Almost 9 months after having a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage, my partner seemed have a big seizure this week. I found her unconscious on the floor after a friend called me at work when she stopped talking during a phone conversation. He called 911 and I rushed home. It seemed so similar to the only other seizure she had when we found out she had a burst aneurysm.
As she has been making so much progress with strength and confidence, we were not expecting this. However, we are grateful itās not worse (like last time).
Has anyone else had an experience with seizures? Is this common after a brain injury such as this?
I havenāt had any seizures thankfully as my body did not like the three anti seizure medication my neurologist tried on me for headaches. I didnāt like me and our new pup wouldnāt come near me. Have yāall contacted your partnerās neuro doc?
I did add to your title so hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience than I, will post
Thatās a good point. Yes, due to weight loss she was recently put on an antidepressant and it made her so sick. After contacting the doctor about the response, she said stop taking them. She took them 2 days and a week later had the aggressive seizure.
In answer to the original question, many people have seizures after aneurysm clippings and stents. I do hope that is not the case in this instance, but it certainly does occur in some people.
Hi, I went to my GP in 2011 because I was having what I call āmissing momentsā while at work, then when driving home. I was sent immediately to ER where I had a barrage of Drs doing tests. It was suspected I was epileptic. The result of the scan showed I had two unruptured brain aneurysmsā¦and a neurologist confirmed epilepsy from an EEG. However, I was told by the neuro surgeon, that anuersyms and epilepsy are unrelated. The medication I was given made me depressed and angry and caused more seizures but I think a lot of these emotions were exasperated by the Time bombs in my head. I had both Annieās clipped within the next 12 mths, left work because of the seizures. I have not been able to drive for 8yrs and next month will be seizure free for 12 mths without medication.
I believe (although I have been told otherwise), the seizures were due to the trauma of the unruptured aneurysms and the surgeries afterwards. Stress is a major trigger for my seizures as well as lack of sleep. Our medical system in NZ is very primitive, I havenāt had any further checks regarding my Annieās because there is āNo Connectionā and the seizures became my top priority.
Natalie, Iām sorry to hear you canāt drive, but to go a year with no seizures is wonderful! Happy Dance for You!
On aneurysms and epilepsy, Iād go with your doctors on that one, The way I look at it, If aneurysms and epilepsy were related, more people with epilepsy would have aneurysms and more people with aneurysms would have epilepsy. And we wouldnāt be part of a rare group. All of the research that Iāve read over the last few years insist aneurysms have no signs unless they rupture or they are large enough to press on nerves. I havenāt come across any that says different, yet.
But I think someone should be checking every so many years on your aneurysmsā¦I thought it was every five yearsā¦I could be wrong, but you might want to ask your doctor. Hang in there!
Iāve been hitting the Internet and there are several studies indicating seizures can follow SAH, some of the studies refer to them as non-epilepsy seizures. Hereās one, sorry itās an older one. But there are many if you search for seizures and SAH or stroke https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2744032/
Yes my wife had the same type of rupture aneurysm , then she was doing great after 15months. She had a sezure put her on Keppra 500mg then a few months later two small ones back to back. Increased meds to 750mg twice a day. She has not been quit the same motivated person as before the first one. I still push and try to motivate her.
I know how frightening this must be. I had a ruptured aneurysm too and I had my first grand mal seizure within 18 months after surgery. I was told that it involve scarring at the site of the brain incision (right temporal lobe) during the craniotomy and the severity of the bleed and the length of time between the bleed and the surgery. No oneās aneurysm experience is like anyone elseās, and my epilepsy isnāt necessarily related to the presence of the aneurysm, but the Brain damage from the bleed and delayed surgery. The surgeon saved my life, but everyone who looks as my scans says he didnāt do a microsurgery, as they do today, but used bigger tools and caused more scarring. he is retired now and he told me he had learned his skills as a combat surgeon! I took Keppra after the first seizure and it changed my personality. I felt in a fog and was easily distracted and easily annoyed. I was switched to Lamictal extended release and I am doing much better. It lifted the fog. My last grand mal seizure was in 2014, when I was hospitalized for a concussion since I fell out of bed. they raised the dose and gave me brand name drug and not generic. I still have the missing moments (absence seizures) and petit mal seizures that involve what I call a whoosh of unpleasant sensation that goes from head to toe, without unconsciousness, but with great distraction from where I am. they raised the dose again, and it hasnāt eliminated them. I had one or two grand mals a year between the first craniotomy and the second, even on meds. I am being treated at an epilepsy center at a medical center because I am only partially controlled on meds. I recommend a highly specialized epilepsy neurologist, because this isnāt the every day seizure! this might be her last seizure, or it might not. take a look at everything that happed before the seizure. Had it been a long time since she ate? Hypoglycemia can provoke mine. Has she been having trouble sleeping? Lack of sleep puts me at more risk.Was she watching TV or movies with a lot of action scenes and flashing lights? That does it to me too.Was she in a crowded store or in stop and go traffic? Good luck to you both!
Thanks for all of this insight. Iām starting to see itās not uncommon to have a seizure after a coil or from the scare tissue from a craniectomy. My partner is now on 500 mg depokote. It was 250 prior to the seizure. There was another aneurysm found in the last angiogram that they are recommending a pipeline stent. They want to move it up since the seizure.
I honestly thought the ānewā aneurysm burst when I found my partner on the floor the day of the seizure. Hopefully, the stent procedure will give us a little more piece of mind.
