Lip-smacking, teeth-chomping turned out to be seizures

Call me Gram

I want to share something I’ve recently learned that might help others…

Seizures are much more common in PWD than many of us realize, and they often don’t look like the typical “convulsive” seizures we think of or see in the movies. They can be very subtle—things like brief confusion, staring spells, or small repetitive movements. In my DH's case, the earliest clue was lip-smacking, which later progressed to teeth chomping. At the time, I had no idea this could be seizure activity, but I began to ask him what he was feeling. It was a vague numbness or tingling in his upper abdomen which later progressed to his left thigh.

These episodes became more pronounced and frequent, so I contacted DH's neurologist. I shared with him a log I had been keeping of these "episodes" and the neurologist speculated that they may be "focal seizures." He ran an EEG and confirmed evidence of seizures, which appeared to be more prevalent during sleep. (That could explain DH's nighttime movements that I assumed were muscle spasms.) The neurologist started DH on Keppra a few days ago and we’ve already seen improvement in his sleep. I'm told that treating these seizures may slow his cognitive decline. Only time will tell.

I’m sharing this in case it helps someone else recognize signs they might otherwise overlook—if something seems unusual or repetitive, it may be worth discussing with a neurologist.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/aging-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2022.940515/full

Goodlife2025

Interesting thank you for sharing!