Has My Daughter Got Epilepsy? Posted: 11-05-04 09:44am
She has complained of various symptoms
which the gp and a friend of mine who is a
consultant paediatric oncologist have said
do not characterise epilepsy. She gets a
sensation that her vision swoops down to
the left and she gets a sinking feeling
simultaneously in her stomach. Her
memories of recent events prior to the
'episode' seem to move into her long term
memory after the 'episode'. She is left
with a feeling of detachment and distance
as if she's not there or the situation
isn't real. She feels that she has lost
her sense of time and proper awareness of
things around her. It takes her about 45
minutes to regain a sense of normality
afterwards. She had one last night which
was preceded by blinking which she
suddenly became aware of but felt
compelled to keep doing. Last night
after her episode she had a severe
headache until she regained a sense of
normality. This morning she had five
episodes and so I took her to the gp, she
is now asleep as she felt very tired.
The first episode this morning was
preceded by difficulty in thinking and a
feeling that she had been trying to think
about something over a long period of
time. She is 17 and remembers
experiencing the same thing some months
ago before the summer. She also
remembers experiencing these episodes two
years ago and may have had episodes
infrequently in the interim. My sister's
son was diagnosed with epilepsy when he
was 20 (i think) but he has experienced
generalised siezures with lack of
consciousness. The gp thinks that it is
anxiety related but at the moment my
daughter is not aware of having any
anxieties. She is however very
distressed by these episodes. Is it
epilepsy that she is experiencing or
something else
|
LadyEnvy
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Sep 2004 Posts: 7 Location: NYC
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Posted: 11-05-04 11:13am
I just turned 18 and I can somewhat relate
to what your daughter is feeling. About a
few years ago I started getting an
unexpected feeling of detachment. It used
to happen all the time, but especially
when I was tired. I would be aware of the
world around me, I could see, hear and
smell yet I could not understand. All I
could do was just stare blankly.
Fortunately it never lasted long, maybe
just a minute, about 5 times a day. But
during these 'episodes' if someone asked
me my name I wouldnt even be able to give
them an answer. Think of it as an extreme
feeling of confusion, where absolutley
nothing makes sense. You are aware of
everyone around you, but you cant form
words or thoughts to communicate. Most of
the time, the feeling was accompanied by
dizziness and usually a head ache
afterward.
I never thought anything of it, I figured
it was just due to lack of sleep since it
generally happened when I was tired. But
then a year later I had my first seizure
while sleeping. Since then ive had 3
nocturnal seizures and I am on 1000mg of
keppra each day. Since I started taking
the medicine I havent experiened any more
of those sensations.
Although youre daughter may not have
epilepsy, its important that she visit a
doctor and get tests done. I ignored my
problem for years and would still be
ingnoring it if I wasnt forced to see a
neurologist. It may not be epilepsy, but
its a sign of some sort of problem and its
best to know exactly what the problem
is.
I hope everything works out for your
daughter
|
kayakmom
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Posts: 252 Location: Conn
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Posted: 11-05-04 16:08pm
Sorry to disagree with your friend, but it
can be partial seizures from your
description. There are over 20 different
kinds of seizures. Some just distort the
emotions, the senses like vision, hearing,
smelling....Perception can be off.....
I hope that she will get to a neuro and
get this checked out.
|
sami_1982
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Dec 2003 Posts: 200 Location: Australia
Get the Tests!! Posted: 11-06-04 03:04am
I would have t say... Perhaps your friend
was thinking that your daughter being 17
would have some stresses with schooling
and stuff. Well stress is one of the
biggest known factors as well as lack of
sleep to cause seizures. And as far as
different seizures go. Epilepsy isnt just
associated with grand mal ( loss of
consiousness) seizures. I am 22 and I
wasnt diagnosed until I was 21...
Throught my child hood I had feelings of
fear and sensations of guilt for doing
something wrong but I wouldnt know what so
I would continuously appologise alot.
Still to adult hood I do this. I feel
that I grew out of my childhood epilepsy
and that I was fine neurologically
throught my teenage yrs. Until I was
17-18 I began to feel as though my hands
were huge and my feet were huge and my
body was small.. I got alot of sensations
like that. Garlic kind of taste in my
mouth. But yeah wasnt till I was 21 that
I became aware. When I had my first grand
mal. On the 24th of october '03' my meds
still arent right. And I have a few
seizures a week. Im on 800mg of
tegretol
cr ( cabramazapine) and 2000mg of epilem
ec ( sodium valproate)
i hope that you find your answers soon
|
Emeria
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Posts: 3 Location: California
Posted: 11-07-04 19:12pm
I really recommend talking to your
daughter's gp and asking for a referral to
a neurologist. The gp may be thinking
along the lines of a psychiatrist, which
she may wish to talk to as well, but the
neurologist will most likely ask for tests
such as an eeg. It is possible to have a
normal eeg and still have epilepsy, but it
is also possible for the eeg to pick up
some seizure activity.
To me, the symptoms you've described sound
very much like simple partial seizures.
I get these often, and for me they include
shaky vision, dizziness, strong feelings
of detachment, sometimes deja vu, odd
feelings in my tummy, and they are almost
always followed by a nasty headache and
extreme fatigue. My epilepsy was
diagnosed after I had a grand mal seizure,
was referred to a neurologist, and two
separate eegs showed temporal lobe
epileptic waves.
Temporal lobe epilepsy has a variety of
very strange symptoms. Odd sensations is
the easiest way to describe it -
sensations of sight, sound, taste, smell..
Feelings of detachment, odd feelings in
the tummy, senses of deja vu, feelings of
doom, anxiety, or even sometimes
unexplained euphoria. Its just very
different person to person. But because
its so varied and odd, it can also look
like a lot of different psychiatric
disorders to a non-specialist. In fact,
I was treated for anxiety before my grand
mal a couple of times.
Your daughter is very lucky that you are
so concerned for her though. If she is
having small seizures, it is entirely
possible for them to lead right into a
generalized seizure any time. This means
she could lose consciousness, which can be
very dangerous at the wrong time.
Depending on where you live, it could also
mean no driver's license for her (which,
at 17, could be the biggest tragedy to
happen for her )
i hope you two find out what is happening
soon and that she begins to feel better!
-em
|
sandbag5492004
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Nov 2004 Posts: 55 Location: New York
Seizures In Daughter Posted: 11-15-04 22:17pm
Hope by now you have a solution. I was
diagnosed with partial comlex and abscense
seizures about 9 years ago. I am 59 years
old. You must have an mri done to rule
out any tumor disorder and then have a eeg
done and if that doesn,t show anything
have a 24 hour one done, painless but
ugly, and still not have her have a
deprived sleep eeg done. That should
either prove a seizure disorder or
eliminate it, and also an overnight stay
in the hospital for any sleeping disorder.
Hope that helps
les
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