Mental confusion - could it be Epilepsy?

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daz

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Hi ! We have a family member who's a 23 year old boy. He recently started experiencing mental confusion, like he's often unable to tell what time or date it is, he also asks questions repetitively and constantly forgets things (like what he wanted to do or say). Many times he can't remember the day something took place, but will often remember an event. He's very restless and agitated too. Switches between anxiety and excitement. He's also very indecisive, can't prioritize his thoughts and has difficulty understanding meaning of complex things.

He's constantly absent minded and does things on "auto-pilot", often forgetting what he did or said. He feels as if recent memories (like what happened earlier in the day) are far and distant, as if they are from years ago. He experiences dejavu and Jamais vu's many times during the day. He also has strange emotions that he can't really explain.

They did an MRI at the hospital, along with many blood tests, which came back negative. His blood pressure and pulse are a bit high, but it may just be due to anxiety (his resting pulse is 100)

The doctors don't know what's wrong with him. He was taking some supplements from a health food store when the problems started, but we are not sure if it has anything to do with that. It's been weeks since he took those supplements and his mental confusion has not improved.

After a bit of research, we found that there's something called absence seizures. His symptoms don't fit the description exactly, but there are similarities. He is absent minded most of the time, can't keep a train of thought, and has frequent memory "blanks" of what happened recently.

We really would like to know: does this sound like Epilepsy to you? (We know we have to get an EEG done and see epilepsy specialists, but what's your opinion)

To anyone who has tried benzodiazepines: His doctor prescribed Klonopin (a benzo) to help calm him down, but we are wondering if it's a good idea to let him take it. Would klonopin worsen his confusion? Or could it improve his confusion and absence mindedness (like in case it's epilepsy related or something else)?
 
Usually with absence seizures you are not aware of them happening. It looks like you're day dreaming or something and usually other people realizes this is happening. It doesn't sound like absence seizures, there is a possibility but I am not sure. For adults, this is usually rare but possible. These seizures only last for a moment, like for 5 seconds to 30 seconds and then the person is fully aware and conscious again. Does this sound like him?

He needs to see a neurologist or an epileptologist as fast as possible, and go with a person like a relative or friend who experienced him having a seizure. People are often unaware of the symptoms of their own seizure, and so it's hard to explain it since people. They may recommend an MRI scan and EEG test. The MRI looks for anything in the brain that could be a scar, or anything that could cause a seizure, and usually they do it with dye to get a better image of the brain. The EEG measures the electrical activity in the brain, and they will see if there are any spikes which may indicate seizures. Often, it's difficult to diagnose people with it, and a lot of people go to hospitals with video recording and a lot of times they don't get any spikes (but this doesn't rule out epilepsy) here's a video about the frustration https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRqqRFr5ceQ

This sounds like complex partial seizures, and I could be wrong... But these symptoms explains it with auroras (strange feelings prior to a seizure coming on) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvG5wY0LgJg During a complex partial seizure a person may seem drunk. For example, they are unaware of their surroundings, don't reply coherently when you're asking questions. They may smack their lips like their chewing, make hand movements, or even sounds perhaps simple words or something, but the person is really not aware of it happening. But, there are other factors as well.

For the drug, all medications are likely to have side effects especially with AEDS. They may make his memory worse, and he may be more tired. You have to consider epilepsy though, if he does have complex partial seizures it may reduce how often they happen or stop them. Which could eliminate these problems that he is having or at least reduce it. He needs to be tested, because if he has seizures at least if they can figure out what type it will be easier for them to treat.
 
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Hi and welcome. I can't really speak to the medication issues you asked about, but nearly everything you talk about in the first two paragraphs sounds like a lot of what I experience both immediately after my seizures and chronically as a result of all the seizures I have and probably also due to the decades worth of AEDs I have taken. (I have complex partial seizures, an average of maybe 250 per year for the last 32 years, not very well controlled on medication, obviously.)
Obviously you need to get the testing done, but be aware that the tests may not show anything out of the ordinary and he still may have epilepsy. Epilepsy often has to be diagnosed on the basis of symptoms and not from test results.
Finally, have him see an epileptologist and not a regular neurologist. Epilepsy is too intricate a disease to be competently handled or evaluated by someone who doesn't specialize in it.
Here are a couple of links you might want to look at. The first is a link to a thread I wrote about epileptologists vs. neurologists, and the second is to a definition of seizure types. Be aware that when they talk about "alteration of consciousness" in complex partial seizures it does not necessarily mean loss of consciousness. I'm typically aware of everything that is going on around me, but am never aware that I am smacking my lips. It certainly sounds like he has alteration of consciousness.
Best of luck with everything. Keep us posted. Here are the links:

http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/get-thee-epileptologist-23319/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seizure_types

Onward and upward!
 
