I could kiss my friend right now for finding postings on gastro bypass surgery and it]s relation to seizures. For two months now...I've been worried about my husband because out of the blue he started having seizures. I've searched gastro bypass on webmd and seizures on webmd but, never found anything useful to my husband's situation.
Words can't express the frustration my husband and I have had in the past two months. I never thought to put gastro bypass surgery and seizures together-one simple change, and I uncovered my husband is NOT alone.
Not sure??? where to start but, my husband had the surgery to get healthy, and we now spend more time in the emergency room these day than ever before. It all started in February...when my husband felt like he was having a heart attack or stroke so; we went to the ER. The doctors chalked it up to low magnesium and sever dehydration. After this visit, my husband was fine until our vacation in April. It was our last day of vacation, my husband felt like he was going to pass out, and sat down for a couple of minutes. I went to get help, and when I came back he was lying on the groud having a seizure-a good 5 minutes unconscious, foaming at the mouth, arms extended, and body twitching. When we arrived at the ER- my husband gained consciousness and was disoriented for about four hours-not remembering the night prior, birth date, or where he was-Very scary.
I know this posting is long but, I really want to share to gain more info-Need an answers on what to DO.
To make a long story longer...
Doctors told us his electolytes and hemoglobins were off, and severly dehydrated again. Spending majority of my time with my husband on vacation... I knew he was being good about hydrating...I saw how much water he was drinking and he's very good about eating and taking his vitamins. I told the doctors something is keeping him from getting the nutrients he needs. The Florida doctors explained how hot the Florida sun is which would explain his dehydration-I love when doctors talk down to you. The Neurologist kept him until Thursday. I have to say.... I realize many sypmtoms cause many other things but, I believe listening to your patients requires a special kind of doctor. I kept telling the doctors my husband had gastro bypass surgery a year ago and I believed the seizure are related. Well...you know how this ended-seizures are unexplainable sometimes but, it's definitely not related to gastro bypass surgery.
My husband is on Keppra now, and was fine for the first thirty days. Guess what- Last Sunday he had another seizure, and I decided to take him to University of Penn which is quite a distance from Delaware but, I knew his neurologist appointment was scheduled for the following week and I really wanted answers.
The Doctors uped his Keppra and sent us home because he was seeing his neurologist the following week.
Well, four days later...my husband and I were at the neighbors house. We got up to go home, and my husband went unconscious. Same type of seizure that he had in Florida...I wasn't going to take him to the ER because I was just sent home but, than I saw the blood. I was worried he was spitting up blood. This time I didn't go to University of Penn...I went to the closest hospital-BIGGEST mistake. My husband was told because he had drinks-that drinks were the cause of his seizure. I explained he had two other seizures with no alochol, and one of his seizures happened while he was sleeping. Doctors didn't really want to dig dipper and we were sent home. Now...I know he shouldn't have drinks but, he really didn't have much to drink. Prior to getting up he was drinking water for an hour.
Between all of this medical mess...my husband has been really good about eating healthy foods every three hours. He's changed his vitamins to Isotonix-liquid vitamins to get in his system quicker and he drinks tons of water and propel. Guess what?? the past two times my husband's levels were great. How does this make sense?? Seizures are still happening.
Monday and Tuesday of this week he is having more tests but, I would appreciate any advice in this matter.
Now, I don't want to sound like I'm beating up the doctors but, it's frustrating being on the other side as the patient. I feel like I need the show medical unsolved mysteries.
In my experience, only one doctor listened to us during our visits at the University of Penn. In fact, this doctor saw my husband in the ER on Tuesday of last week and started asking him more questions. Also, stopped us from sharing what other doctors were saying and wanted to know what happens prior to seizure.
