Seizure that came with a gift

Battlebuddy

  My husband had a seizure Tuesday morning. It was the scariest thing I’ve been through on this journey . It started with him yelling and screaming. Then his limbs began posturing . Finally he went completely rigid and his head tilted back and his breaths came in puffs. He bit his tongue and it began to bleed.

   When it was over  he slept. The next day he seemed his usual self as far as cognition and speech goes. But today my husband woke up very animated. His language and recognition were back to where he was six months ago before hospice. He told me “ you are a nice woman” and “ you are so cute”  when his brother ( who my husband hasn’t recognized in months) came over for his weekly visit , my husband reacted the way you would expect someone to feel when they they greet their long lost brother- he cried out with joy, called him by name , and then began to cry from the emotion. It was so touching to see.

   I have since read that this can happen . That somehow the seizure can make them more alert if only temporarily  . I think in a weeks time it will all fade and he may actually get worse because.  of it.

   If this journey wasn’t crazy enough we have a whole new set of curious things to ponder. The brain is such an amazing thing and there is so much we don’t understand about it

toolbeltexpert

Battle buddy sorry your going thru this. When I was younger had had seizures for many years. My only advice is, if he has another seizure clear away any objects he could hit and do not try to restran him, during a seizure he could have incredible  strength. Do not put your fingers in his mouth. And the sleep is very normal. I always sleep after mine. It sounds like the unexpected effects are really a gift as you said.

Joe C.

I’m sure witnessing the seizure was scary but the after effect must have been be heartwarming. I would not want DW to experience a seizure even if it came with I increased cognition but I often think what I would give for “one more day”.

Ed1937

That is both terrifying, and a beautiful result! I'm sorry you had to experience the seizure.

ImMaggieMae

The seizure sounds terrifying, but wouldn’t it be nice if the after effects lasted?

lhfry

looking for info on cognitive rebound after seizures.

My husband, 87 yo, has had dementia for at least 10 and likely 15 or more years. He was diagnosed in 2017 as Alzheimer’s due to family history, apoe4 gene evidence and results of testing. Decline has been slow but steady. He no longer can walk, is incontinent, vocalizes but can’t converse. Guess stage 6 or 7. He has been in Hospice for almost 2, years and has lost about 40 lbs from a healthy adult weight. Usually he needs to be fed and helped to drink liquids.

He has had about half a dozen seizures over the past year. He would recover after about A day and have a cognitive rebound as the first poster here described. The last two seizures were more powerful and it took 3-4 days of sleep and rest to recover. After these he was put on anti-seizure medicine called Keppra. In a few days I noticed sentences, clear response to questions, increased responsiveness and greater physical activity and energy. He notices the odd behavior of the other residents and smiles and rolls his eyes. This is all new.

I did some looking and it appears research into the beneficial effects on cognition of Keppra is ongoing. Would be interested if others are experiencing this. Here are links to a couple of references: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34570177/ And

https://www.alzforum.org/therapeutics/levetiracetam

Lillian Fry

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