Resolved question:
My partner who is 25 years old (male) had a seizure. quite a long one lasting longer than 5 minutes. as an epileptic myself i noticed that he was not tired after his seizure and had no desire to sleep etc
we recently got him an EEG and MRI and his neurologist (before getting these results) gave him a script for epilim and said to wait until he got the results back before taking them ( he said to take them as the chance of having another seizure is increased) it has been a month and a bit since his seizure and my partner has not had another one, his EEG came back fine but his neurologist left a message to say my partner should start taking epilim. I am a little confused obviously. My partner has recently put on a few kilo/s and has started snoring and has muscle spasms in his arms and legs, he has spoken to me in his sleep a few times and i thought he was awake and sometimes he will raise his arm in the air in his sleep. recently he scratched his face and woke up with blood on his face.
An MRI was ordered to rule out brain lesions but i don't know if this is a standard practice.
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Neurologist, Medical
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query at DoctorSpring.
Your partner has had a seizure, and the reason has not been identified as yet.
It is a standard practice to order an EEG and MRI brain epilepsy protocol to determine the underlying cause of seizure. However, despite investigations, the cause of seizure may not be identified in some cases, which is then referred to as Cryptogenic seizure.
Epilim (sodium valproate) is a standard antiepileptic drug, which is broad spectrum (it works against various types of seizures) and is often used in patients with seizure.
Weight gain is known to occur with epilim. If that and other side effects (tremors of hands, hair fall, etc) become a major issue, epilim may be stopped and replaced with another drug such as lamotrigine or levetiracetam.
I hope it helps. I would be pleased to answer any follow up queries.
Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology)
Senior Consultant Neurologist