Is there a doctor in the house?

Bossk · Post by **Bossk** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:32 pm

Hi guys.

Sorry iof this is not the right place, but I really need some help. I am at my wits end here and you guys are always a source of wisdom and help.

I have just been reading the thread about Cindys grandfather and realise that there is a wealth of untapped knowledge on the forum. There is, I believe, no substitute for experience in many things so I have a task for your great minds.

I want to try a brief experiment in a sort of "crowd sourcing" for a medical problem. As some of you know, my wife is in hospital suffering from fits/seizures brought on by an unknown reason.

At the moment the medics have done a CT scan, an MRI of the brain and spine, EEG, blood tests and standard obs. Other than a "shadow" on the CT scan all the other tests show up as clear. The CT scan has been shown to a neuro specialised in a hospital here in the UK that is a centre of excellence for this kind of stuff and they can not find a cause.

I am not asking for detailed medical diagnostics, just ideas, suggestions, "out of the box" thinking that may be able to shed some light on the problem. The doctors in the UK, and the hospital she is in, are very good at looking for the obvious, but are too focused on that to think of any other things. As an example, my wife had the CT scan on Monday morning. This was looked at and an MRI scan was suggested as a follow up to get a more detailed look. The doctors were so focused on getting this MRI that they stopped doing any other tests. It took until Tuesday afternoon for another doctor to suggest that an EEG should be done to rule out epilepsy, that way at least if anything does show up then the MRI may not be needed at all. "Good Idea" was the collective shout! Shame she had to wait 24 hours for some bright spark to mention it! All because they were so focused with the MRI scan. As it happens the MRI did not get done until about 10am today anyway!

The "episodes" take the form of complete loss of feeling and movement of her arms and legs. She can talk and is fully aware of what is happening, but she is unable to move anything for about 5-10 mins. After a while feeling comes back again, first to the right hand side, but not to the left side for at least a hour or so, and then it is very numb, like recovering from pins and needles. And even then she has only partial use of her left hand. She can grip, although with no strength, but can not release her fingers again.

If there is anybody who may be able to help please let me know. U2U if you want.

Anyways, again thanks for letting me vent my total frustration. Sorry.

B

Post by **Marvin** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 10:55 pm

Sounds like a circulatory problem. More pronounced than "my foot fell asleep" but similar.

Bossk · Post by **Bossk** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:00 pm

See. That's why I like you guys. It may not be a circurlatory promlem but that is something that has not been looked at yet!

TheMom · Post by **TheMom** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:08 pm

If I were having a similar problem, the first place I'd go is to the chiropractor. When the head is not sitting straight on the spine, it does seem to put the whole being out of whack. My father-in-law is a chiropractor and has had many seizure victims as patients. When the body is properly aligned, the seizures came less often. I don't suppose this would be every one's experience, but it was for them.

Another idea I had was this could be a type of migraine. The only reason I suggest that is because my husband has migraines with auras. He shows symptoms of a stroke when it gets really bad - partial paralysis, thickening of the tongue, et cetera. It can be scary, but the tests showed that no stroke happened, so it was determined to be a migraine with auras.

Good luck with discovering the problem! We have such wonderful technology and still some things are a mystery. I do agree that sometimes the doctors (well, really, many people - we just notice it more in certain professions) are so set on what they think it is that they don't consider alternative ideas. That is too bad.

Post by **Marvin** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 12:17 am

I doubt your wife is a SCUBA diver but there are other ways an embolism can manifest itself. Either in the bloodstream or subcutaneously.

Shieldwolf · Post by **Shieldwolf** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:35 am

From post: 134886, Topic: tid=9190, author=TheMom wrote:If I were having a similar problem, the first place I'd go is to the chiropractor. When the head is not sitting straight on the spine, it does seem to put the whole being out of whack. My father-in-law is a chiropractor and has had many seizure victims as patients. When the body is properly aligned, the seizures came less often. I don't suppose this would be every one's experience, but it was for them.

Another idea I had was this could be a type of migraine. The only reason I suggest that is because my husband has migraines with auras. He shows symptoms of a stroke when it gets really bad - partial paralysis, thickening of the tongue, et cetera. It can be scary, but the tests showed that no stroke happened, so it was determined to be a migraine with auras.

Good luck with discovering the problem! We have such wonderful technology and still some things are a mystery. I do agree that sometimes the doctors (well, really, many people - we just notice it more in certain professions) are so set on what they think it is that they don't consider alternative ideas. That is too bad.

woof... Had a similar thought of a pinched nerve someplace. That's most likely something that a chiropractor would see. However the seizure/ fits described don't seem to fit the bill for a pinched nerve. ( But then again I'm no doctor.)

BraveHart · Post by **BraveHart** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:52 am

"Hi Bossk, your wife and family are in my prayers. When my oldest daughter was just a wee little one she would have a fever every 7th day and she would promptly go into a seizure. This lasted for 3 months while the doctors kept trying to find the cause...until one day I suggested they try an allergy test...which they did and they found out she was allergic to just about everything. So I followed the docs treatment plan and she recovered. Your wife probably does not have an allergy problem, but thinking outside the box is a good way to go. TheMom suggestion sounds good"

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:17 am

I'm sorry to hear Bossk.

