What kind of seizure is this?

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Hello everybody. My brother had his 3rd seizure 2 weeks ago. His first seizure was 2 years ago, and his second one in last May. After his 2nd seizure he was prescribed with Depakote which he takes 750mg daily ever since. I am writing this post because his seizures (luckily all 3 seizures were witnessed) are kind of strange. So, he always gets dizzy 10 minutes before the seizure. That's the only aura he has. Just dizzy and blurred vision. No other sensory or motor changes. Then he would collapse (all of his seizures were in upright position, always hurting his forehead, except for the last time when my mon cought him before he collapsed). Then his whole body goes stiff, clenching his teeth so hard. Eyes open and pupils normal (neither rolled back nor to the side). No twitching, moving, body jerking, or convultion. He just lays stiff and motionless. I have studied a lot about seizure and epilepsy, but never heard of such type of seizure. Imagine a tonic seizure that's longer. Tonic seizures are often very brief. But his have always been about 6-8 minutes, being completely unconscious. When he comes to, he's never confused. He can speak properly right after. And is quite alert and responsive. No confusion at all. But he has a bad headache and vomits alot, like for 2 hours every 10 minutes or so. He always says it's like he is food-poisoned. Oh and also, he finds it difficult to sleep eventhough he feels weak. He doesn't sleep until bedtime, and wakes up after 5,6 hours. The next day he's fine. What do you think his seizure is? He has done every evaluation possible, heart, MRI, CT, blood, EEG, etc... everything came back normal except for his EEG, which was mildy abnormal. His neuro said he can't yet confirm that he is epileptic but gave him Depakote just to be safe. But only 5 months later he had his last seizure. He is seeing another neurologist soon, but I thought maybe people here have had similar experiences. Many thanks.

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WelcomeSo you would like to

Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2016-10-19 - 11:15

WelcomeSo you would like to know the type of seizure brother is having. A lot of information was given by you. Each persons seizure is different, If you research the types of seizures you get a generalization of what can happen. Which means that not all of the things listed will be perfectly. if the information says it will or may last seconds then it MAY but with some people it could be minutes. From the information you gave his seizures could be atonic also known as drop seizures. But his seizures could land in different types of seizures.The tests that were done are fine the main tests done by a neurologist are the MRI or Scan and the EEG. The MRI and Scan show the brain as it is and looks. The EEG is a test showing the electrically activity as it was happening. the main test is the EEG. If they came back normal it would mean the activity was like everybody else's. Now his EEG had mild abnormalities. Meaning his electrical activity was different in some ways. What starts a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain. The seizure itself is the chain reaction caused by that abnormal hit. The EEG shows where those abnormal hits came from which can help with a diagnosis and treatment. Personally I had 20-25 different EEG;s that all came back normal. Short EEG's can do that. Then in a battery of tests the last test was another EEG in which I fell asleep in. That EEG showed abnormalities in the left lobes of my brain. The neurologists then went to the MRI of the 60's and a closer look they found scar tissue in that area.Now you say he has had 3 seizures. Doctors can diagnosis him with epilepsy since all it takes is 2 seizures. He has done every evaluation possibleNow hw was given depakote for him to take. If the prescription says 2 times a day then those times need to ne 12 hours apart unless the neurologist says otherwise. By doing that he is keepingthe therapeutic levels stationary which keeps a breakthru seizure from happening. Was the neurologist callled and told about the 3rd seizure. If he was teh neurologist might have made a dosage change which might have helped with new seizures because the therapeutic levels would be higher then they were.As for the different things you listed he didn't have happen in his seizures. Like I posted each seizure is different. If you go to the help section and look up absence seizures they look like the person is daydreaming. So do focal seizures but they aren't on the list anymore. Mainly because when the neurologists went into specializations they changes the tyoes of seizures and types of epilepsy.Hopefully the neurologist he is seeing soon is a specialist in epilepsy..I hope this helpsJoe

