Vasovagal syncope with seizure like activity

[Guest219794]

vasovagal syncope with seizure like activity: anyody seen it?

in other words, a typical vasovagal trigger, followed by fainting, and tonic movements.

this article claims an 8% incidence rate, and i am wondering if others have seen this. i haven't.

[color=#333333]http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/generallinks/a/syncopeseizure.htm

[color=#333333]in a 6-year study conducted by investigators at northwestern university, up to 8% of patients with vasovagal syncope displayed seizure-like activity when they lost consciousness during a tilt table study. these patients underwent extensive neurological evaluations including eeg (electroencephalogram - a study of the electrical signals produced by the brain), cat scans, and mri scans, and none proved to have evidence of a true seizure disorder. their seizure-like movements during syncope are apparently caused by temporary but extremely low blood pressure during the syncopal episode.

[Passout]

Funny that you mention that. I am 15 years old and have that. I was at an eye doctor and he put in the yellow drops to numb, or I don't know what. I'm feeling funny, it's just because the eye drops feel weird and I'm freaking out I tell myself. The room gets cloudy and I'm having a feeling of excited activity, I hear static then see the doctor and my dad standing over me, then hearing returns. That eye doctor had no idea what happened. He thought I had a problem with seizures. I felt sick, and weird for a few HOURS afterward. So, I was still wanting to get contacts so I went to another eye doctor thinking that the other one didn't know what he was doing, since he didn't know what happened. I told the doctor about it, she didn't even ask that many questions......should have been a clue.... She does tests then she says she's going to put eye drops in. She puts them in and I feel the same feeling in my eyes from the eye drops that I did the last time before I passed out. She told me to relax, after I told her that I was starting to freak out a little/heart started fluttering in preparation for unconsciousness (it was mostly me worrying but none the less, I was started to thing that maybe it's going to happen again) , she does a pressure test. I've had the eye drops in for about a minute or so, and then she tells me she's going to put the eye drops in to dilate my eyes. That's what the last doctor did before I passed out......sigh... I asked her a few questions why she had to put them in, thinking I might tell her to not put them in, but I let her. She put them in and 10 seconds later I saw the room getting smaller and said either,"I feel funny," or," It's happening." I wake up with the same static sound and then see the doctor and this time it was my mom. Apparently I had been out for about 30 seconds, about the same as last time. My mom said that I said that, then my eyes rolled back in my head, and I went back in the chair, jerked, tensed up, then started flailing, jerking my arms around while she was trying to hold me and the doctor wasn't doing anything productive. Then she said my eye's returned, then for about 10 seconds I didn't say anything, then I became coherent. The last time I jerked back in my chair and convulsed, like a seizure my dad said. This time though, I felt fine afterwords, no sickness or weird feeling. Just a little pale and clammy for a minute afterward. So, both times the same basic thing happened. I can't remember if the first doctor gave me and eye pressure test though. The new doctor said that she'd right on my paper to do a special pressure test where you don't have to push on my eye. She seemed to thing the pressure test is what did it. This time my pupils dialated, the last time they didn't, so maybe he only put in the numbing drops. Ok, so if there is a test where they don't touch my eyeball for a pressure test, then why the heck didn't she do that in the first place!!!!!!!! I told her I passed out before. So I don't know. I kinda think it's the yellow, numbing eye drops, she's the one who has the college degree though....

[vasovagaltrapper]

Hey Passout!! I was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope when I was 15. I too have seizures when I pass out, which has been happening all too much lately. I'm 21 now and the Dr's keep telling me I will eventually grow out of it. It has happened three times in the past two month (which is a lot for me and usually only when I have my period) and I've been taking salt tablets and drinking tons of fluids like the Dr. said. It's such a frustrating thing to deal with. Especially when everyone keeps saying to me, "all you have to do is take your salt tablet and drink, drink, drink." It happened to me while I was driving two months ago and I rear-ended a car in front of me. I haven't been the same ever since. My driver's license has been taken away, making it difficult to commute here at school in Millersville,PA. I am very emotional about the accident because I've disappointed my parents so much and caused them a great amount of $$. Once I wake up and become coherent again, I get sick too (usually throw up or diarreha), and I also get very embarassed and cry. I wish it would just go away and I would finally grow out of this. I'm studying to be a teacher in elementary and special education and in a year when I get my certification, I'm not really looking forward to the day when I pass out in front of a classroom. ugh, just needing someone to talk to that kind of feels like I do?!

