Spent time in the ER this weekend with my husband........seizures.......

by Alana 14 Replies latest jw friends

  • Alana
    Alana

    My husband has epilepsy, but only nocturnal seizures and he has had it very much under control. In fact, in the 5 years that we've been together, I've only witnessed about 5 or so seizures....and they have been mild ones.

    However, due to the side effects of his meds (weight gain, etc.) his neurologist has been transitioning him to a new medication. Well, last week he had a seizure...on the day that my mom had surgery and our dog had to be put to sleep after a sudden illness and we buried him that evening. He was very upset and thought that the stress contributed to his seizure. But this Friday night started out cool and ended up a nightmare. We went out to eat and picked out cool costumes for a 60's birthday surprize party that we were planning to go to on Saturday night. We dressed up and surprized his grandma and parents with our cool costumes and had so much fun. But, he zoned out as we went to sleep and couldn't speak, so I knew he might have a seizure. But, I had no idea that he'd have several in a row....he woke me up about 2:45 with the first. I couldn't control him and he fell out of bed and bit his tongue...so he was bleeding.....when it stopped he was able to go to the bathroom and got sick. He still couldn't communicate and just as things calmed down, he started into another longer one and then into a third. By that time it had been almost 45 minutes straight and I barely was able to get away to call the ambulance. He fought the EMTs and was combative.....which is soooooooo unlike him. I have never seen anything like this in my life and I was scared to death. We spent several hours at the hospital while they got him calmed and coherent again. He spent all day Saturday very sick and couldn't keep anything down (except, thank God, for his upped up dosage of meds). I was awake for over 24 hours in a row and was exhausted. He's better today and has been sleeping alot, but thankfully no more seizures.

    I'm just glad things are calming down. Does anyone here have seizures or a family member who has them? Have you ever experienced such major episodes? My mother-in-law said that this happened this bad two other times....both during transitions to new medications. I was afraid to sleep in case he had another when we got home....thus my being up so long in a row.

  • serendipity
    serendipity

    ((( Alana & hubby )))

    How scary! I don't have any experience with this, but hopefully the medications will help.

  • caligirl
    caligirl

    So sorry to hear that Alana. I hope that the new medication helps. I have a cousin that has epilepsy, but I don't know any details about his medications.

    Hugs to you and Mr. Alana and hope that everything gets better for you both.

  • Rabbit
    Rabbit

    Alana,

    I am so sorry for both of you, that was a terrible experience. I have temporal lobe partial complex epilepsy which is much milder than the convulsive types. I did have a bad 'breakthru' event one time several years ago where I became combative, too. I don't remember any of it.

    Like your husband I was under extreme stress and was going thru a medication change. I had 'multiple seizure' syndrome (one after the other) and possibly a 'serotonin' syndrome, too. It scared everyone around me, because, I'd never acted that way before.

    It caused many problems. There are so many people who don't understand this disorder -- and with my dub family they thought it was "demons" because of my doubting & questioning of the WT. Your husband will need a lot of understanding and compassion with this, I know I was extremely embarrassed and ashamed of my behavior, even tho' I was not even aware of anything.

    Hopefully, his epilepsy will get back under control again. My usually is very stable with mild seizures 1 - 2 times a year.

    He is very lucky to have a good mate like you that will stand beside him and help like you have.

    PM me if you like. I dealt with this for 25 years.

    Good luck, Rabbit

  • fullofdoubtnow
    fullofdoubtnow

    (((Alana)))

    Sorry to hear you and your husband are going through this. I hope things are getting better for you.

  • bikerchic
    bikerchic

    (((((Alana and Hubby)))))

    I know epilepsy to be a difficult condition to treat and I'm sorry you and hubby are going through this, I just wanted to offer my sympathies and well wishes.

    Hang in there it will get better.

  • MsMcDucket
    MsMcDucket

    Alana, I'm so sorry to hear that you and your husband went through such a terrible experience. My mother had seizures/convulsions on the 2nd day of this hospital stay. They could not get the seizures to stop until they put her on the new antiepileptic drug called Keppra. I am very thankful for that med.

    When you see a loved one going through this, you feel so helpless. I'm glad that they were able to get your husband's seizures under control.

  • Apostate Kate
    Apostate Kate

    So sorry you have had such a traumatic time. I hope the new meds work for your dear hubby. Stress and changes in meds do exacerbate medical conditions. I do not have epilespy but a condition where stress and heat can trigger neurological tremors, passing out, and other symptoms.

    Wishing you many more happy years together, and good health for hubby.

    Rest well.

  • Blueblades
    Blueblades

    Words cannot convey the feelings we have for you and yours. Medication should put this under control. Take good care of yourselves.

    Blueblades

  • Lady Lee
    Lady Lee

    The first time I ever saw a grand mal seizure was one night when the man I was living with had one. Scared the crap out of me. I yelled for my daughters to call an ambulance - rolled him on his side and waited for the paramedics to get there. A terrifyning experience for sure

    A few years later I had a client who had seizures - always 4 or 5 at a time - all grand mal. When she had them in the office I would try to catch her so she would smash her head on the floor or anything else, roll her on her side and kept talking to and reassuring her. I actually got used to it and could see them coming

    You would think that since he has a history of bad transitions they would try to do it in the hospital - well maybe that is a dumb idea if it takes time to transition but uncontrolled seizures is so scary. Hope you are both getting some good rest.

    And keep breathing

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