Seizures caused by pinched cervical nerves

[masterjen]

A new friend has two diagnoses: epileptic seizures, and seizure-like episodes caused by pinched nerves in her neck. Her seizures involve no blacking out; she generally remains conscious but she feels herself "drift" sometimes. She has what to me sounds like a tonic seizure that affects primarily her right limbs (she terms it a sudden tight spasm) that lasts seconds to a minute or two. They only happen at night. She typically has an aura (my term, not hers) that consists of a couple of small kicks of her right foot whil falling asleep, and very shortly before the seizure can be woken by sudden strong tingling and have nausea. This is followed immediately by a seizure or she may fall asleep if this tingling settles and wake to a seizure minutes to an hour later. She seems to have a post-ictal period (again my terminology, not hers) where she is very fatigued, tingling, worn out and feeling disconnected. The worn out feeling is completely inconsistent with how long the seizure kept her awake.

She has a negative EEG. The MRI shows what could be seizure-generation sites and narrowing of the cervical area. One neuro. says no sign of pinched nerves, and based on symptoms and head MRI she has epilepsy, prescribed an AED and placed her on the year-long wait list for V-EEG. The other says because of how much the cervical area is narrowed pinched nerves are more likely the cause of her symptoms than the head MRI results.

She has an appointment to get a third opinion, but can expect to wait 6 months to get in. In the meantime she is not taking the anti-seizure medication prescribed by the first doctor because of the conflicting opinions and playing it safe by not driving, but understandably is very confused by such diverse diagnoses. I offered to post her situation here, and see what the folks here can offer. From both of us, thanks in advance for any input!

 

[Nakamova]

It's tricky, since both seizures and pinched nerves can cause numbness, tingling and limb spasms. The third opinion is definitely worth pursuing!

While she's waiting for that appointment to roll around, your friend might want to get in touch with a physical therapist. If her symptoms are caused by pinched nerves, a course of stretching, massages, and bracing might help reduce or relieve her symptoms. If those or other interventions (see list below) don't help at all, then that may be another indication that epilepsy is a more likely diagnosis.

Non-surgical interventions for pinched cervical nerves
Exercise/physical therapy to strengthen the neck muscles
Spinal stenosis epidural injections
Ibuprofen
Heat/cold
Therapeutic massage
Chiropractic treatment/acupuncture

 

[MuayThaiFighter]

This is really interesting to me because i've had so many docs say so many things. I've had issues with my neck for a long time and still have chronic lack of sensation. My MRI's were clear but they never did anything to check out my cervical spine. I find that kind of silly because of prior whiplash and concussions.

I think it is possible, a very small change in the position of a nerve can cause all sorts of issues. Not only that, but a small amount of blood flow could be blocked. When I was younger I had huge improvement in my "odd feelings" and had not more pain from head injuries after seeing a chiropractor for about a year.

I am honestly considering going back, just to see a difference occurs. I would tell your friend to see another opinion, because sometimes things are obscure and Dr.s get lazy.

 

[masterjen]

"because sometimes things are obscure and Dr.s get lazy". I agree - sometimes doctors see (or don't see) what they want to see or expect to see based on what they are trained for. Not that they would intentionally ignore something but, as you say, they get lazy. And relating this back to my friend's case: did the first doctor just not see the pinched nerves (or not look carefully enough) or did the second doctor not look carefully enough at the brain MRI? And maybe she has both things going on. I also think doctors focus too much on only one thing being an explanation an issue sometimes, and forget to consider multiple diagnoses can exist for one person. This third opinion will be interesting.

 

[Rudyman119]

"Cervical Seizures"

Over the past 2.5 months I went fro being complete healthy 40 yr old (aside from major stress due to job family- oxymoronic I know) to being debilitated by seizure activity and unexplained pain throughout rt side of body.

I've had some increasing cervical pain the last few months and then suddenly began having episodes of intense pain...I describe it as feeling like I'd been stabbed in the neck. I get (aura i assume) of upper right abdominal pain and extreme nausea. My right arm and right keg go virtually paralyzed. They feel like 100 lbs each. Lasts about 3 minutes. Vitals are good throughout and no loss of consciousness.

I have mild disc bulges in C4-C5, C5-C6, and C6-C7. I also have a mild but constant occipital headace. BrainMRI and Head/Neck CT scan normal. That's my story. Wonder if anyone relates.

 

[masterjen]

From what I've learned only an MRI of the neck can really say if you have pinched nerves in the neck or not. The MRI is more definitive than the CT for identifying this. A neurologist is the one to see for the referral, since they know which angles (or something like that) to take the image "slices" from to best identify any problems.