Pseudo Seizures

[Keepstanding]

Friends,

Have you ever had a student present with Pseudo Seizures ? I have a student who has these and no basis for it. Phy. has ruled out Epliepsy. Normal EEG. I am stumped as to why ???

I would love to hear from you to see if you have ever experienced this ??

Thank you.

[SnowyJ, RN]

Some of you need to get off of your high horse a bit and work a day in our shoes.

1000 kids. One Nurse. No backup. No meds. No Care Plan. Parents who can't be reached. Parents who don't give a crap. Try it !!

Word!

[OldDude]

... Telling a child having a psychogentic seizure to "cut that out" won't treat the psychological cause...nor will ignoring it. It is not in the person's control. The best you can do is to address the anxiety that may have caused it to happen.

I totally agree with this. It crystallizes Praiser's initial post subject. If you tell a child having a seizure to "cut that out," and they stop or they change what they're doing to something else,or if you realize you've just captured their attention for a moment, they are pretending, faking, attention seeking, whatever you want to call it but they are not having a seizure...these are the circumstances we are talking about, it's these kids who come to school "labeled" as having a history of pseudoseizures that are difficult to manage outside of a clinical setting, as Praiser said, when you're all alone to make the decisions with a zillion Monday morning quarterbacks watching.

No one disagrees with the statement I quoted from you.

[SnowyJ, RN]

And as Judge Judy so eloquently put it, "don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

[OldDude]

I don't recall anyone here lacking compassion. I don't recall anyone here not doing their best to protect the "seizing" student. Student safety is our first priority. THAT'S WHAT WE DO !! Some of you need to get off of your high horse a bit and work a day in our shoes.

1000 kids. One Nurse. No backup. No meds. No Care Plan. Parents who can't be reached. Parents who don't give a crap. Try it !!

*jumps behind the couch*

[ContraryMary]

I don't recall anyone here lacking compassion. I don't recall anyone here not doing their best to protect the "seizing" student. Student safety is our first priority. THAT'S WHAT WE DO !! Some of you need to get off of your high horse a bit and work a day in our shoes.

1000 kids. One Nurse. No backup. No meds. No Care Plan. Parents who can't be reached. Parents who don't give a crap. Try it !!

This.

[zombieghoast]

[SnowyJ, RN]

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

you're all alone to make the decisions with a zillion Monday morning quarterbacks watching.

.

Well that right there sums up school nursing quite eloquently.

[OldDude]

OK Snowy, now I have to wipe off my computer screen. THAT is a good one!!!

[choughlesRN]

I work adult acute care, so feel free to take this or not. In my last patient with pseudoseizures, they were more related to the psych diagnoses than anything neurological. Maybe if you can get a neuro to look at the kid and explicitly suggest a psych evaluation, that might grease the wheels a bit?

[blackribbon]

I simply was trying to get across the point that these are not "fake" seizures. The kid has no control. They are not "attention seeking behaviors". Their care needs to be addressed from that angle. I am sorry if anyone took offense in my response but honestly, there isn't anything a school nurse can "do" beyond provide a safe environment to seize and recommend both a neurological (sounds like it has been done) and a psychological consult to determine the cause and a valid treatment plan.

[_Skittles_]

On the psych wards they always used a nasal trumpet to see if it was fake or not...most of our fakers would be swatting at us in no time which means no meds for them!