Considering the wealth of information on the net about medical conditions, I’m posting this in the hope that fellow dopers can point me in good direction to learn about fits and seizures considering I know nothing about them. Yesterday, my mother was found unconscious and that resulted in her being rushed to the A & E (ER) dept., where they confirmed that she had suffered a seizure. Four weeks previously she had fainted in a car park and it’s unclear whether she also had a seizure then.
She has mature diabetes although blood test confirmed that her blood sugar level was normal, but she is on several medications for things as varied as schizophrenia and PTSD. She has severe balance problems (they’ve worsened recently) which we always assumed were a result of inner-ear damage by meningitis (this is also the reason she is profoundly deaf). Recently, her medication was changed but unfortunately I don’t have the details to hand.
So - any suggestions as to where I should be looking and what I should be searching on?
Seizures can be caused by a whole bunch of things and sometimes doctors never find the cause. I don’t mean to discourage you, but just to give you some warning. I’ve had two seizure episodes in my life, several years apart and none for a while. I’m on medication as a precaution. I go in for yearly checkups which boil down to,
Doctor: So have you had a seizure recently?
Me: No.
Doctor: I guess the medication is working.
I’ve had a bunch of tests and CAT scans and EEGs just to be sure, but there is still no good reason for mine.
If doctors can pinpoint a cause, that would be great.
My SO had a seizure at Thanksgiving (CDN). His blood test came back totally normal (as in, not even one tiny thing was off by even a little bit to make anyone worry) and we’re still waiting on the EEG. It was a petit-mal seizure, and that’s the kind most likely to not be related to any medical reason in particular, apparently.
I didn’t know that you took meds “just in case” if you’ve had a seizure. What severity were yours, BobT? Would that make a difference, do you think? I’m anxious about the EEG, but my SO isn’t. He, and his father (psychiatrist) think there’s likely nothing wrong, but I’m ever the pessimist
Sorry I can’t help, Fran. When I wanted to look up info on petit-mal, I just Googled it. I hope your mom’s ok!
Thanks for the links Whack-a-Mole. Very informative. BobT and mnemosyne - I’m beginning to suspect it might also be one of those “Huh. We don’t know why that happened” things. My mother’s rather confused, but I think the gist of it is that they’ve ruled out epilepsy and she’ll be referred for further tests. We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.
To clarify my situation, I take medication because while there was no definite cause for the seizures, they were definitely grand mal seizures. They hurt like hell afterwards. It was like I had beaten all over with a sack of hammers.
And since my father has epilepsy, the doctors think that I may have some inherited form of his condition although in a less severe manner.
Sadly, I had just enough seizures as to where they weren’t isolated incidents. I also like being able to keep my driver’s license.
