Research

What is the link between seizures and dementia?

My mom was in the later stages of Alzheimer’s one night I heard a yelp in her room and I ran in to see what was wrong. She was having a tonic seizure. I called 911 and they talked me through it. I had no idea what to do. The ambulance gave her oxygen and then took her to the ER where she had an X-ray, CAT scan, and urine and blood tests. They told me everything was fine and they were going to send us home with seizure medicine. But the neurologist at another hospital wanted to do an EEG and MRI to find the root and cause of the seizure. So we went. There she had a short EEG test that showed nothing. Twelve hours after her first seizure while waiting for the MRI she had a second tonic seizure which stopped her ability to breath. Then they put her on a ventilator, seizure meds and a 24 hour EEG. After the EEG was removed we waited the remainder of the day for a MRI but it never happened. That night they took her off sedation and she woke up gagging on the ventilator every ten seconds. She looked miserable it was heart breaking. But when she was asleep she was fine. That night they did a test to see if she was strong enough to breath on her own and briefly turned off the ventilator for an hour and a half but she was not able. She spent a day miserable when awake gagging every ten seconds on the ventilator (still off sedation) In the afternoon they tested her lungs again without the vent for twenty minutes and her lungs still were not strong enough to breath on her own. They took her off the vent and she weakly was breathing for three days. The doctor said she wasn’t strong enough to breath on her own outside of the hospital, for us to take her home. Those last three days she was put on morphine so she would feel no pain as she slowly passed away. They also put her on something to stop her mouth secretions (and prevent the rattle-or gurgling),
It was hard to watch. I wish I knew the effects of ventilators on those with neurological issues when deciding on her end of life code and DNR plan. Waiting for the MRI while not on seizure meds may have lead to the second seizure that ended her life. I was reading this blog at the hospital while going through this, I was not sure what caused her seizure, reading this blog really helped. Thank you.

It's such a relief to hear that epileptic seizures are not uncommon in dementia patients. My 69-year-old husband had his first seizure this morning and it matched a lot of the symptoms described here. he was in bed, but his face turned bright red, his eyes went fixed and he shook for about 2 minutes. Then, he had very labored breathing for another 20 minutes. Then he went to sleep. I was afraid he was having a stroke and I have been watching him for stroke symptoms all day but he seems to have completely recovered to his usual self. He was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia about 4 years ago. He doesn't talk, walk without assistance, and is completely incontinent. But, he keeps trying to say things and he laughs and sings. I thought it was the end this morning but I am really grateful to have him back. I almost called emergency services but didn't. I thought why put him through that misery and what could they do for him anyway? It wasn't like they could prevent more brain damage. (Sigh). Thanks for being here and sharing. I feel much better now.

My mother who is 89 has had milder spasms which started in 2017. However since December 2020, they are very frequent. She does not get any for a week and then gets them constantly for a week. Last week it was an epiliptic seizure the head went back, the rolling eyes, body stiffness, foaming mouth and then it was over. Now she had none for 5 days and today has started again. Had at least a dozen since morning. Doctor is contacting me next week and i am going to ask if she can prescribe something.

I have a friend who started having focal epilepsy about 18 months ago, he is 69 years old. His mother had dementia but not aware of her having any seizure. He has been told that his white matter is more than normal after a brain scan. It’s very scary for him because when these episodes happen he just stares and when they subside he doesn’t know where he is or what’s happened. It’s like he loses the prior hour plus the time of the seizure. At this time he is still working, driving and taking medication for the seizures, but he has begun to think he should quit his job and stay home. He has no other health issues and takes no other meds. Is the the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s ?

Mum has lived with me now for 2 years since dad passed away from cancer. Dad refused a lot of medicine because he had a very sharp mind and when given medication, he was like a zombie and was back to normal sharpness when not taking it. Mum has dementia and is 90 years old. We did try medication at first and noticed the same thing, she was like a zombie, unable to get up etc. We stopped it. She has shaking fits every couple of months, her eyes roll, she feels faint so you know they are coming. At first I panicked, called the ambulance but as she was fine within minutes and early on the call handler told me it was probably a mini stroke in the brain, and then my doctor said they will be quite frequent. So I don't panic anymore, I make sure she is sitting comfortably, she rests and after a while, eats, drinks and is back to normal. This morning however, she was standing when one occurred. I was close by luckily and held her as she shook, she was very heavy as she was in a floppy state. I managed to sit her down and contemplated an ambulance while the phone to the doctor was ringing out. Then I stopped and observed. The doctor's was still ringing out so I calmed myself, put the phone down. At this moment she is well, has eaten and is back to normal. She is walking around and talking to me as she always does. She has a dementia review with the doctor in a couple of weeks. I can only presume that a little bit of her brain is dying at each attack.

