Seizure!!!

[clarence-123]

Hi everyone.

I was sleeved in April this year. I had a gastric band before that for 13 years. On the 2nd July I had a grand mal seizure. I have never had a seizure before nor is their seizure disorder in my family. I was taken to the emergency department and kept overnight. The emergency staff took bloods and I had a chest xray, all came back normal. A week later I had an MRI scan which revealed some small changes so was advised to have a lumber puncture. I have just received the results of the lumber puncture and all is good. I now have a follow up appointment with the hospital consultant this Wednesday to see where we go from here. I still have symptoms that cause me concern such as dizziness, a vague feeling like I'm on the outside looking in, and a certain amount of memory loss.

In the meantime, I have been doing some research of my own and was dismayed to learn that many gastric by-pass and some gastric sleevers started to have seizures and as with me, had never
had seizures previously. Some of these people have lost their jobs, can no longer drive or be left alone, in fact, many say that their lives have been ruined!

I am now very anxious to get learn, for sure, what caused my seizure, am I likely to get more seizures and what can be done to prevent further seizures

If anyone else has had similar problems I would really like to hear from you.

Thank you

[Noha]

sorry to hear this hope you feel better. try to google this wernickes encephalopathy. If this is the case due to your surgery its cured by vit B1 shots. Hopfuly that is all you will need. Good luck

[clarence-123]

Thank you for your quick response and kind words. My blood results didn't show a deficiency in vitamin B12 but it's worth discussing again with the consultant.

[Evie Sleevie]

That is frightening. I hope you are well, and that this was a fluke. Please keep us updated with all of the doctors' findings.

[clarence-123]

Thanks

[happy1957]

I believe that Noha had said vitamin B1 not B12.... that may be a difference...

[jgilliam1955]

Thank you for your quick response and kind words. My blood results didn't show a deficiency in vitamin B12 but it's worth discussing again with the consultant.

Are you taking B12? I was having dizzy spells & almost passed out. Found out I needed salt. Let us know what's going on.

[clarence-123]

I'll keep posting here to keep you updated.

Thanks

[yankegal]

Had not heard of this at all! please keep us all posted on this. thanks for sharing! Hope you get to feeling better

[lynnhuber]

Vitamin B-1 is one of the vitamins I'll be required to take after surgery - 3x/week.

[lorpierce]

My daughter had rouge-y-bypass on October 2012 to correct 20 years of suffering with severe gastroparesis. I wish I had done more research before we did this because she began to have seizures in April 2013 and now is up to having 10 a day. She had NEVER had a seizure before April. Now she is up to 10 a day. She has fallen and hit her head very hard in the shower, we have found her in the bathroom floor many times, the bedroom floor, so now we have to keep a watch on her 24/7. We have been to doctor after doctor, had MRI, MRA, EEG, etc. and the only thing they say is that it IS NO epilepsy. After researching, I found that there are a lot of stories like hers out there. I also found a write up on the Mayo Clinic website under complications of Bariatric Surgery that explained a rare side effect called NONINSULINOMA PANCREATOGENOUS HYPOGLYCEMIA SYNDROME. I have been in touch with them and am trying to get her a referral. Dr. Michael Sarr at the Minn clinic has several articles written about this as does the Boston Univeristy School of Medicine. (Dr. Jeffrey Nadelson and Dr. Alan Epsein). I hope this helps some. The treatments don't sound very promising, but at least they are trying to find a solution. One is to remove part of the pancreas. Even though this is a rare side effect, I am mad that our bariatric doctor did not know about this and tell us ahead of time. My daughter went from having 24/7 nausea/vomiting to 24/7 seizures. It's like pick your poison.......

[niamh]

I'm so sorry to hear of people having these very rare but hugely significant side effects. I hope you can get the answers and treatment you need.

[yankegal]

I hope that you have found some anwsers to your problem with the sezures. Please let us know what the drs find out.

[middlechild31]

I have been having sodium (salt) issues since my sleeve. That can lead to seizures. I was dizzy, my blood pressure super low, and other weird symptoms. Low soduim can cause seizures. I am actually salting my food and drinking 0 calorie sports drinks once a day. My primary care waited 5 days to call me about it and then warned me I could have a seizure as I was driving on the busiest and most dangerous road in Florida with my child. I Wasn't too happy with them.

[Cindola]

I hope that you find your answers soon. Seizures can be scary and have many, many causes! I haven't had a seizure, but my husband had one about three months prior to his death from undiagnosed heart disease. The doctors were so focused on the seizure that they missed his heart condition! Be sure that you meet with your regular doctor and that everyone shares information!