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Faking seizures?

Sat, 12/13/2014 - 02:34

Hello everyone,

I came with a question I've been asking myself for a few days ... maybe someone here can help.  

I work at an adult education center.There is a studentl there (age 28) who regularly has seizures. I've only seen it happen four or five times in the 2+ years that this person has been with us, but she says that it actually happens quite often (1-2 times a month). She has always been quite adamant that we not call an ambulance when a seizure hits, so we never had until now. This past Wednesday, though, she had multiple seizures in relatively rapid succession, and that time we did call an ambulance.

By the time the ambulance came (about fifteen minutes after we called, since they had a bit of trouble finding us), the student was talking in full sentences and appeared extremely tired, but otherwise OK. It may have been another five minutes or so between her having the seizure, and us deciding that we were going to make that call. 

Among other things, the ambulance crew asked her what medications she was on, and she said Tegretol. I happen to know this is an actual anti-seizure med. My grandson took it for a while.The ambulance crew asked me to describe what had happened, and I did, as best I could. In hindsight, one of the most striking things, to me, was how this student repeatedly struck her head against the pavement.

After a while, though, one of the paramedics began asking me questions I hadn't really expected. Like whether she had talked or sat up while seizing. It seemed to me he was implying that the seizure might be fake. I did a bit of internet research, and found that some people apparently do, in fact, fake seizures for attention. The thing about this student is that she seems more bothered than pleased when people hover over her.

But then again, that paramedic got me thinking. There are a few things that seem weird about this situation. Like for instance: she is a crutch walker and an occasional wheelchair user. I have never witnessed her having a seizure while on crutches; always in the chair. And I don't often see her in the chair. Being in the chair means that she won't fall to the ground abruptly, even while having a seizure. Also, I witnessed my grandson having a tonic-clonic seizure twice, and both times, it took him at least an hour to come fully out of it. With this student, it's fifteen minutes at most. And even then, it seems like she's invariably aware of what's happening around her almost immediately after she stops seizing. She just can't or won't talk. What seems especially weird to me is that she's always trembling all over her body right after a seizure. Aren't her muscles supposed to be exhausted and therefore limp?   

Does anyone else have experience with any of these things? If she is indeed faking the seizures, I'd like to know. If attention is what she's after, it seems to me we souldn't be giving it to her anymore. Maybe then the fake (?) seizures might stop.      

 

Comments

Yes it it possible. 

Submitted by ShawnaK. on Sat, 2019-02-16 - 15:38
Yes it it possible.  Sometimes it is just a feeling but sometimes it can be things like smelling sulfur.  (Rotten eggs) 

I am so sorry for your loss.

Submitted by ShawnaK. on Sat, 2019-02-16 - 15:46
I am so sorry for your loss. I can not understand why one doctor's  own opinion is sometimes the only thing that matters. But we are supposed to trust them. There is not one single person in this world that knows everything,  so the doctor or doctors should have asked for a second opinion.  Once again, I am so sorry for your loss. And yes you should sue them or make a complaint so that maybe they could learn from their mistakes. God bless you.

An action plan filled out by

Submitted by greencat1979 on Sun, 2019-06-09 - 05:46
An action plan filled out by a doctor. That's all the proof anyone would need. 

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