[LilgirlRN, ADN, RN]

Yes, I've seen it. Freaks parents out! There are so many ways to stimulate the vagus nerve... nausea/vomiting, the sight of blood even pain can do it. Hopefully the patients is in the bed when this happens, lower the head of the bed, if they have fluids going open them up. Pt will come around quickly. Reassure the family. Call the doc to the bedside. Hope this helps.

[Passout]

Wow. I thought it only got triggered by certain things, not while driving. The only time it has happened to me is while I was at the eye doctor, which I'm just going to tell them to not dilate my eyes, or put any drops in them. Just do the prescription test. Maybe when I get older I'll try it but I don't know. I might already be growing out of it some because last time I felt sick, this time I was pretty much normal. The weird thing is that I've touched my eyes all the time before either attack to put contacts in, out, and I've had my eyes dilated before the first attack too. It's weird, lol.

[across1]

I believe that this is the condition that I have lived with for 14 years, since age 5. It has only ever happened when I vomit. I begin to feel extremely ill, my heart rate picks up, I have hot flashes, my ears start to ring, sounds begin to muffle, my sight gets very vivid for a few moments, and then I sense a smell like inhaling hot air before I pass out. I generally go into grand mal tonic clonic episodes. The very worst that I have experienced this was a little more than a year ago. I had 13 seizures in 8 hours. I had an EEG and an MRI at the age of 7 and my nuerologist diagnosed me with Vasovagal. My brother would pass out after becoming ill, but never convulsed like I have. My father has seized in response to pain, and I believe that he has/had an aunt who suffered a seizure disorder.

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

Seen it. Very scary to see.

[amorepretty]

i was diagnosed with vasovagal syndrome when i was 14 and i am now 20 and my "episodes" seem to get worse with every passing year.i have seizure like activity EVERY time i go unconcious.my triggers at this point seem to be being any kind of medical enviornment, seeing or hearing someone else in pain, being in severe pain myself, or severe nausea.the doctors i have seen tell me that a person does not have to be epileptic to have a seizure; people who might have an extremely high fever or extremely low blood pressure might have a seizure. they say that for some reason when i faint my blood pressure becomes so low that i have a seizure.i have had EEG's done and several other test come back and my brain is normal.recovery from these episodes for me is not very easy.if someone around me can get my legs in the air so the blood gets back to my brain things go reletively smoothly when i regain conciousness.if my legs are not raised it will take me hours to regain strength and i ususally vomit.im not on any medication for this but i do make sure that my salt intake is up everyday to keep my blood pressure up in case i become in a situation where i might faint and have a seizure.

[gardengal1, ASN, RN]

We hear this all the time - 16 year old female at school, brought by ambulance after having a seizure followed by period of unconsciousness and then awakens shortly without any confusion, etc. Most all bystanders report seizure-like activity when the person is going from the twilight zone into unconsciousness. With no previous seizure history, almost all of these are diagnosed as vasovagal syncope or just "fainting".

[gentle]

I live this. Not so much anymore but, had them alot. i internalize stress as much as possible - personal choice in some cases. the end result was vasovagal. my zoloft has helped me by decreasing the anxiety. end result not so much a problem anymore and hasn't been for several years now.

[fainting]

Suggestions?

I have fainted a couple of times in similar situations and wake up very quickly when I lay down. However the last time I passed out I was out for possibly an hour. The thinking is I might have hit my head causing a concosion, but at the hospital they claimed I hadn't experienced a concosion. The doctors have said they can't/don't want to do anything, and that it will go away in time, to just drink more water, eat salty foods and lay down if I feel weird. But after reading the comments, I am wondering if any of the salt tablets, ect have helped you, and where would I get such things? At stores or would I need to talk to my doctor about trying them? I don't want to do anything extreme, but I don't want to pass out so violently anymore.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Unfortunately allnurses and its members are not able to provide medical advice, per the website Terms of Service (TOS, located here). Any requests for treatment suggestions should be directed to a primary care provider. This thread is now closed.