details, for those interested

[spacebug]

I've had some questions about WTF happened this weekend, so here's one more post about what all went down in seizure-land. It's all still pretty mysterious, as there isn't anything they can pinpoint as the cause, but, for those interested,

I woke up early on Thursday with S4 and made the coffee, like always, and felt fine. I fell back asleep for a little bit after he left. The 2nd time I woke up I felt really weird, but just thought I was having a tougher time than normal transitioning from sleep to wakefulness. What was really happening, I know now, was a seizure "aura". It's hard to describe, but it's a really bizarre and distinctive mental state - feels kind of like deja vu, or like you're really stuck deep in thought and can't quite shake it, or something vaguely dreamlike. Auras, I've learned, are minor seizures in and of themselves, and often premeditate a more serious ones. The feeling passed, and I got up the rest of the way and went to work and didn't think much of it.

At work, we all convened for a staff meeting late in the morning. I sat down, and had the same kind of feeling I had had earlier in the morning. I sat for a minute and waited for it to pass. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor, and immediately after that paramedics were loading me onto a stretcher and into an ambulance. I remember the paramedics fitting me with an oxygen mask and an IV. It was really lucky things happened when they did- my desk is somewhat isolated from the rest of my colleagues, so the fact that it happened in a meeting meant I got help immediately and 4 witnesses to tell the paramedics what happened.

There are several kinds and levels of severity of seizures; mine seems to have hit all of them. Lucky me! I had what's formerly known as a grand mal. Nowadays they're more commonly referred to as "Tonic-Clonic". It was convulsive, "general" (involved more than one part of my brain), and "absence" (I lost consciousness). I don't know exactly how long it lasted, but apparently it was several minutes- long enough, anyway, for it to be considered a medical emergency and for an ambulance to get there.

I think I was in and out of consciousness in the ambulance and for a while in the ER, because I also don't remember having my clothes replaced with a hospital gown, but I'm not totally sure if this was because of the seizure or from the muscle-relaxing medication they gave me.

They immediately did a cat scan in the ER, which ruled out really scary stuff. I was in the ER until early evening, when I was transferred to a regular hospital room. Shortly after moving there they attached my head to a video-monitored EEG.

The next day a woman came in and did what seemed like trying to induce another seizure, so they could monitor how my brain responded on the EEG. I was made to stare at strobe lights flashing at several different frequencies, and to purposefully hyperventilate.

The rest of the time was just waiting to get in for an MRI, punctuated by many phone calls and visits. (Thanks everyone!) I finally got in for my MRI later in the evening. The results came back fine, and I was discharged sometime between 11:30 and midnight. I'm supposed to check in with a regular doctor in the next week or so, and again with the neurologist who was assigned to me at the hospital in 3 months.

Comments

[spikenheimer.livejournal.com]

galaxia is/was an ER nurse @ united. i bet if they knew you were a roller girl they'd all have been "oh we know galaxia!!!"

why is it called a Tonic-Clonic? thats a funnier name than Grand Mal

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

"Grand Mal" means "Big Bad" in French, so, maybe the medical community doesn't like that? I dunno. Tonic and clonic refer to different kinds of muscle contractions, and a tonic-clonic seizure exhibits both. The tonic phase is the stiffening of the muscles and the clonic phase is the jerking. Sometimes seizures are just one or the other, and others are neither.

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

Tonic-Clonic sounds like a Music Theory enema...

.....


I could probably use one right about now...

[angel-boi.livejournal.com]

glad you're doing ok...
sounds pretty scary...

its amazing how many types of seizures there are and the disparate causes...
its amazing how far off ti is from the the general public understanding...
and how little deinitive concret understanding there is in the medical science

its great that you so clearly id the aura... people don't ways pick up on those s fast, and it can be a great early warning system...
of course i hope this was a one time thing... and you never have to deal with this ever again... but if you do even once... having this understanding can help you manage and keep safe...
curious..did you have any particular sound or smell taste hallucination during the auras?

a few years ago my best was in a bike accident, a woman ran a red light...
and hit his nighthawk... she hit her brakes so it wasnt hard but enough to knock him over...his helmeted head hit the ground... he didn't even loose consciousness...but he got a concussion... we now understand that initiated some scaring in his brain... which took a _year_ to settle in... so suddenly a year later, out of the blue he starts seizing... scary shit.
so far this a one of, a alrk and i hope it stays that way... moreover i'm sure you're surrounded by good docs etc... but if you want someone to chat with about things...fom my limited perspective, i'm here.

btw. i assume they asked, but have you received any bumps t the noggin in the last 18mos at roller derby? on the bike?

