Hello from Orlando

[berisweet]

Hi everyone, my name is Beckie and I am completely new to all of this. On Monday evening, I was laying on the sofa watching TV, the next thing I know, is my girlfriend is sitting beside me asking me all kinds of questions, like do I know what day it is, what year it is, etc. I was completely confused to say the least. I thought it might be a good idea to go to the E.R. since I didn't know what had happened to me, but was pretty sure I had had a seizure. Blood work was done and a CT scan was done and all were normal, but they wanted to keep me over night for observation. My girlfriend left and went home and I was still in the E.R., and then all of a sudden, I woke up in a different room with oxygen on. Apparently it had happened again. My girlfriend told me that when I went out, she heard something like coughing and that is when she noticed me. She said that I was laying on my back, with my arms, hands, legs and feet all bent out of shape and in odd angles straining to the limits. She said that my mouth was wide open as well. I was out for about 10 minutes the first time, but I am not sure about the second time. So now I am in the hospital and they are running tests, but all but one comes back normal. The EEG, showed my brain as stressed out. So I was in the hospital for 3 days and then released with Kepra 250 MG and orders to follow up with a neurologist and orders to not drive for the next 6 months. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me, so I am really lost and don't know what has happened to me. Do I have epilepsy or could it be something else all together?? Oh, I guess I should tell you a little more about myself. I am a 44 year old female that is pretty healthy, except for breast cancer. I just had surgery in January (bilateral mastectomy) and then was hospitalized twice in March for infections related to the surgery. I am 5'5" tall, 125 lbs, non-smoker, non-drinker and not on any medications other than the antibiotics for the infection. But now they have me on the Kepra 250 MG twice a day and Prozac 10 MG three times a day. Any advice that anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all in advance and I hope you have a wonderful evening
Beckie

 

[epileric]

Welcom Beckie

I actually think you're lucky to have had a 2nd seizure in the hospital. So many people have trouble convincing the medical community anything is wrong if it doesn't show up on some sort of scan.

I've been on Keppra before & one of the side-effects is emotional upset and anger (kepprage). Not everyone gets it but if you do, try supplementing with vitamine B6. It has helped a few people on this site.

This page might help tell you more about seizures. It definitely sounds like seizures from what you described.

You might also want to check out the "types of seizures" to see if any of them fit what you're experiencing.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Beckie, welcome to CWE!

I hope you are feeling okay. Seizures can be tough on the mouth, and back. And the brain can be a bit foggy too...

I agree with Eric -- it seems pretty likely that you had seizures, now the question is what caused them. Did the hospital give any suggestions? When you say the EEG showed your brain was "stressed out" -- did the docs say it indicated epilepsy, or that it was inconclusive? Unless there's a very conclusive EEG, epilepsy isn't usually diagnosed after one seizure. (I know you had more than one, but in this case they would probably be considered part of the same episode). About 2% of adults have a seizure at some time during their life, and two thirds of these people never have another one, so that's one scenario.

It's possible that your infections played a role. Infections and fevers can lower seizure threshold. Occasionally antibiotics can trigger seizures as well. Which antibiotics were you on? Were they at high doses? Were you dehydrated, hungry, and/or fatigued? Those are all fairly common seizure triggers.

One more thing -- do you know why the hospital prescribed Prozac? While Keppra is a fairly common anti-seizure drug, Prozac is not -- in fact it is actually contraindicated for people with epilepsy! I recommend that you check with the hospital to see what's up with that.

The follow-up with the neurologist might help clear up some of this stuff. And definitely feel free to check in with any questions or concerns -- CWE members can offer a lot of support, feedback and advice.

Best,
Nakamova