WelcomeSo you would like to know the type of seizure brother is having. A lot of information was given by you. Each persons seizure is different, If you research the types of seizures you get a generalization of what can happen. Which means that not all of the things listed will be perfectly.  if the information says it will or may last seconds then it MAY but with some people it could be minutes. From the information you gave his seizures could be atonic also known as drop seizures. But his seizures could land in different types of seizures.The tests that were done are fine the main tests done by a neurologist are the MRI or Scan and the EEG. The MRI and Scan show the brain as it is and looks. The EEG is a test showing the electrically activity as it was happening. the main test is the EEG. If they came back normal it would mean the activity was like everybody else's. Now his EEG had mild abnormalities. Meaning his electrical activity was different in some ways. What starts a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain. The seizure itself is the chain reaction caused by that abnormal hit. The EEG shows where those abnormal hits came from which can help with a diagnosis and treatment.  Personally I had 20-25 different EEG;s that all came back normal. Short EEG's can do that. Then in a battery of tests the last test was another EEG in which I fell asleep in. That EEG showed abnormalities in the left lobes of my brain. The neurologists then went to the MRI of the 60's and a closer look they found scar tissue in that area.Now you say he has had 3 seizures. Doctors can diagnosis him with epilepsy since all it takes is 2 seizures.  He has done every evaluation possibleNow hw was given depakote for him to take. If the prescription says 2 times a day then those times need to ne 12 hours apart unless the neurologist says otherwise. By doing that he is keepingthe therapeutic levels stationary which keeps a breakthru seizure from happening. Was the neurologist callled and told about the 3rd seizure. If he was teh neurologist might have made a dosage change which might have helped with new seizures because the therapeutic levels would be higher then they were.As for the different things you listed he didn't have happen in his seizures. Like I posted each seizure is different. If you go to the help section and look up absence seizures they look like the person is daydreaming. So do focal seizures but they aren't on the list anymore. Mainly because when the neurologists went into specializations they changes the tyoes of seizures and types of epilepsy.Hopefully the neurologist he is seeing soon is a specialist in epilepsy..I hope this helpsJoe

WelcomeSo you would like to know the type of seizure brother is having. A lot of information was given by you. Each persons seizure is different, If you research the types of seizures you get a generalization of what can happen. Which means that not all of the things listed will be perfectly. if the information says it will or may last seconds then it MAY but with some people it could be minutes. From the information you gave his seizures could be atonic also known as drop seizures. But his seizures could land in different types of seizures.The tests that were done are fine the main tests done by a neurologist are the MRI or Scan and the EEG. The MRI and Scan show the brain as it is and looks. The EEG is a test showing the electrically activity as it was happening. the main test is the EEG. If they came back normal it would mean the activity was like everybody else's. Now his EEG had mild abnormalities. Meaning his electrical activity was different in some ways. What starts a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain. The seizure itself is the chain reaction caused by that abnormal hit. The EEG shows where those abnormal hits came from which can help with a diagnosis and treatment. Personally I had 20-25 different EEG;s that all came back normal. Short EEG's can do that. Then in a battery of tests the last test was another EEG in which I fell asleep in. That EEG showed abnormalities in the left lobes of my brain. The neurologists then went to the MRI of the 60's and a closer look they found scar tissue in that area.Now you say he has had 3 seizures. Doctors can diagnosis him with epilepsy since all it takes is 2 seizures. He has done every evaluation possibleNow hw was given depakote for him to take. If the prescription says 2 times a day then those times need to ne 12 hours apart unless the neurologist says otherwise. By doing that he is keepingthe therapeutic levels stationary which keeps a breakthru seizure from happening. Was the neurologist callled and told about the 3rd seizure. If he was teh neurologist might have made a dosage change which might have helped with new seizures because the therapeutic levels would be higher then they were.As for the different things you listed he didn't have happen in his seizures. Like I posted each seizure is different. If you go to the help section and look up absence seizures they look like the person is daydreaming. So do focal seizures but they aren't on the list anymore. Mainly because when the neurologists went into specializations they changes the tyoes of seizures and types of epilepsy.Hopefully the neurologist he is seeing soon is a specialist in epilepsy..I hope this helpsJoe

What kind of seizure is this?

Comments

WelcomeSo you would like to

Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2016-10-19 - 11:15

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