Advice needed please

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QuietWriter

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Hi. Can anyone give me any help and advice.a month agao my mum had a seizure. ( just started staring blankly) not responding and couldent talk. And her jaw was shaking up and down. This lasted around 2 minutes. We took her to a&e who suspected a tia but after further tests. These were ruled out. She was ok for a few days then sort of fainted. She dIdnt lose conciousness and it seemed like another seizure as she didnt and couldent answer me for about a minute. So we took her up the hospital again. She had ecg. Brain scan. Blood and urine tests all clear. A few days after that her appetite had returned and she was eating well. Until a couple of days ago. She was starting to eat less and started to become quiet and a bit subdued (this happened the first time) then this saturday. She had another attack. I though he she was going to sneeze. Then be sick as she put her hand over mouth.then as previous. She started staring blanky with jaw going up and down rapidly again. She couldent speak for about a minute then could. We then took her to the hospital. Who ran tests, and sent her home. However an hour later she had another attack and again took her to the hospital. She had a further 3 mini ones at the hospital and was assessed and kept in overnight. Again ecg was good. Bp was high. And blood and urine good. Two seperate doctors told me that it sounds like absence seizures or partial seizures. She has to undergo further tests including a head thingy (sorry do not know the same but electrodes are placed for half an hour) and also 72 heart monitor. Naturally i am quite scared at all this happening and am worried about my mum. Since she got home yesterday she is really off her food.. does anyone have any advice if any of this adds up and is normal. And does anyone have seizures like this. By the way she is 73. Apart from high blood pressure she is in good health. Thanks in advance
 
Hey QW,

Your mother should definitely have an EEG done (that's the test where the electrode sensors are placed on the head). What you describe does sound like partial and/or absence seizures, but the EEG may help confirm that. (See here for a description of those kinds of seizures: http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/tc/epilepsy-complex-partial-seizures-topic-overview). Sometimes partial seizures can be hard to pick up on an EEG, so if the first EEG comes up negative the doctors may want to do a longer-term EEG or an overnight one.

Was the brain scan she had done a CT scan or an MRI/MRA? They are all brain scans but each test can potentially reveal different aspects of the brain.

It's not unusual for the elderly to develop seizure disorders -- about 25% of new-onset seizures occur after the age of 65 -- but the seizures can often be related to other disorders such as heart disease, metabolic issues (such as low blood sugar or sodium), traumatic brain injury, tumor, or drug therapy. It sounds like the docs have been trying to rule in or out any of the both which is good. They may also be looking to rule out TIAs (mini-strokes).

If she has developed a seizure disorder, there are a lot of different anti-seizure medications that her docs may recommend. With the elderly it's esp. important that the dosages start small and that patients are closely monitored for over-dosing and/or problematic side effects.

If your mother hasn't seen one already, you should push for her to see an epilepsy specialist -- someone who is very familiar with the different kinds of seizure symptoms as well as the different medications used to treat them.

Good luck! I hope you and she get some answers soon.
 
Nak is right. An EEG needs to be done. If new to these types of brain tests, the idea may seem frightening, but just know that the are not invasive at all and there is nothing to fear in having the tests done.

Also know that if it is absence or partial seizures, there are a number of medications that focus on those specifically, so there is hope that she will likely find one that helps.

Hang in there..
 
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