Does it sound like an epileptic seizure?

[INGY2016]

Hi Guys,

I wondered if anyone could help me understand what happened to me on Saturday.

I went to my hairdressers to have my highlights done as I always do. Whist I was sat down, I got brain zaps because I had forgotten to take my morning dose of venlafaxine. ( I am weaning myslef off the drug) so I only take a quarter in the morning and a quarter of a tablet in the evening. (so 18.5 mg/day, very small dose). However I forgot my pill cutter and didn't want to create a fuss at the haidresser so thought it wouldn't hurt to take a whole one just this time. So I took a 37.5mg dose. About 15 mins later I noticed my hands were shaking. I thought it was because I hadn't eaten much for lunch. I then left the hairdresser's. I kind of felt weird. As if I was in a dream. I went to a shop bought a skirt and some shoes, and thought I needed to buy something to eat so I went to buy some bread to make a sandwich when I got home. Except I didn't make it home and the next thing I know I was in A&E with my husband next to me. Apparently I was found on the sat on the pavement shaking. The paramedics said I was having a seizure. I can't remember anything. I didn't bite my tongue or wet myself. Although I can't remember myself I didn't apparently lose total conciousness but was very confused. It is all so bizarre. I felt completely drained afterwards. I have lost of a good 3 hours of memories, I can't decide whether this is an epileptic fit or a reaction to taking a higher dose of venlafaxine on an empty stomach. No need to say I am now on 1/4 of a tablet a day. I really want to stop taking this stuff. I am really scared it is going to happen again and I feel drained. What do you think?

 

[Cint]

It does sound like a CP seizure, where one doesn't loose total consciousness and go into convulsions, bite their tongue, etc., but they sit and stare and will not remember what just happened. It can take hours to recover. And if one is taking Effexor, the med you're taking, and messes with the dosage, this can cause a seizure. Did you call your dr. who prescribed the medicine in the first place? It possibly could happen again.

http://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-4870-5047/venlafaxine-oral/venlafaxine-oral/details#side-effects
Get medical help right away if any of these rare but serious side effects occur: cough that doesn't go away, shortness of breath, chest pain, severe/pounding headache, black/bloody stools, vomit that looks like coffee grounds, eye pain/swelling/redness, vision changes (such as seeing rainbows around lights at night), seizure.

 

[Frink]

Hi INGY2016,
Welcome to CWE.
I am not a dr.

You normally take roughly 9.4mg twice a day and you took a whole 37.5 at once? This would be a 400% increase in meds and could have led to a mild case of serotonin syndrome.

Edited to add: If you take other meds that alter serotonin this is even more likely.

 

[INGY2016]

Thank you for your replies. I hope it never happens again, it was horrible. I am going to have an EEG soon. Hopefully this will reassure me as this couldn't happen at the worst time for me.

 

[Porkette]

Hi INGY2016,
What you are describing sounds like a lot like when I have a complex partial seizure. I will be fine and then the next think I know when I am out of the seizure I find I'm in a different room but I don't remember how I got there and I'm tired. When a person has a complex partial seizure they will also jerk around a little or smack their lips along with wandering around. You need to get ahold of your Dr. and let them know what happened. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

 

[CQ:)]

Hi Ingy

It does sound like you had some sort of seizure, either a complex partial or tonic clonic.

I had a similar situation happen to me in March 2008, I was on my way to volunteer work but never got there. The last thing I remembered was leaving home at 9am & waking in hospital at 12pm.


As I didn't expect to be long I only took my house keys with me so had no i.d on me & didn't take my phone. I did have my medic alert bracelet on so the hospital was able to ring the medic alert foundation & get my parents contact number & my neuros details.

When I came to at the hospital & my Mum got there the nurse at the hospital explained someone found me down the street around 10am, realised something was wrong & saw my medic bracelet so rang the ambulance.
The street I was in was a street I didnt usually go through to get to my volunteer work so we are not sure what I was doing down that street or what happened between the time i left home to when the ambulance was called.

The hospital didn't give us too much other info eg whether I was convulsing so 8 years on still not sure if I had a tonic clonic or a very strong complex partial.

 

[Sabbo]

Hi Ingy. That does sound like a complex partial seizure. I get them, & unless someone witnesses it or I do something to myself or my surroundings, I'm totally unaware of it's occurrence.