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Looking for help into my Mum's condition
Fri, 09/23/2011 - 12:26Topic: My Epilepsy Diary
I have registered on this forum in hope that someone can help me. I am from the UK.
My Mum started having "blackouts" in March. Shortly after she started having what were called seizures.
The seizures start by Mum stumbling on a word and then repeating it a few times. She then goes unconscious and has a whole conversation but not using words more like parts of words and baby language.
Whilst doing this she will then start smacking her face (which breaks my heart!). These episodes can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 mins.
When she comes out of them she can either fall very quickly into another or slowly recover. Whilst recovering she has a bad headache.
These seizures can happen in the day or whilst she is asleep (she doesn't know she has them when asleep but my Dad is with her).
Since March, Mum has had a CAT scan which didn't show anything and an EEG. We are seeing the specialist tomorrow (Saturday) but he has already written to say that the EEG was normal and the black out's and fits are non epileptic.
My Mum (and Dad) can not carry on like this and I am frustrated that they have been left so long to deal with this with no apparent help or support.
Would anybody be able to help me with possible causes and what I should ask the consultant tomorrow?
Thank you to anyone who can help me.
Andrew
Re: Looking for help into my Mum's condition
Submitted by Spike. on Fri, 2011-09-23 - 18:38
Just because a person does not have a seizure at any point while they are going through an EEG testing, does not completely rule out that they don't have epilepsy. And the same goes for if someone ends up having an abnormal EEG, does not mean that they do have epilepsy.
What your mother has been experiencing could be signs that she is having simple partial seizures and/or complex partial seizures. If the person you are referring to as being a "consultant", is actually a neurologist, then maybe you can ask him or her if they can schedule an inpatient video EEG. This type of EEG is performed with the patient being in a hospital itself, for more than 24 hours. The longer a person goes through any EEG tests, increases the opportunity for the EEG to detect the person having a seizure, when the person is going through and EEG test.
If your mom still appears to be experiencing the symptoms that you have described above, then maybe you can get a hold of an electronic gadget (i.e., video camera, cell phone that can record video), to actually record what your mom is doing, then show those videos to the doctor. One of the difficulties for people who have epilepsy or people who appear to be having seizures, is for the person to actually have a seizure when they are visiting a doctor.
Bruce (I'm not a doctor, but instead, an epilepsy support group leader, epilepsy advocate, who has epilepsy.)
Just because a person does not have a seizure at any point while they are going through an EEG testing, does not completely rule out that they don't have epilepsy. And the same goes for if someone ends up having an abnormal EEG, does not mean that they do have epilepsy.
What your mother has been experiencing could be signs that she is having simple partial seizures and/or complex partial seizures. If the person you are referring to as being a "consultant", is actually a neurologist, then maybe you can ask him or her if they can schedule an inpatient video EEG. This type of EEG is performed with the patient being in a hospital itself, for more than 24 hours. The longer a person goes through any EEG tests, increases the opportunity for the EEG to detect the person having a seizure, when the person is going through and EEG test.
If your mom still appears to be experiencing the symptoms that you have described above, then maybe you can get a hold of an electronic gadget (i.e., video camera, cell phone that can record video), to actually record what your mom is doing, then show those videos to the doctor. One of the difficulties for people who have epilepsy or people who appear to be having seizures, is for the person to actually have a seizure when they are visiting a doctor.
Bruce (I'm not a doctor, but instead, an epilepsy support group leader, epilepsy advocate, who has epilepsy.)