Is this a type of epilepsy? - Epilepsy Message Board

hklover29 · 11-10-2004, 07:53 PM

My boyfriend's mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor (glioblastoma multiforme of the frontal lobe) about 2 months ago. One morning about 3 months ago, she woke up at around 3:00am, calling upstairs to my boyfriend saying, "Help me"...she didn't know where she was, who he was, was calling her son and sister-in-law "the man and woman who live across the street", and was scrambling her letters up. It seemed like she would literally take a word or two in a sentence, jumble all the letters up, and say it like that. But she would say it like she had said it before and knew exactly what she was talking about. She had no clue it was coming out jumbled. For the next month or less, the doctors diagnosed and misdiagnosed her (encephilitis, stroke, etc.) and while she was in the hospital for about 3 weeks, she would have these little episodes, for about 5-10 minutes, gradually getting better while she was on anti-seizure medications for brain swelling, where she would kind of become a different person for those few minutes. She would start seeing things on the wall, start smelling weird things, and scramble up her words. She also felt like she had a sixth sense or something.

kayakmom · 11-10-2004, 08:16 PM

Sounds like possible seizures to me!One key thing is when the AED(anti epilepsy drugs) show an effect to slow this down...Hope she can get answers soon!

bayou_girl · 12-10-2004, 12:14 PM

Sure sounds like she is having them to me.

I suffer from 5 types of seizures, and 3 of the are contained to one syndrome and the one that I think she is having is COmplex Partial.

Dilantin doesn't usually have a good effectiveness on partial seizures, it is mainly used for Tonic-Clonic--but that is not to say that it hasn't been used for partial seizures.

She needs to get to a neuro, and have a THOROUGH neuro exam done, with a complete history and blood work, along with another EEG. HTey need to get an accurate picture of what is going on so, that it can be treated properly.

Epilepsy is something you DON'T want to mess around with. I am a classic example of that, because my dad wouldn't allow me to go to the doc as part of his abuse, and I find out over 25 years later, that I have had this all my life--born with it. So don't wait, because you are essentially playing with fire.

EEG can pick up other neurological findings as well, but it picks up epilepsy the best.

Nancy

siren1024 · 12-10-2004, 07:09 PM

My father had a brain tumor at 16 that caused a wide variety of seizures. They began with "losing time" where he appeared fully concious but had no idea what was going on around him for 5 or 10 minutes, progressed to smelling, seeing strange things, he had a constant sense of deja vu, slurring speech, jumbling words, strange nonsensical behavior, punctuated by huge grand mals. He was misdiagnosed for months, and was in a semi coma, seizing every hour by the time the tumor was discovered and removed. He still experiences many of the above symptoms due to the brain damage if he doesn't take his dilantin. I can't remember where his tumor was, but it was larger than a golf ball, and I want to say it was on the left side of his frontal lobe. I know it had fingerlike projections that wrapped around his optic nerve.

If there's anything I've learned from our experience its that seizures take many different forms, and tumors can cause things that run the whole gammet. He was basically told that anything that can be seen as abnormal electrical activity is classified as a seizure, regardless of the symptoms it causes.

With her having a tumor, I'm sure it is interfering with all types of brain function. If meds fix the problems, I would absolutely say it was seizure activity. I hope she gets well and they are able to help her. Just be warned she may be like this for the rest of her life and need medication like my father.The tumor is gone, but in its place is scar tissue, cysts, and damage from the tumor and the removal. He has lived a completely normal, productive life ever since, though. Best of luck!!!! My prayers are with her.