Community Forum Archive

The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.

Complex Partial Seizures Symptom?

Mon, 04/18/2016 - 09:34
A little background...My 15 y.o. daughter was diagnosed with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in June 2011 following a grand mal seizure. She was potentially misdiagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachychardia Syndrome two years prior when, all along, her neurologist believes she was having simple/complex seizures thus he did not hesitate to give the diagnosis following only 1 seizure. Not to mention that she had a simple seizure right in his office and two months to the day after her first grand mal, she had another. There's also a family history of epilepsy that is only known in maternal family members of my generation and my daughter's. No other medical records due to family members hiding in WW2 (Holland) and the destruction of many records. My daughter experiences mostly "classic" complex partial seizure symptoms, but she has one physical symptom that has us questioning if this is part of a seizure or not. We believe it is as it has accompanied other ones that wake her such as the strange feeling in her stomach and "buzzing" in her right leg. She experiences what she calls " a huge hand" or, like this weekend, the feeling that her "whole right arm was huge". During her seizures any twitches, buzzing, and such does occur on the right side of her body, thus I believe that what she had this weekend was another physical manifestation of a complex seizure. Until this weekend, she only had this in her right hand which she used to say was due to "sleeping on it." The fact that it now involved the whole arm has me suspicious. If, indeed, this was a complex seizure it would mean that her 1 year 5 month reprieve from them has ended. :-( Sadly, her simple seizures have become more prevalent as well, occuring now 4-5 times a week, several times day. We know she needs to change meds, but the neurologist wants her to decide upon this as the only 2 we can try now have side effects that are similar to the first she used (Trileptal). She became suicidal by day 6. Has anyone else experienced this "huge hand/arm" feeling during a seizure? My daughter usually puts her hand under the pillow to pound the feeling away, but couldn't do that this time and said it became painful. Interested in hearing from others on this.

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.