Seizure/Pseudoseizure HELP
 

2 years ago my son started having seizures. After a month and a half we were able to get them under control. However, 2 weeks later they came back twice as often, where he was having multiple seizures a day. After a 48 hour VEEG his Neuro. Dr. said he was having Pseudoseizures. With meds and seeing a Psych. dr. he went seizure free for 2 years..Now, 2 weeks ago the seizures have come back. We spoke with the Neuro. dr. and he once again believes that he is having Pseudoseizures, but that 50-60% of the time people have active seizures as well. Since then his neuro dr. has basically written him off telling us that he needs to deal with psych. He is on Depakote and Keppra for the seizures and Hydroxyzine 50mg 3x's a day for the "Pseudoseizures"....yet he is still seizing! The Psych dr. said that he should not be seizing on that high of anxiety meds if they are psychological. Anyone have anything like this? My heart is breaking for my son!

kassie,

Welcome to NeuroTalk. Sorry to hear of your son's struggles.

Has his doctor or anybody tried changing his meds? He may have built up a tolerance or sensitivity to the meds. How old is he?

Has he had blood work done for folate, B-12, D3, magnesium, and calcium levels, etc?

How is his blood sugar? Does he get bad breath that smells fruity or like a solvent?

Hydroxyzine can cause an increase in anxiety / possibly the pseudoseizures.
Depakote can cause body tremors or twitching. It can cause problems over time.

My best to you.

Thanks Mark for the reply...

My son is 14 years old.

The Dr.'s have not said anything about his blood work. I know that they have tested it on numerous occasions, though...not so much with the bad breath.

They put him on the Hydroxyzine for his anxiety? Depakote was the one pill that worked for him 2 years ago. When they stopped last time it was Depakote and Topamax.

We are taking him to Children's Memorial in Chicago on the 22nd to see if they can help us out any better then where we are at now.

Maybe it would be a good idea to ask for an MRI at Children's Memorial.
Wishing you the best.

Have you heard anything about the MET scan? I think that is what it is....supposed to be a very deep scan that they use for PTSD?

MEG scan not MET

The MEG is sort of a wireless EEG. It measure the electromagnetic fields within the brain. It sounds interesting.

My questions were focused on the possibility of a metabolism problem. Various deficiencies can cause strange symptoms. If the neuro has ruled out seizures, it's worth looking for other causes. At his age, his body is undergoing hormonal changes and spurts in changes in his brain.

If Children's can't find a problem with neurological diagnostics, maybe the things I mentioned would be worth considering. You can post back here if Children's does not find a cause and I can list the blood work to check.

Thanks Mark!~ I will do that for sure!:)

Hi Kasie, a dr in the hospital tried to say I was having pseudo seizures aswell, obvisly it was NOT true! He tried to say i was having them because my 24hr VEEG didnt show anything eather, HOWEVER we knew (even the nurse) knew it wasnt going to show anything because i was loaded up with meds and had sevral bolus doses of keppra, so of course i wasnt going to show anything! And after all that mess i ended up having another huge tonic clonic a couple weeks later that lasted 20min and they put in a central line and one of those needles that they have to drill into your shin, and i didnt come out of the seizure, so they said if that didnt bring me out of it, then obvisly i wasnt having a pseudo seizure. Keep fighting for your son for help!

Did they ever find out what was causing your seizures?