My father who is 86 and has dementia has had his 3rd seizure this morning in 6 months. On getting up in the morning each time he has gone rigid with flailing arms, a grey colour, rolling eyes and foaming at the mouth. They last for under 2 minutes and are followed by heavy, laboured breathing. Paramedics have been called and twice he has been admitted to hospital due low oxygen with chest infections and given antibiotics. Today he has not been hospitalised but is now on antibiotics and there is a suggestion that Bacteremia could be the cause as bacterial infection in blood is apparently common in elderly people. Seems like we have not got to the bottom of it yet and a worrying outcome of dementia, as he has never had epilepsy or been hospitalised at all in his life before these episodes. So glad that you are doing research on this - thank you.

My father was diagnosed with dementia about 2 years ago and has recently had a couple of black outs which have been accompanied by a short period of twitching which I guess is a seizure. The first a few weeks ago was put down to low blood pressure although how this caused the twitching I don’t know. He also split his head open quite badly. He had his second today which was actually two, my mum heard a crash and found him on the bathroom floor half so tying against the wall, groggy but conscious. He tried to shuffle out of the room on his backside and she stood behind him supporting his upper back with her legs. She then felt his full weight on her and he’d blacked out so she lay him down and he started shaking/twitching for a few seconds. At the moment it’s, disgracefully, impossible to see his GP and at no point have they or the hospital doctors mentioned fitting or epilepsy as a possibility and they appear fixated on blood pressure. It is only because I thought of epilepsy today and found this page that I think it is a strong possibility. He has only. had blood tests which appears to be their effort to show they’re doing something but no scans or cognitive tests that I’m aware of. Trying to get any sort of even basic medical care and advice at the moment is extremely difficult and is making me very angry, something I’m doing my best to hide from dad especially. I will talk about this with mum tomorrow and make sure we raise it if and when a doctor can be bothered to talk to us! This has been a very useful discovery and I hope everyone is coping and thank you for taking the time to comment, it is very helpful. Take care.

My Mum who is 78 has mixed dementia and was diagnosed 4 years ago, though she most definitely was suffering prior to an official diagnosis.

She lives at home with my stepfather who is not managing the situation very well, I feel that he is in denial about the seriousness of her illness and just gets really cross with her.

I visited her on Friday as I was trying to set up companionship visits. Whilst there I witnessed my Mum have a choking episode, as it subsided she started to shake violently and uncontrollably for about two minutes, then it stopped and she was back to normal. My step father said it happens every few weeks, though I don’t think he has told her doctors.
My questions are, should I be overly concerned and should I alert her doctors?
With hindsight perhaps I should have dialled 999.

My mother is currently living with dementia. She had a seizure three weeks ago and was hospitalized. The Dr prescribed her Epilium and since then, she's been unresponsive and almost paralyzed. Most likely the medz contributed to her current condition but I also want to know, could she now have reached level 7 of dementia?

My Mum, aged 81 was diagnosed with dementia over 10 years ago. She also suffers from dissociative or non epileptic seizures, so is not on any seizure medication. Her seizure activity resembles epilepsy with involuntary and quite violent
Shaking. Often the attacks are brought on by periods of frustration, and her cognitive function can take a major dip in the days preceding the attacks. Physical pain, such as a pulled muscle in her back can also result in days of seizure activity, as she forgets she has an injury and then a sudden movement can bring on the pain and prompt another seizure episode. Given that dementia can be a frustrating condition for the patient, as they try to compensate for the loss of cognitive function it is maybe not surprising that dissociative seizures may be a co condition.

