My husband is in his late 60’s and started having seisure-like episodes last year. This “siezures” are alsways about an hour after he goes to sleep, so in other words he has them in his sleep. My question is: Is it possible to have seizures when you have sleep apnia and very low blood pressure at the same time? Is possible that the blood pressure goes so low while sleeping that it causes a siezure?

He has seen a neuroligist but I am worried that he has been missed diagnosed as having epilepsy. The doc didn’t even wait till the results of an EEG to come back to diagnose him. All he did was look into his eyes and tell him to follow his finger( side vision), He also did a reflex test. Anyway when my husband did finnaly get to have an EEG it came back fine. Do we need another neuroligist’s oppion?

As it is now he is banned from driving and he makes a living driving a transport truck. Not everyone can live off social security pensions.

Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

I’m not sure what kind of seizure-like episodes he has, but one possibity is that these episodes are not true seizures but are caused by the sleep apnea itself. If the sleep apnea is not being treated, he should get a polysomnography (overnight sleep study) done, and treatment for the sleep apnea. The most common, and effective, treatment of sleep apena is CPAP, where a mask is placed over the nose, delivering slightly pressurized air during sleep.

Epilepsy is also a possibility. A single EEG does not in itself completely rule out epilepsy. In your husband’s case, sleep EEG would be informative.

If he is not diagnosed with epilepsy, it seems odd that he is banned from driving. Some states may even allow driving with a diagnosis of epilepsy if the seizures occur exclusively in sleep. Check with your local officials.

Advertisement:

Tags: Back Pain

Discuss this topic on the Health Forum

   More answers in Family Doctor