Siezure and other odd occurances - Open to All Other Health Topics Message Board

missydo77 · 09-14-2008, 07:49 PM

I am looking for some insight. My husband, a very healthy person normally had a very scary expierience this week that has scared him very much. He was in a car with another person and noticed he was having a hard time putting his words together, making sentences. He said he really had to think about what he was going to say, 2 minutes later he felt a sharp electric shock go through his body. It scared him so much he told the guy he was with to pull over and call 911. He got out of the car and was in panic. He was disoriented and convulsing. They guy took his pulse and it was over 140. He said the electric shock lasted about 10 seconds and went away- he felt better and told the guy to just go to the nearest emergency room when another huge electric shock took him to his knees. He said it felt as is something started in his brain and sent shocks throughout his body. He was shaking, couldn't speak and his heart rate and blood pressure was very high when he made it to the emergency room. They did all the tests and everything came back normal.

We don't know if this is related but might help in making the diagnosis- about 8 years ago he said he felt a jerk in his body and his legs went numb and tingled. He said the tingiling stuck around for a couple months. It went away and came back about 6 months later. For 8 years, he has been having these "episodes" where his legs and arms tingle for a couple months and then go away. He said sometimes it changes the way he walks or the way he writes. He never looked into as he was a pilot in the Army and didn't want to get grounded (I know- he has already had a stern talking to!)

He is very, very scared which is not like him so I am trying to find as much informaiton as I can. A MRI was conducted but we dont have the results yet. We have an appointment with a neuroligist but they can't see him for another week and a half.

Anybody with similiar episodes or something that might sound familiar please respond. I am wondering if he could have signs of MS?? We are just so puzzled at this point.

Thanks for your help in advance!

Lindaru · 09-14-2008, 09:49 PM

My sister-in-law has had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) which is a mini-stroke. She had symptoms similar to what you described his recent episode to be. I once had an episode where my one whole side started to go numb after trying to do more than my body could handle in exertion and getting bad news on the telephone.

I went to the doctor who did a neurological examination but could find nothing and it has not happened again.

I do have sciatica (lower back spinal problems) and sometimes will get numbness and/or tingling in my legs if that nerve is being pressed on. X-rays are not always conclusive in diagnosing this, so they often have to press on various areas of your spine and see how you react as well as have you do range of motion type exercises in order to diagnose it.

I hope they are able to find out what happened. I know that one episode I had that turned out to be nothing more than a body and mind over-load scared the day lights out of me, too!

Let us know how things turn out.

Lindaru

feelbad · 09-15-2008, 07:08 AM

just where did they do that MRI,the brain or the C spine or both? do you know if they used a contrast agent for the films? the brain or the c spine could be the most likely places where something may be found considering the symptoms. there are some of the cranial nerves that do run down from the head and down to the c 8 nerve junction then back up into the head again. so it does need some consideration. there could be many different possible things that could casue the types of symptoms he has been having. certain vascular malformations are also possibe within the brain too. some types of malformations are actually just something you are born with that take time over years to actually just show themselves too.

how long was your hubby a pilot and how high did he actually fly? this may or may not be related. you just have to consider everything including lifestyle and types of jobs people did or do that can possibly figure in to trying to find that dx. while i can understand the "why' he did not want to get this diagnosed earlier on,things could have gotten pretty scarey for him being up in the air if this occured up there. ya know, just for the heck of it,i would try and do some researching on something like army pilots and neurological disorders or flying and neuro disorders just to see if there is any real connection there. you just kind of have to look at all things that could be contributing to his ongoing symptoms ya know? the fact that this has been kind of an ongoing type of thing,unless he has been having ongoing TIAs(would not be very common tho),i wouldn't think that that really would be what is causing this,its just occured way too many times,and without any permanent outcomes or disabilitys after.

it should be interesting to see what that MRI shows up. just be aware that not everything within the brain will actually show itself with MRI at certain times. its the way the pics are taken and things that can kind of be "hidden' from view sometimes? it is only a 'scan' of the brain and not a real actual picture. this is one reason a contrasted MRI would be so much better than plain MRI,it just "helps". but there are other types of scans and/or procedures that can be done too if the culprit does not actually show itself upon the MRI films. hopefully whatever is causing this will show and you will at least have that Dx and a reason. please keep us posted as to what you find out,K? good luck, FB

missydo77 · 09-15-2008, 08:31 AM

Thanks for your response. They did a MRI just on his brain, with and without contrast so we are hoping that something shows.

That is a great idea of looking into neuroligical disorders for pilots. He was an apache helicopter pilot for 10 years, hasn't flown in 2 years now. He did say that some guys came back with a lot of back pain as they put many hours of flying time in their last deployment. The vibrations and jolts messed some of the pilots up.

I am thinking they need to do an MRI of his spine too.

Thanks for your post! I REALLY, REALLY appreciate it and will keep you updated on what we find out.

feelbad · 09-16-2008, 06:33 AM

glad they did it with contrast and without,it really is much better viewing that way. if he can,have him REALLY talk in depth with other pilots just to see if any of them are also experiencing "odd' neuro stuff(even check with people at a local VA hospital or some other vetrans type of medical programs),you just never know til ya ask. i do hope they can find out whats wrong. the sooner the better. by all means,please keep us posted. i too am wondering just what could be causing these types of symptoms. just cover all bases. take care, FB