Hope it gets resolved soon.

The symptoms you describe could be caused by Trigger Points.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigger_point

A chiropractor could help out with that I think. Might be what TheMom described above, but I thought I mention
it anyway.

Percival · Post by **Percival** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:50 am

From post: 134889, Topic: tid=9190, author=Shieldwolf wrote:
From post: 134886, Topic: tid=9190, author=TheMom wrote:If I were having a similar problem, the first place I'd go is to the chiropractor. When the head is not sitting straight on the spine, it does seem to put the whole being out of whack. My father-in-law is a chiropractor and has had many seizure victims as patients. When the body is properly aligned, the seizures came less often. I don't suppose this would be every one's experience, but it was for them.

Another idea I had was this could be a type of migraine. The only reason I suggest that is because my husband has migraines with auras. He shows symptoms of a stroke when it gets really bad - partial paralysis, thickening of the tongue, et cetera. It can be scary, but the tests showed that no stroke happened, so it was determined to be a migraine with auras.

Good luck with discovering the problem! We have such wonderful technology and still some things are a mystery. I do agree that sometimes the doctors (well, really, many people - we just notice it more in certain professions) are so set on what they think it is that they don't consider alternative ideas. That is too bad.
woof... Had a similar thought of a pinched nerve someplace. That's most likely something that a chiropractor would see. However the seizure/ fits described don't seem to fit the bill for a pinched nerve. ( But then again I'm no doctor.)

Believe it or not, pinched nerves elswhere in the body have been attributed to some cases of vision and hearing loss. It could be possible that siezures could also happen. When you described the symptoms, I thought the same thing as TheMom.

Bossk · Post by **Bossk** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:34 am

Thanks guys. I should have also said that there is a semi perminant twitch in her right arm comming from the shoulder as well. I am off to the hospital soon and will suggest to the doctors about possible issues wih nerves. Will keep you updated. again thanks for all your kind words. They have really helped me a lot.

B

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 6:03 pm

Sorry to hear Bossk, to my mind it seems that all the suggestions made so far are good ones. Specially the allergies and poisson ones. People all react differently to allergies and unknown substances which can come from anywhere and are difficult to diagnose! Case in point was my Daugther having Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 3! It took us over 2 years and my wife is a Doctor to figure out it was caused in my Daughters case by a spice allergy called Turmeric! Since then we had to check all food labels for this Spice and eliminate it from her diet and she had no more episodes!.....One way to find the culprit if it is an allergy related to food is to check all food products your wife likes most commonly to eat for what these products have in common in ingredients like the spices, food coloring, unnatural additives....etc....!

I hope you find the cause sooner then we did for our Daughter!...

Star King · Post by **Star King** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:33 pm

Dear Bossk,

Ask your doctor's to run an MRA which is different then an MRI. The MRA checks the arteries and circulation. People who have strokes get this test to insure there is no blockage which can cause seizures and other issues.

My prayers are with you and yours.

Cindy · Post by **Cindy** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 8:42 pm

I hope your wife gets well soon! I have you and yours in my prayers.

Exile · Post by **Exile** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:08 pm

From post: 134912, Topic: tid=9190, author=Bossk wrote:... I should have also said that there is a semi perminant twitch in her right arm comming from the shoulder as well ...

That can definitely be from a pinched nerve. A temporary and less severe version of this is carpel tunnel syndrome, where a tight ligament is squeezing a nerve.

Symptoms can range anywhere from numbness to twitching or tingling in the fingertips.

If a nerve is being pinched somewhere crucial, in the spine or upper shoulder, the symptoms you describe can likely be related to that possibility.

Can you give us more information on the seizures?

Frequency
Severity
what type of muscle groups are affected i.e. : facial, limb, ocular, etc.

Bossk · Post by **Bossk** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:17 pm

Hi guys.

Well they still don't know what is causing the problem. I think the docs have ruled out any brain issue. They are now working on getting her legs working properly. Physio have now gotten involved and she is walking on crutches.

@StarKing, I am not sure if they did the MRA. I know that they were talking about it. But from what the consultants said today would imply they did because they have ruled out a circulator problem as well.

@Exile. The twitch in her arm is most of the time. Looks like it comes from the right shoulder. The seizure is total. What I mean by that is she is concious, can talk, but looses all control of her arms/hands and legs. You can pick up her arms and drop them with no resistance at all. When it stops, her right side (except leg) is quick in recovery, but her left side is almost always in a state of numbness with a reduced function. She can move the arm and hand, close her fingers around a cup for example, but can then not release the cup. She says she can "feel" the signal to move the fingers, but they just wont do it. She has not had a seizure since about 1700 yesterday, and that was when she was sat up eating dinner. She just stopped. She had hold of her fork but could not let it go or move her arms. Afterwards she said she felt "swooshy in the head".

The biggest concern is that we were told that about 80% of fits and seizures are never traced to a physical cause and they can only treat the symptoms. Off there again tomorrow and they hope she will be out by Saturday, maybe.

