from both nutra sweet and cell phones because both of these can cause more electrical activity in the brain and trigger seizures for some people.
I wish you and your fiance only the best of luck and don't give up on the relationship. I've been married for 24 yrs. now and my husband knew I had epilepsy before we got married.
Wishing the both of you the best of luck and May God Bless You Both!

Sue

Cassie,

Hello and welcome to NeuroTalk. I too have had seizures since I was 10. Up until the last few year I never had a doctor that would assist me in my epilepsy. Sue gave you a great deal of information to go by. Back when I would have a spell it would not last long, but sometimes I would lay down and sleep for a small amount of time, but it seem more to me. I too am on Keppra which really has not harm me, but we are all different. My neurologist sent me down to Dallas and I saw an Epileptologist who did some test and ending up have surgery on my brain, removing a scar mass off the left side of my brain. I was the answer for me in all these years. My neurologist is fixing to ease me off my meds, (Keppra & Lamital). Mostly what I had was petit-mal seizures, then I have also had grandmals some. When I was in a spell I could hear others talking to me asking questions and I had the answer, but I had the words formed to soeak to them but could not move my mouth.

My thoughts and prayers are with you. Please keep us updated on the results.

Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around.

Darlene