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pseudo seizure?

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Posted 1/23/2008 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
 If something is not a seizure because of a normal eeg, mri, etc does that automatically make it a pseudo seizure?

  My 15 year old daughter has been having "episodes".  They start with a severe headache then her right arm also becomes intensely painful.  She then becomes lethargic, her eyes start to roll, she has a hard time forming words but is aware and can respond. She gets a glazed look about her and the whole right side of her body hurts.  After 10-15 minutes it ends with a deep breath and she is "back"   After, she is tired and her right arm continues to hurt and is very weak  on her right side with slight swelling. 

  She spent three days undergoing a 24hr eeg, mri, mra and all were normal. Her blood sugar is running low between 70-85. Not low enough to cause this says the DR.  She was put on topamax and within a day the episodes decreased and within 3 days ceased all together.  But the Dr said the 100 mg is not enough to control a true seizure.  She said it was a "trick"  She actually used that word. 

  So the the end result is that she is having pseudo seizures and/ or complex migraines.  Does this sound familiar to anyone or could there possibly be something in between. 

Thanx in advance for any help.

 

Posted 1/24/2008 1:10 PM (GMT 0)

hmmm... This one has me thinking! lol

If a seizure is not a seizure, then it is not necessarily a pseudo seizure. It depends what is causing it. If this is all due to complex migrane (and thats my best guess) then I dont think you would consider them pseudo seizures. Does your daughter have anything for migranes?

Darren

Posted 1/24/2008 2:13 PM (GMT 0)
My daughter is on topamax for her headaches and has not had an episode or since starting it one week ago. The dr thinks the headache is real but the episodes are not even though they occur concurrently. The doctor has grilled my daughter about her friendships, boyfriends, thing she hides from her parents and even tested her blood for herpes. My daughter now thinks that maybe she is crazy and that maybe she made her symptoms worse than they were. It has been a frustrating process for us all. .
Posted 1/25/2008 7:46 PM (GMT 0)

Bitzi,

Your poor daughter, what she must be going through.  You see it happening, so you know she is not imagining it.  For her to think that she is crazy is just terrible.  Maybe it is time to consider getting a second opinion, if nothing else, for your daughter's sanity.

Hugs and Prayers,

Carla

Posted 1/26/2008 12:14 AM (GMT 0)

Something has just occurred to me out of the blue. When your daughter gets these headaches... are they all over her head or are they localised? (I.e. Can she point to where on her head the pain is worse?)

If she was to have a localised migrane around her left parietal lobe (VERY roughly... just above her ear) this would not only explain her headache but could also explain:

A) Her right arm: Since the Parietal lobe borders on the motor cortex and the migrane is left sided, this may cause unusual feelings or sensations (including pain) in her arm and other parts of the body.

B) Poverty of Speech: The main langauge areas of the brain are in (and around) the left parietal & temporal lobes. If the migrane was localised, then the inflammation could cause a disruption to the langauge centres. Think of a computer network... all the computers are working but instead of being connected with a 100 meg wireless router, they are connected by a 56k modem.

C) Right body pain: See A)

I would be very surprised if there was not something going on and I would happily put money on it occuring in the left hemisphere since the overall body pain is on the right. I would definately follow Carla's advice and seek a second opinion.

Darren

Posted 1/27/2008 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
Thanx for your support eveyone. Darren, your post makes perfect sense. Her pain is on starts on the top of her head like someone is crushing her head then she has severe pain on the right side of her head just above her ear and to the back a little during the episode. Also, her right eye hurts and becomes extremely blood shot during these episodes. We will definately seek another opinion soon. Someone had suggested a blood flow test may be in order. I am printing out you post and will keep it handy as I try to learn more about what this may be. I know stress can manifest itself in many different ways but seriously some Doctors just love to throw that around. Thanx again, it is just nice to be heard for once.
Posted 1/27/2008 12:11 PM (GMT 0)

Glad I could help... If the pain starts in the yop of her head and moves down that would fit since the motor cortex is right at the top. Good luck with your second opinion and let us know how you get on!

Darren

Posted 1/27/2008 10:57 PM (GMT 0)

Darren,

You have to go to Medical School.  You are so good at what you do!

Big Hugs!

Carla

Posted 1/28/2008 9:58 AM (GMT 0)

lol Thanks... I could be wrong though! I was just using logic. As a Psychologist (with L Plates) I know roughly what bits of the brain are responsible for what and just use logic from there!

Darren

Posted 3/17/2008 1:46 PM (GMT 0)
Reason for edit:

 

I have moved your post into a thread of its own so that you are more likely to get more responses.

 

Also, unfortunately I have had to take your email address out of your post. This is for your own safety as this is a public forum it means people do not have to have an account to read posts. Also, there is software out there that scns forums for email addresses for spam etc... You can add your email address to your profile by clicking CONTROL PANEL in the blue bar at the top of the screen.

