last week, my wife, for the first time since I've known her had 2 seizures. The 2nd I believe resulted from missteps in treating the first seizure in the ER of the local hospital. She is now on Dilantin, and the doc also wanted her on a hospital bed also so that her position can be controlled. I was told that the occurrence of seizures is uncommon, and that it doesn't mean that her Alzheimers has progressed to another state. I thought she was going to die when I first heard about it and until I found out more info, I was very despondent and grieving all the more. Would anyone care to share their experiences with their spouse having seizures?
Temporal lobe seizures (staring or absent seizures) were one of the first symptoms DH encountered. He was on Keppra for three years, which was slowly decreased and is now on none and has had no seizures. I was under the impression that seizure activity is not an uncommon finding, but I may be wrong about that. If you think about it, the plaques and tangles are bound to play havoc with the electrical system of the brain. The good news is that this is one symptom that can be treated with medication, so take heart in that.
Several years ago,about half way thru AZ Sonny had a seizure,but never had another one. It really scared him,the Dr. did not want to give him anything unless he had a second one, which never occurred.
My DH had several small seizures within the 6-10 months before his death. No medication was given him. When these happened, he fell and was totally out of it for anywhere from 15 sec. to a minute or so.
Watchful, my husband has had 3 seizures all of which I believe were induced by medications. He had the first and second after receiving IV Avelox for aspiration pneumonia. One was 2 hours after receiving the IV and the second was 8 hours later. The hospital docs refused to believe it was the Avelox (side effects clearly state seizures can be a negative side effect) and 1 after receiving an injection of Rociphen (another very strong antibiotic). He's on relatively high doses of Neurontin (anti-seizure med) to control his agitation so technically he should not have seizures. Has never had a seizure without receiving some high dose of antibiotic.
Having said this, it is my understanding that as the dementia progresses, the person can be subject to seizures because as marche says the brains electrical system is not working properly. Very scary to witness...I felt so helpless.
I'm sorry this is happening to you and your wife. My husband also had seizures. They started in his 40's. Like yhouniey's Sonny, my husband was not medicated after the first seizure but they kept happening and actually preceded his FTD dx.
He was hospitalized about seven times, as some of the seizures were classified as "status epilepticus". (And this is over a period of twelve years.) Following the second seizure he was rx Dilantin but after a couple of years that was changed to Keppra. The reason for the change was that for some Dilantin can cause serious periodontal issues.
I have no medical evidence to support this but my opinion is that some of the seizures were caused by his non compliance, not only with Dilantin/Keppra but also with other meds he took. However, he continued to have seizures even after I took over the dosing- which he hated. He pretty much always had behavioral issues and I believe that some of the meds given to him while an inpatient set the stage for rage behavior after he returned home.
He did not have any experience with Neurontin but the husband of a friend of mine takes it for another neurological condition and has reportedly had good luck with it.
watchful I have brought up several older discussions with regards to seizure myoclonus activity with AD. my DH is late stage 7D-E and still has a few now and then. I have used Ativan for his and dropped the Neurontin at this point. Ativan relaxs him without a lot of side effects for now. we were on Neurontin like others before for years. it controlled the jerks seizures well without a lot of side effects. and can be given in gradual low increases up to high amounts. the myoclonus (seizure/jerking) activity with our spouses I do believe can be a symptom at some point for many. its like our friends say above the electrical system is being ravaged and no doubt influenced by the disease and plaques. it can also be a medication side effect as stated. so to answer your question, many of us here have seen this happen over the years. it can usually be controlled with meds. good luck. divvi
My husband's initial symptom 7 years ago was partial complex seizures. He did not believe me when I told him what had just happened and went to work. He suddenly fell there and sustained a bloody nose so bad a colleague took him to the hospital to have it packed. I knew that was another seizure so insisted on going to the ER and he was admitted for a week with a full workup finding nothing. He was also started on Dilantin and found the side' effects impossible (too drowsy) so stopped it and refused to follow up with the neurologist. He had a few more seizures over the course of the next three years and then they stopped. He was diagnosed with behavioural variant frontal temporal dementia 2 years ago and now lives in a facility.
MY DH, who is currently in very late stage of AD, has had seizures for the last five years or so. They are pretty short seizures, about a minute followed by a longer period of heavy breathing. He was on Depakote for a while but this also made him more "out of it". When he became wheel chair bound, we discontinued the medication. In my husband's case, he experiences a few days of marked improvement after a seizure. It used to be a significant improvement, i.e. happier and much more cognizant. His improvement after a seizure is not as dramatic as before but still noticeable. Sometimes he has a seizure very couple of weeks or it may go two months. No discernible pattern.
Lloyd was diagnosed in January 2009. His first seizure (and it was major) was April 2011 and they continued sporadically until he died. By sporadically I mean 3 or 4 a year. He was on Keppra, Depakaote, and Dilantin at different times. His neuro started them all out at 500mg which I personally believe is too much for anyone who has Alzheimer's. His first seizure landed him in ICU...after the ER gave him wicked nasty drugs that put him into respiratory arrest (Norcuron and Versed). Their treatment of that first seizure was worse than the seizure itself. From then on, I waited for the seizures to pass. He would be out of sorts for a little while, extra tired, but he got over it. The effects of ALL the medications were worse than dealing with the seizures. He would be lethargic, slump over, and drool all over himself. I felt the drugs impaired him even further so I stopped them all and I told his neuro exactly that. I even stopped his sleeping pills because he always had his seizures first thing in the mornings and I thought there might be a connection. Eventually (when I became exhausted) I would give him 1/4 or 25mg Trazadone. It was enough for a long time. Then I gave him 1/2. He had his last seizure February 2013 resulting in his death 5 days later. I am not totally convinced that the ER did not attribute to his death by administering more drugs to him without my permission. I had a POA (durable and medical) that I carried with me everywhere I went and I waved that thing at everyone and told them it would be MY WAY. He was my husband and I knew what was best for him better than anyone out there. Shortly before he died, I had pretty much eliminated all meds except one 10mg. Namenda and 1.5ml liquid Neurontin. The 5 months before his death his decline had been rapid. I guess it was just time for it to be over. He died at home in his own bed. Lloyd's started with myoclonus/jerking and at times would escalate to a seizure.