Postictal psychosis seizures

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MaryannD

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Hello I am Maryann, Looking for help any advice will be appreciated!

My Daughter, has had epilepsy since 18 months, she is 37 yrs old now, she has experienced all types of seizures. She is mentally challenged and has behavior issues. She has been through all types of medications... She is now starting to have Postictal psychosis seizures and now I am so lost, she had been 2 and 1/2 yrs without any seizures. So anyone who has these and can help me with input, I would really be thankful!!:hugs:


And anything I am doing wrong on the site, let me know as I am new at this too!!
 
I'm not sure what type of behavior issues she's having but is she on Keppra? Keppra can cause 'Kepprage' which is people can become angry very easy. I have it pretty bad and it doesn't take much to set me off. I've yelled at people in grocery stores for not moving their buggy or closing a freezer door. I have a very HARD time being around young children. My family just thought I was being rude about things but it is just something that I can't help.

When I first started having seizures, 13 years ago when I was 27, when I came out of a seizure I may have forgotten things that happened a few minutes or a few days before the seizure. I might not know who people were - my parents, pets, where I was and even me at times. It's not quite as bad now, usually only lasting a few minutes.

After my first seizure I lost practically over 10 years of memory. I can't believe all the things that I'd forgotten, even my high school graduation. I have bad memory problems too in general. Things will start to fade away after about 6 months. I'll ask my husband the same questions or tell him the same things over and over again, he just loves it you should ask him! Some things will still stay up there but there are times that someone's told me something that happened and I didn't even know I did.

After almost all my seizures I'll have horrible headaches. They'll last for over 3 hours at times. After seizures I'll usually always fall asleep and depending on how bad the seizure was I might be very tired for the next day or more.

I hope some of this helps and it's nice to meet you!
 
Hi MaryannD, welcome to CWE!

Has anything else changed in your daughter's life that might have triggered the new seizures? Sometimes hormonal changes can be a factor. Does she have any other health issues that might be a factor?

Is your daughter currently on anti-seizure medication? If so, then it's time to review it with her neuro (if you haven't already). Depakote can occasionally trigger psychosis, and some other AEDs can cause psychosis if the dose is too high. Maybe a change in dose or med will help bring the seizures back under control. Sometimes adding a small dose of a benzodiazepine (such as valium or ativan) or an anti-psychotic can help bring the psychosis under control. I think the general idea is to intervene sooner rather than later before the psychosis can become an entrenched behavior.
 
Hey Nakamova.

Thank you, She has had no changes that I think could have brought this on. She has diabeties, and Tremors, witch they are getting worse. As I want to say she has never has seizures like these. she had Grandmal when she was in her early 20's she has been through most every kind of seizures. I had hoped she was maybe out growing them.
She is on antipsychotics Geodon, trileptal, and she is on Benzo's. Ativan klonpin. he diabeties is holding good levels.

She also has a vns and in the last month it has be adjusted 2 times. and has upped her klonopin/

She has been doing great and has not had any seizures for so long. When she has the seizures she will not let me touch her are get close to her. If I do she tries to fight me.

I am just glad to read the the benzo maybe can get them under control. I am falling apart over these.
Anymore help, suggestions are anything to expect or watch for, will be wonderful.
 
This is definitely a longshot, but perhaps she could try a magnesium supplement (if she isn't already taking one). She's on so many meds, I realize that adding a vitamin might be difficult (or maybe it would be no big deal?). I suggest it since people who are even only slightly low in magnesium can become irritable or belligerent. Tremors can also be a sign of mg deficiency, since mg plays a role in relaxing muscles. Most importantly, magnesium is crucial for brain health as well.

I imagine with the diabetes that she has a healthy diet, but mg levels can decline with age, and foods aren't as high in mineral content as they used to be. If it's not contraindicated she could try an mg supp once a day and see if it makes a difference. I would recommend magnesium glycinate (which I take) since it's easily absorbed and doesn't affect digestion.

I hope that her seizures come under control soon.
 
Was your daughter's VNS increased or decreased? I've had a VNS for about 7 years and he is still adjusting it depending on if I'm having an increase or decrease in seizures between visits.

How long has she had the VNS? It took awhile before we could find what meds and dosages to take with it too.
 
Valeriedl,

she has had her VNS since 2004, and yes they increased her vns just recent and they raise up her magnet power up so that I could swipe her easier, and we don't have to fight trying to swipe her..


Nakamovia,
Thanks and yes I will try the magnesium glycinate.. it will be a good thing to try!!
 
MaryannD said:
Valeriedl,

she has had her VNS since 2004, and yes they increased her vns just recent and they raise up her magnet power up so that I could swipe her easier, and we don't have to fight trying to swipe her..
Click to expand...

When was the last time the battery in her VNS was checked? I had my first VNS put in 2007. I started having many seizures in 2013 and my neuro checked it and found out that the battery was almost dead so it wasn't working as good as it should. I had my settings pretty high the entire time I had it and my neuro said that the higher the settings are the shorter time the battery will last, just like a normal battery. In general though if she's had the same battery for 13 years, no matter what it's set at, is a long time. I had to have a new VNS put in because that's how it worked, you couldn't just change the battery. I'm not sure if it works the same way now or if you can just have a new battery put in.

About a year ago I started having more seizures a month so my neuro suggested having the VNS turned off and see if changed. He wasn't sure if there was a possibility that it could be causing them. It was turned off for about 6 months and there were no change in the number of seizures I was having. The only thing we noticed was they were worse and lasting longer, mainly because we couldn't use the magnet to bring me out of it faster. So we turned it back on and things went back to what they were, same number of seizures but not being as bad and not lasting as long because we had the magnet to use.

These are just some things to look into and see if anything might help.
 
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