 

Darren

Post Edited By Moderator (djdaz_1985) : 3/18/2008 3:46:23 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/24/2008 11:32 PM (GMT 0)
My daughter has the the exact same problems as yours, has anyone told you anything? My daughter has been hospitalized several times with numerous MRI's, Cat scans, lumbar punctures and eegs..i am rather concerened that these are not all epileptic seizures, her school called me one day when she had an episode and said she was taking pills, when in actuality she is having what they call a pseudo seizure. Please help me if you have any information i could use all the help i can get she cant even stay a hole day at school.

Jessica

Posted 9/25/2008 12:19 AM (GMT 0)
We got my daughter in to see a pediatric neurologist. She has been diagnosed with complex migraines or migraines with neurological episodes. Our dr says he has several children with the exact same thing but with some varience in their symptoms. Unfortunately there is not a lot of info out there on the web. My daughter is still on topamax and doing pretty well. We had to up her dose once school started. It seems the fluorescent lights and temperature variences from room to room as well as an increase in stress were triggering her headaches. He said this is all VERY typical. Our first doctor was convinced that Em was on drugs (even drug tested her without our permission!) She even accused her of having permiscuous sex and that was causing pseudo seizures. I am so sorry you are going through all this. Find another doctor who has experience with kids. Also, we are so lucky to have a great school nurse who is totally supportive. Also, if you can somehow video an episode you can show it to your dr. Let me know if I can help in any other way. Take care, B
Posted 1/14/2009 12:49 AM (GMT 0)
I was shocked to read the desciption of your daughters illness. I have been suffering from this same illness since fall of 2002. These episodes became so frequent and severe that I had to quit teaching. I have improved some by eliminating some of the medication I was prescribed when they began (the biggest culprit was Valium!) and by discovering that I had allergies that were triggers (dogs, black pepper, mushrooms, beef). The drs at mayo told me the best i could hope for is 50% better. After years of searching for a treatment I have accepted that. Now I just exercise to try and improve my stamina because fatigue is my main trigger. Also, I believe that hormones play a role, as I had similar problems when I took fertility pills and later when I got pregnant. I got really sick following my hysterectomy. In addition, my niece has the same thing during her cycle, especially when she is tired or stress. I would love to keep in touch and act as some support to your daughter. I think that the hardest part of me has been the feeling that noone understands. My husband and daughters are great about it but they havent experienced so they cant trually understand.
Posted 3/4/2009 11:07 PM (GMT 0)
I am so glad I found this site. My 16 yo daughter has recently started seizing. Our family doctor said she did not think it was a seizure because my daughter felt herself shaking after waking up, so we dismissed it. Then 2 weeks ago my daughter had a seizure in front of her friend for about a minute to 2 minutes while she was napping. So I slept in her bed with her and she had another one this past Friday in the middle of the night. I took her to the Er as the Nurse practitioner had told me to do. They assumed she was having seizures and sent me to a neurologist for evaluation and EEG. The neurologist did not do an EEG and said my daughter was having pseudoseizures and needed a psych evaluation for depression and coping skills for pain of stomach. She has had stomach pain for 14 months. Endoscopy and ultrasounds showed nothing wrong. The Nurse practitioner said she thought my daughter has migraines which the neuro agreed with. But, he did not give her any meds. He said that the psychologists could give her something. So we had another scope of her upper GI and nothing wrong. The GI doctor said it is probably abdominal migraines. So we are checking with the new neurologists for a second opinion. So we will find out hopefully if she is really having seizures because it looked like one to me.
Posted 3/5/2009 11:24 PM (GMT 0)
My daughter was told by new neurologist today that she is indeed having seizures and she does not need a psych evaluation. He told my daughter it is not true that you can't have seizures while you're sleeping and asked us who said it. My daughter said the other doctor. He just shook his head. He put her on Trileptal 2 times a day and said to get an EEG. We are so relieved a doctor finally believes us.
Posted 3/30/2009 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
they first said i was faking my episodes, or havng pesudo seizures due to stress.
normal scans as well
then as months and months go on my family doc is presistant on saying i had grand mals which she was witnessed.
she finally got me a neuologist that did something. he claims that my specfic movement while having a seizure which was described to him by the boyfriend is classical grand and petite mal, also the meds help control the seizure which makes it some form of epilsey. he says not always can it be shown on an eeg with everyone. and also that an mri can not always show the scar on ur brain which can cause u to seizure. i ahve suffered many concucsions which he says is mostly my problem because i have a small scar on the brain and he thinks that i should go in for sugery soon if thses meds dont work. which so far is a half won battle.
my last hospital stay their doctors at u of a edmoton said i have both seizure activity and pesudo from stress. he says they can tell difference by the respnse to pain which sucks. i have 2 fingers black and blue and a bruised chest. Do they do that to everyone????? apparently they use their knuckles on my sternum to 'wake' me and intense pressure to the nail bed. or pinch the nevre in my neck? has any body else been through this ... crazy painfull later.
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