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Klonopin is used for epilepsy so if he is having seizures it can help him.

All anti-epileptic drugs can cause confusion but that doesn't mean they will since how we react to most AEDs differs from person to person.

I would suggest giving it a try for a while. Even if there are initial side-effects they often subside with time. It is for that reason that my neurologists have always started me on lower doses & upped it until we got to the dosage I needed.
 
Klonopin is used for epilepsy so if he is having seizures it can help him.

All anti-epileptic drugs can cause confusion but that doesn't mean they will since how we react to most AEDs differs from person to person.

I would suggest giving it a try for a while. Even if there are initial side-effects they often subside with time. It is for that reason that my neurologists have always started me on lower doses & upped it until we got to the dosage I needed.

klonopin is also used by psychiatrist as an anti anxiety drug. It last much longer than others such as Ativan and Xanax.
 
If his resting pulse is 100, he's physically exhausted all the time, which could be making him 'absent minded' and forgetful. It's very difficult to live a real life with a heart rate that high over an extended period of time. You'd be surprised at how much energy is used up to get that heart going at that rate all day every day. Have your doctors considered beta blockers? They are at least an option that will bring down the heart rate without impairing him cognitively. I personally would not look for an explanation for the confusion until that pulse is down. You need to figure out how well he's functioning when he's properly energised.

If the palpitations are caused by anxiety, that would be another explanation for the confusion.
 
He was taking some supplements from a health food store when the problems started
Do you know which supplements he was taking, why he was taking them, and how long he had been taking them? Sometimes there can be a delayed effect, and/or problems caused by stopping taking a supplement or med too abruptly. If he was taking supplements to deal with an underlying health issue, that health issue could also be relevant to his current symptoms.
 
Was he taking ginkgo biloba? I used to take it prior to being on epilepsy medication to help with memory... I read that it's dangerous to people with epilepsy and they shouldn't take it. You should consult with a doctor before you consider taking herbs, many can be dangerous despite some ignorant claims that it can actually help you from people that aren't really doctors (I run into them such as saying shrooms would cure my epilepsy ...) so beware of that.

I asked my neurologist if it was safe to take fish oil, and he said it's probably safe and he wasn't aware of any side effects/interactions that it may cause.
 
He was taking some supplements from a health food store when the problems started, but we are not sure if it has anything to do with that.

We really would like to know: does this sound like Epilepsy to you? (We know we have to get an EEG done and see epilepsy specialists, but what's your opinion)

To anyone who has tried benzodiazepines: His doctor prescribed Klonopin (a benzo) to help calm him down, but we are wondering if it's a good idea to let him take it. Would klonopin worsen his confusion? Or could it improve his confusion and absence mindedness (like in case it's epilepsy related or something else)?

What kind of supplements was he taking? They have side effects too. Keep him off of them for now. Usually, the rule of thumb is the last thing you are on is the cause of the problem. But not always.

I am on Klonopin. I was having the same problem when the doctor prescribed it for me. It worked for me. Try it!! I have been on it ever since.
Another medicine of choice is Ativan or Lorazepam. Whenever I start having seizures, I take one. Ask your doctor about that medicine too.

What medicines is he on?
 
Please take care with those benzodiazapines. Neither you nor we know what the problem is. It could be anxiety, a heart problem, it could be a bipolar mixed state, it could be so many things. To get to the root cause, you'll need to keep an open mind. Be informed, but also open to the many diagnoses that could be possible. Benzos are indicated for short term use (two weeks) when they are taken daily because they do create cognitive problems, and because they are physically addictive (with a detox that is longer and more severe than that of heroin). The last thing you need is to have to cope with rebound anxiety, insomnia, and detox symptoms on top of everything else, and all those things will happen after continuous long term use of benzos.

When you come to an epilepsy forum citing your son's symptoms, people are going to link those symptoms to epilepsy. When you go to a bipolar forum citing his symptoms, people are going to tell you he has bipolar. Same goes for depression and anxiety forums, social anxiety forums, cardio forums...you can basically choose what you want to hear according to the forum you visit. If you're in doubt, give it a try. We are laypeople who don't have a clue about all the possible diagnoses that could apply to your son's symptoms. We know about epilepsy, so we associate your son's symptoms to our own, whereas a decent doctor will have the wide ranging knowledge needed to assess the situation properly.

So please, at this point, don't ask for any particular medications based on what you hear here. Better to find a doctor who can find out what's wrong with your son. Physicians are often an excellent place to start. They have more specialised knowledge than GPs and will be able to zoom in on which specialists and tests your son needs.
 
We really would like to know: does this sound like Epilepsy to you? (We know we have to get an EEG done and see epilepsy specialists, but what's your opinion)


I did not notice that sentence in there before. You are asking us for our opinion.

We are not doctor's. We cannot diagnose.
 
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