[riotdorrrk.livejournal.com]

have you ever had any seizure-type reactions before? any sort of sleep disorders?

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Nope, nothing like this, or sleep disorders before!

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

So, didja dig the MRI? I think someone could make a good track out of those sounds...

I didn't get a chance to say hi at the game (though we hugged S4 during the break)...It was awesome seeing you on the track after all that scary stuff...

[r4c.livejournal.com]

I've experienced similar episodes a number of times. Each with different levels of severity, symptoms and results. I've been in the hospital twice about it, both times the EEG, CATscan, etc. came back totally normal. One thing I have figured out is that it's brought on by a combination of low blood sugar, fatigue (sometimes), extreme visual stimulus (like exceedingly violent films,etc.) and/or non-alcohol type chemicals (sometimes even many hours after the effects have worn off). The first and usually the last seem to be the only common factors to all of the episodes. Seems like my brain just overloads and reboots.

In any case, yeah, it sucks and it's scary! I hope you don't have to experience that again!

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Crazy stuff! (Haven't seen you around lately, virtually or otherwise, hope all is well! Also, I have a cd for you...)

[hexagonalcarbon.livejournal.com]

Or is it a side effect of low orbit?

[nemoren.livejournal.com]

I'm just glad it seems like a one-time thing so far. You do too much cool shit to get derailed.

[spidertangle.livejournal.com]

wow! i haven't been online for a few days, so i don't know when this happened but very scary, you! i had a dream about you and scott the other day... maybe friday morning.. or saturday morning. i can't remember. i think it was friday morning. anyway, be good to yourself and take it easy, just in case!

[ande2713.livejournal.com]

so happy you're ok. sounds really scary!

[ethel.livejournal.com]

Sending good vibes your way.

[bohemianrapsody.livejournal.com]

So glad you're ok. What an ordeal. I like someone's previous comment about having the same situation and summing it up as "their brain rebooting" The body is a mystery sometimes..

[pygmybugs.livejournal.com]

I still remember seizure auras from when I was a kid (I had seizures from Rubella as an infant, was on anti-seizure meds after that, and my mom kept trying to randomly take me off them cold turkey, which will give* you seizures even if you weren't otherwise predisposed). Similar to what you describe, but I'd also get a really weird taste/sensation in my mouth.

Grand mals suck. I'm surprised you felt okay to skate. My body always hurt like crazy after one (although I never got muscle relaxants). Waking up from one is scary as hell. It's kind of what I imagine you'd feel like after electro-convulsive therapy. Wiped blank, wiped out, just wiped.

I'm really glad you're okay. Here's to hoping you don't ever have another one.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty surprised I felt ok to skate, too, from what I've heard. After being in bed for nearly 2 full days, though, I was a little stir crazy. I'd guess that I have derby to thank for keeping me in good shape, 'cause other than my back and shoulders feeling a little tight and sore, I felt fine.

[kittekaat.livejournal.com]

I have had two occasions where I sat in a chair and the next thing I knew people were standing over me asking if I was OK. The first time I went in for all the tests and they found nothing. The second time I didn't bother since apart from falling to the floor, I was OK. I hope that it does not happen to you again sweetie and I am super thankful that the scans found nothing. No news is good news when it comes to this sort of thing.

[rubin110.livejournal.com]

First step towards shooting lasers.

[lexinatrix.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you're doing better.

[windelina.livejournal.com]

It was the first test of the Alien Neuro-Control system.
Thanks for helping us work out some of the bugs.