My husband, in late-stage Alzheimer's diagnosed 10 years ago, recently experienced a seizure lasting "a few seconds," according to the caregiver who was with him at the time in his memory care residence. This has not happened before. There were no discernible after-effects with regard to his speech (already seriously limited), ambulation, appetite, etc. (He remains in pretty good physical health despite his severe cognitive decline.) Has anyone else experienced this? Might the cause be the Alzheimer's itself? I can't bring myself to put him through any extensive assessment to determine a specific cause - the process of taking him to the hospital or ER, getting a brain scan, etc., would do more harm than any underlying cause I can imagine since it would cause him such severe confusion, require sedation that has its own after-effects, etc. Has anyone had a loved one with AD experience seizures?
What stage of Alzheimer's do seizures occur?
Seizures usually occur in later stages of Alzheimer's disease, on average, > or =6 years into the course of the disease. Seizures in Alzheimer's disease are more likely to occur with early-onset disease, particularly if there is a familial presenilin I mutation.
How common are seizures in patients with Alzheimer disease?
An association between Alzheimer's disease and seizures was reported in several studies with figures for seizure prevalence in AD from 0.5% up to 64%.
My late husband developed seizures about a year after his massive stroke at the age of 48 and they continued until his death at 72. And he developed vascular dementia towards the end of his life.
I also have a friend who's husband has dementia and he too has developed seizures since his dementia diagnosis.
I would certainly keep an eye on things as seizures can be deadly, and if needed a neurologist can put him on some seizure medications to try to keep them at bay. My husband ended up on 3 different seizure medications at very high doses to keep his at bay, and they still occasionally snuck through.
I wish you both the very best.
For instance, I witnessed in my own mom a seizure in which she had fallen, been to the hospital, had a scan on her head due to the bump on her head, returned home just fine, and was sitting in the kitchen chair with a cup of tea while we chatted. She stopped mid- sentence and I looked toward her to note she seemed to be fighting to stay upright. I eased her to the floor where she had a very brief seizure. Her blood pressure bottomed quite a lot. I kept her down, then she had a nap.
Lived another 15 years without ever having another.
As you can see there is not always an explanation. This was likely mental trauma combined with a fall in BP, but the MD could only guess.
If seizures continue your hubby may need meds. But this is for discussion with his doc today as to cause and followup, and I wish you the best of luck.
She did not seem concerned about them
He would have one...sort of space out for a brief moment then return to his "normal"
I saw no other effects from them, at the time he was wheelchair bound and non verbal so there was no worry that he would fall.
(My Husband had been diagnosed "officially" with Alzheimer's but I suspect he also had Vascular Dementia)
If they continue I would probably have him confined to a wheelchair so that he is less of a fall risk. Or whenever he is walking someone should be with him and he should have a Gait Belt on for a bit of support.
My husband had small seizures for years, except we didn't know they were seizures, and he refused to do an MRI. The doctor referred to them as transient ischemic attacks based on my description. After he had a tonic-clonic seizure in 2017 and an MRI was done while he was sedated (and had no choice), that's when we found out he had frontotemporal disorder. Testing in the hospital also showed mild (now moderate) cognitive impairment. Epilepsy meds have kept him 90% free of seizures. Whether he would have gotten those meds without the MRI, I don't know.
This could be a one-time event for your husband. I'm glad a caregiver spotted it and documented it. I'd mention it to his doctor for their records and then wait and see if it happens again. If it happens again, then perhaps a mild anti-convulsant med could be given.
https://www.verywellhealth.com/alzheimers-disease-causes-of-seizures-1204507
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