Weird Symptoms

[ivor]

My neighbor's bother just drowned.  It was awful.  Anyway something strange happened to my neighbor and I want to ask about a diagnosis.  She had a very strange fit.  It was like an epileptic seizure but she didn't pass out or anything.  She was shaking uncontrollably but fully conscious.  No cold sweat, no insulin or food.  It just went away.  Any ideas?   

[pieces o nine]

I have zero medical training, so take this with a grain  of salt and call a properly licensed nurse practitioner in the morning.

What you're describing is possible as I used to faint as a child at Mass.   
[The only way I could escape, however briefly?]  At any rate, fasting + fainting was frowned upon by stricter nuns and I quickly learned how to *not* pass out, for fear of going to hell forever and ever amen. Instead, I experienced assorted symptoms including, a couple times, what looked to horrified family like an all-out seizure, but was just hypoglycemia.

You might find some ideas on what happened with your neighbor at this site for starters.

I know there are many different kinds of seizures. Are there different types of nonepileptic seizures too? What causes them?
...
Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures seem to be caused by stressful psychological experiences or emotional trauma. Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are one way that the body indicates excessive stress.


What kind of stress can result in people having nonepileptic seizures?
That varies with each individual. ... Others may have experienced a major life event such as a divorce or the death of someone close to them.


What is the treatment for nonepileptic seizures?
...
Supportive professional counseling can be provided to identify and treat the underlying stress or trauma. If depression or anxiety is a part of the cause of the nonepileptic seizures, medications may be used to eliminate these symptoms. The goal is to eliminate these episodes and restore the person to a satisfactory level of everyday activity. The outcome of treatment is usually better than that for individuals with epileptic seizures, especially when the episodes have only recently started.

[Aggie]

This is a very non-medical, not-helpful term, but I've had the same thing a couple of times under extreme emotional duress, and I refer to them as 'demon* attacks'.  Not that I believe in any supernatural influence, but because of the involuntary convulsions, the weird vocalizations and the fetal-position curling all seem like something that might have been taken as proof of possession in past times.

Are they recurring, or was this a one-off?  I wouldn't worry too much if it was a single occurrence, there was certainly justification.



_{*harpy would perhaps be a better term, but we are split up now in any case.} 

[Griffin NoName]

Some people with epilepsy remain conscious during fits. My nephew for example.

[ivor]

Thanks everybody!  There is a family history of epilepsy. Her sister had an actual seizure right there because her blood sugar was too high.  Mona says she's had this for about the last two years.  It certainly could be stress related.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Mild epilepsy can do that (my SIL suffers from very occasional incidents like those) and as said above, hypoglycemia can do that too. Add the two and...

[Opsa]

My younger sister had psychomotor epilepsy as a child (controlled by medication and eventually grown out of) and was always fully conscious. Stress can bring it on, lack of sleep, poor diet- all of the sorts of things one might be experiencing following a sudden death in the family. Poor thing. Maybe you can ask if she's eating and sleeping properly, or bring her some food. She's probably in shock.

[Aphos]

My neighbor's bother just drowned.  It was awful.  Anyway something strange happened to my neighbor and I want to ask about a diagnosis.  She had a very strange fit.  It was like an epileptic seizure but she didn't pass out or anything.  She was shaking uncontrollably but fully conscious.  No cold sweat, no insulin or food.  It just went away.  Any ideas?   

My opinion is that she needs a professional.  She should start with her family doctor, seek his advice and then see the specialist he/she advises.

As far as I know, none of us are medically trained (I know I certainly am not) and this sounds like something that could be serious and require professional medical help.

That said, this does sound to me as if it may be related to epilepsy and brought on by stress.  Take that opinion with a very large grain of salt.