Seizures following a stroke

[MAB]

Hi, I just found this forum today and want to introduce myself.

3 1/2 years ago I had a small stroke. My left arm and leg felt weak but my neuro exam was completely normal. The stroke only showed up on the MRI. I was only in the hospital about 24 hours and told to follow up with my PC doctor. I told her I was continuing to have TIA's and was worried I would have another stroke. I saw a neurologist and told him what was going on. He put me on a blood thinner. He ordered an EEG when I kept complaining about my leg and arm going weak and becoming very tired. The EEG was only 30-60 minutes and didn't show anything.

I continued to feel weak and very exhausted from time to time. I would also smell odors that no one else could smell. The odors would follow me where ever I went. I thought I would go crazy. I also frequently felt like I was going to fall out of bed.

A couple months ago I saw my PC doctor about something and I was telling her about all my crazy symptoms. She suggested I see my neurologist again. I told her I didn't like him and she referred me to another doctor.

I saw the new neuro doc last week and she thinks I may be having partial on-set seizures (I think that's what she said.) She said I could be admitted to the hospital for a longer EEG or I could try a sample course of meds (Keppra). She said if all the symptoms went away in 2-3 days that it is seizures. After only 1 1/2 days I started to feel much better. After 3 days I was feeling great. After 3 1/2 days I had a severe allergic reaction to the meds. She had to call in a script of prednisolone to a pharmacy that is open 24 hours a day. I am off the Keppra and waiting to finish the Prednisolone before I call her back to see what the next step is.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi MAB, welcome to CWE!

It sounds like you may have been having Simple Partial seizures. Those can take the form of phantom smells and other unusual sensory disturbances. They are also often difficult to pick up on an EEG.

I'm glad you were able to see a different neurologist. The right doctor can make a huge difference. Even if you are allergic to the Keppra, take heart -- there are other anti-seizure medications out there to try.

Best,
Nakamova

 

[MAB]

Hi Nakamova, I'm glad I found the forum and hope to learn a lot from everyone.

Is it normal for these phantom odors to last so long.? Wen I get them, I seems like they last for days. From what everyone else has said here, it seems like they auras only last for seconds to maybe a minute or two. They change too, they may start off as a smell of incense burning, they over a period of hours, change to a cigarette odor, and they sometimes progress to an ammonia smell. Anyway, I know I'm in for a rough few days when the strange odors start.

 

[Nakamova]

For some folks, the odors can last quite a while -- even for days. Below are links to some threads about the topic:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com...ng-do-your-bad-smells-last-per-episode-11943/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/weird-smells-part-aura-11324/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/aura-smells-15176/

There's also this article from the NY Times about phantom tastes and smells: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/13/s...d-phantoms-may-be-at-work.html?pagewanted=all
It mentions clonazepam as a potential treatment -- you might want to ask your neuro about that med.

 

[Sandie]

One of my worse symptoms is the olfactory hallucinations. They drive me crazy. They can stay for a minute, an hour or a day. and last for days on end. Mine are usually sweet chemical smells but at first were rotting flowers. It took me ages to go the doctors and I didn't believe I had epilepsy at first until I saw a neurologist and he gave me an identical diagnosis.A lot of epileptics have nothing show up on eegs. Good luck MAB and thank you for your support on my post.