B

Shieldwolf · Post by **Shieldwolf** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 3:07 am

woof ..... It's a long shot and not entirely certain if there is any reason for it, but have they tried doing a spinal tap yet? ( Just another thought outside the box.)

MiaZ · Post by **MiaZ** » Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:07 am

If epilepsy has been rules out and brain scans are all normal
I am inclined to agree with TheMom's idea about it being a type of migraine.
Migraines with paralysis are not unusual and migraines dont always have that bad type headache.
A quick copy and paste--

"Hemiplegic migraine involves temporary paralysis and pins and needles on one side of the body including the face, arms and legs. There can be slurred speech, confusion and vision problems. These can be confused with stroke or mini-stroke and medications can help, but typical triptans which are used for migraines should usually not be used to treat these migraines"--

One other idea I had was of Tachy Brady syndrome where
symptoms maybe include symptoms of stroke or TIA.

I still think that a type of migraine sounds more likely
than tachy-brady syndrome though I wonder,
Did you check pulse rate during these episodes?
Has there been an ECG test done?

[Edited on 4-13-2012 by MiaZ]

Daedalao · Post by **Daedalao** » Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:56 am

I don't have a lot of medical knowledge but I do know someone with MS ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001747/ ) who has similar symptoms to the ones that you mention.

If anything make sure that they are checking the entire main trunk of her nervous system. The brain isn't the only place these things can start at. Ask them to show you what they mean they say shadow. Ask them to be patient. And also tell your wife that I am throwing my good will her way.

[Edited on 4-14-2012 by Daedalao]

Bossk · Post by **Bossk** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:45 pm

Hi guys,

Bit of an update. My wife is now out of the hospital. She was release about a week ago. She is still suffering from "episodes" but they have reduced in severity, if not is quantity. They did not want her in hospital for too much longer than she was as she could have picked up infections and the like. The good news is that since she has been back home she is now walking better now. She is still on crutches to get around, but it is under her own steam. She also is happier in her mind. Being cooped up in hospital was not doing her much good on that front.

The bad(ish) news is they they have still not found a physical cause for her problem. They have described it as a kind of B.S.O.D for the brain. A computer may be working just fine, then one day, for no real reason, it starts to crash. The hardware is fine and has not changed and it may be a combination of various software factors. The issue with my wife could have been caused by a virus or bacteria for example. That has now passed but has caused some thing to go wrong.

Your suggestions really helped. I put them to her doctors who agreed that some of them could be a cause. Some of them had already been ruled out and but some were investigated further. One thing in addition to causes already ruled out is MS though.

Just onwards and upwards now. Could be a long way to recovery, but then again could be very quick. Just keeping positive.

Thanks again for all your ideas guys. Hope to be back in due course. In the mean time, keep looking over your shoulder. Chaos may not be far behind!

Bossk

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:53 pm

Great news Bossk.

Nothing cures you like being home with your loved ones.

I hope she will recover fully, even if it might take some time.
Keep fighting and send her my best regards.

SeeJay (Always looking over my shoulder;))

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:34 pm

Glad to hear the good news Bossk!

I am by no means what so ever a doctor, nor am I qualified to diagnose or treat any ailment.

That being said, have you and your wife ever considered alternative medicine? As in the likes of accupunture, bee sting therapy, an so on. As unconventional as they are, there do seem to be more than a few reports of such treaments having success, where conventional medine fails.

Again, I can't recommend it, nor can I say I've ever tried alternative medines before, with the exception of practicing the arts of herbal inhalation in my youth. Interestingly enough, is considered alternative medicine... where such things are legal. Lol, and by no means am I promoting the use of an illegal substance... but there are herbal medicines and treatments available that are on the sunny side of the law and still considered true alternative medicine.

So, just something to think about

Wishing the best for you and your wife!

From post: 135506, Topic: tid=9190, author=SeeJay wrote: Nothing cures you like being home with your loved ones.

I think SeeJay said it best though

Cheri50000 · Post by **Cheri50000** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:02 am

Hi, Bossk

I'm very sorry to hear about your wife. I hope your wife gets well soon. I'll be praying for your wife. I'm glad your wife is home now!

Cheers,
Cheri and Vincent

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 11:26 am

Hey Bossk.

Any word on your wifes progress on recovery?
Hope she's back at full strength mate.

Bossk · Post by **Bossk** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 1:52 pm

Hi Seejay. Things are better now. Thanks for asking. She is still not well but we are in a better position than a few months ago. She is suffering from something called Non Epileptic Attack Disorder. This means that her episodes share a lot of the outward signs of Epilepsy but they are not caused in the same way. They are brought on by external triggers like a sudden fright or shock. She also gets confused when there is too much external input like a lot of people talking at a party for example. She has difficulty processing all the 'noise' at the same time. There is no real cure for this condition only trying to find the underlying cause of the condition. We are getting there. Slowly.

Post by **Marvin** » Sun Aug 05, 2012 2:38 pm

From post: 142639, Topic: tid=9190, author=Bossk wrote:She also gets confused when there is too much external input like a lot of people talking at a party for example.

Gardening. There's nothing more relaxing than gardening. Flowers don't talk.