Please help! Is Facial swelling normal in seizures?

[Charlotte's Mom]

I'm here on my daughter's behalf. She is 19. She recently had 2 seizures (one petit the other grand mal of 5-6 min, turned blue, faced swelled up, foaming, convulsing). This is her first. She is on various meds for depression and anxiety disorder and one or 2 meds are suspect and being reviewed/removed. My concern is HAS ANYONE HEARD OF OR EXPERIENCED FACIAL SWELLING WITH A SEIZURE? I have spent hours searching for a this to no avail. 2 emergency Dr's, her family Dr, and the neurologist have not heard of facial swelling with a seizure. None seem concerned about it. My worry is that her face swelled because she wasn't breathing. She was blue for half of the seizure so 2-3 minutes. The swelling came on with the blue face and cleared up along with her colour returning. She has sleep apnea so I think that her throat closed up during the seizure. CAN SOMEONE ASPHYXIATE FROM A SEIZURE? I insisted at ER that they give me something that I could administer during a seizure. THey gave me sublingual Ativan that would normally go under the tongue. Since her jaw would be seized (as it was) I would place it in the cheek instead. Still no guarantees it would shorten the seizure. If anyone can help me please! I'm so scared. I'm a single Mom and have been dealing with her severe anxiety disorder and depression for years. Now since this happened last Wed, I'm back to not leaving her alone for even a minute for fear she will seize and die. Dr's are telling me that no one dies from a seizure of 6 minutes.

 

[CathyAnn31]

I can't imagine how scary that must be. **hugs**.

I've not heard of the facial swelling, but maybe someone else has..

 

[momof3boys]

I havnt heard of face swelling with seizures. Ive had grand mals, complex partials and simple partial seizures in my lifetime. I can only imagine how scared that must have been for all of you! I hope someone here can chime in and help more!

 

[Charlotte's Mom]

thanks for the support!

Epileric did tell me that he has heard of the facial swelling. I'm still waiting to find out more about 5 or 6 min seizures. If anyone knows if that is still in the norm and not really that dangerous? Although Epileric did say that it's getting into Status seizure territory. Other people's thoughts on this are very welcome. She was taken by ambulance to hospital. Normal Cat and blood testing. I have Ativan to put under her tongue or in her cheek for next seizure if it happens. Waiting for MRI and EEG to be booked.
If I can find out more about the life threatening part, I will be able to relax somewhat. Neurologist said that no one stops breathing, just diminished.
I read on a some major epilepsy sites that people do stop breathing.
I wasn't there to see the grand mal, she was at school.
The teacher couldn't be sure if she was breathing or not.
She was blue for 2-3 min of the total 5 or 6 min.

 

[Cint]

Epileric did tell me that he has heard of the facial swelling. I'm still waiting to find out more about 5 or 6 min seizures. If anyone knows if that is still in the norm and not really that dangerous? .

If she is seizing for 5 minutes of more, it is an emergency. She is going Status and needs to go to the ER. From www.epilepsy.com:

http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/SEIZURE_TONICCLONIC

How long do they last?

Generally, 1 to 3 minutes. A tonic-clonic seizure that lasts longer than 5 minutes probably calls for medical help. A seizure that lasts more than 30 minutes, or three seizures without a normal period in between, indicates a dangerous condition called convulsive status epilepticus. This requires emergency treatment.

All the muscles stiffen. Air being forced past the vocal cords causes a cry or groan. The person loses consciousness and falls to the floor. The tongue or cheek may be bitten, so bloody saliva may come from the mouth. The person may turn a bit blue in the face. After the tonic phase comes the clonic phase: The arms and usually the legs begin to jerk rapidly and rhythmically, bending and relaxing at the elbows, hips, and knees. After a few minutes, the jerking slows and stops. Bladder or bowel control sometimes is lost as the body relaxes. Consciousness returns slowly, and the person may be drowsy, confused, agitated, or depressed.

I've suffered TC seizures and have bitten the inside of my cheeks and others have said I have turned blue in the face, but the only time I remember facial swelling is when I fell face first onto the floor without an aura. I ended up breaking my glasses and a bad black eye.

 

[epileric]

Quite often CT or MRI scans come up with no obvious reason to show any reason for seizures. I'd been going for all sorts of scans all my life & it wasn't until I was 39 did they find a lesion on my hypothalamus which we can only assume is causing my seizures.

Do you have a neurologist? I would assume he would sent Charlotte for an EEG to measure her brainwaves. They can also come up negative if the seizure originates too deep in the brain but IMHO it still makes no sense to not have one.

If you don't have a neurologist I would definitely suggest getting one if your doctor hasn't already.

 

[Charlotte's Mom]

She does have a neurologist. It was him who said that no one dies from 5 or 6 min seizures. I don't think I beleive that. He never heard of facial swelling. Teacher said her cheeks swelled up and took time to go down after she was awake. In the meantime I don't leave her alone much. No anti-seizure med being given now because she had only 2 so far, one 15 second and then the 6 min one. 5 weeks apart. Dr's belief is it is med related. She was removed from welbrutrin. I've been told to get a medic alert which we are doing. Thanks Eric for how the MRI works. That's it's not definitive proof that there isn't something there. In this case I guess time will tell. It will be months before the MRI happens I'm told. EEG has been requested too.

 

[Charlotte's Mom]

Also, from the time she became aware again after the seizure she still could not get up for a few more minutes. Laid on the floor for another 3-4

 

[epileric]

Also, from the time she became aware again after the seizure she still could not get up for a few more minutes. Laid on the floor for another 3-4

I would expect that to be a common post-ictal effect. You have to remember that during a seizure ones neurological & physical functions are going at a much faster rate so it is both physically & mentally tiring.

I'm lucky that most of mine are non-convulsive partial seizures but I often feel mentally tired after my smaller ones, during the bigger ones I'm physically & mentally tired & with the even stronger ones I'll also have trouble talking and am somewhat confused.

Also, when I do have really large ones (convulsive or not) I will come out of it & think it's over (oddly I can talk during that time) but it's not finished & comes back for a short while to finish then I'll have trouble talking. That could have been what was happening to Charlotte.

I know for me that after a larger onethere is a post-ictal period where I will either have trouble remembering what happened (though it might come back in a few days or even weeks) or it will be like remembering a dream.