I find this site very informative and would rather read about personal experiences and testimonials than even going to doctors because I have such conflicting advice and none of them ask about what supplements and medication I am taking - I had an aortic valve replacement in Aug. 2018 - except for some dizziness in the latter part of my life and some memory loss ( which did come back after much racking of the brain ) I have been very healthy all my life and I was 75 then. I was sent to hospital and was found that my aortic valve was completely clogged with calcium deposits. I was amazed as I had felt so well. I also have low blood pressure. About 3 months after my op with hardly any problems, and I can't remember any pain - I went to the cardiologist and he signed me off - I asked him whether it was necessary to continue taking Ecutrin and could I discontinue ? he said if you want to you can. I felt fit and even managed to do a belly dance at our end of year yoga concert 3 months afterwards. Then in January 2020 I had my first seizure while I was fast asleep. My husband called an ambulance and I had extensive tests in hospital and nothing was found. I still took no medication just some vitamins. I felt fine but in Nov of that year had another one, I was fast asleep again then. It lasted about 5 mins and I was unconscious for about 20 mins. My husband called the ambulance again. It was described as a tonic clonic seizure ( like the first one,) no symptoms no side effects no warnings, other than confusion at the time - completely normal afterwards. More extensive tests followed including an MRI and like the last seizure nothing found. I was prescribed Epitec which has to be taken starting with a low dose, increasing in strength until the 4th week 2 x 100 mg a day. The neurologist at the hospital said if I see a rash to stop immediately. Not long afterwards I did have a rash and was told to discontinue the medication. About a week later the rash was still there, so I checked with my G.P. and blow me down - what timing - it was shingles. That took a while to clear up. I went back to normal life - no health problems and no medication - then in January of this year 2021, I had another one - fast asleep as usual - My husband just called paramedics this time as I'd had all the tests - he had a job trying to bring me around as I was unconscious for about 20 mins. Anyway all was well, but he then told me as soon as paramedics left I had had another one but not as long. I was fine afterwards but had bitten my tongue very badly and it was about a week before I could talk or eat properly - which gave my husband some peace. He really looked after me well for which I am very grateful I then went to another neurologist and she prescribed Epitec and I am now on my 3rd week. She diagnosed me as having epilepsy after I had an EEG and she found a microscopic defect on the squiggly patterns on the chart after the EEG. She then said see me in two years !! So far no side effects, except for occasional dizziness. What I find frustrating is that each doctor was so casual about what else I take, and what to take now. I have heard so many negative reports about taking daily aspirin from various people - I am now taking vitamins and Myoprin every second day. I will ask the pharmacist this week if that is okay. My 5 dogs keep me happy. I find that it's beneficial and helps to have animals to take care of and other interests ( if possible ) and a good husband and a good life and I try not to dwell on myself, and just go with the flow. There are people with far more problems than me and I think the carers and relatives who look after them mentioned in some of these comments need medals. Best of luck to all those who are suffering, and the carers and relatives who have to experience those with horrible diseases, and I empathise with all of you. Keep as well as possible good luck and stay positive.

My husband has a Alzheimer's/Vascular Dementia diagnoses. His diagnoses came 2019 but there were signs for several years before. The MRI showed innumerable micromanages. He recently had an event of becoming unconscious . I didn't notice any shaking or severe
movement . Just unresponsive. Eyes closed. He was sitting at the breakfast table. His head went forward and landed on the table. It was about 30 to 45 seconds before he came to. I was going to call 911. I believe he has had a couple of these but it is not a regular event. Is this consider a seizure? Has anyone had this happen with their love ones.

My husband had his first seizure in April of 2020. He was diagnosed in 2017 with Vascular Dementia. It was scary. Was put on seizure medication. He has only had the one so far

My mother is 90 years old and has been living with my husband and I for the last 8 months. She was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2018. She has been having a seizure which lasts about a minute in the early morning about once a month during her stay. We did observe others prior to her living with us so I think they had been happening for some time un be knowns to us. The day after her seizure she would be much more alert and more like her old normal self. We tried antidepressants for 3 months, as her mood was quite low and during this treatment she went into delirium after her last two seizures. It was like whatever chemicals were released in the brain post seizure where heightened too much with the addition of the antidepressant. As she was unable to increase to a therapeutic dose due to side effects we decided to cease it. Five days post ceasing the antidepressant, she had her seizure and didn’t go into delirium. Hopefully now we won’t need seizure prevention medication now if she no longer goes into delirium post seizure. Mum had investigators ie blood & urine tests during the delirium to rule out infections as the cause.
I’m very pleased research is being done into seizures and dementia.

Interesting conclusion, but Epileptic Seizures is potentially improperly referenced. Hypo-glycemia in DM1 patients like myself also causes seizures. Blood sugar levels between 10-30 mm/dl will promote a tonic-clonic reaction in myself which is the same as an Epileptic episode. I've not been properly diagnosed by a neurologist as Epileptic. I'm continually told my seizures are from undiagnosed epilepsy. It seems that the only conclusion from neuro-types is seizures mean epilepsy.
Research topics are important, but starting with dementia, then working back, misses an entire potentiality: tonic-clonic seizures cause dementia. Not the other way around. Severe hypoglycemia is one example of a cause of T-C seizures, Epilepsy another, tumors another.
Now, a cause of dementia could be from chronic tonic-clonic seizures. DM1s with high seizure rates of 2-3 a year, over 35 years is a more inciteful, original and understudied among the medical community. Tonic-clonics cause brain damage, and over time, cause dementia. I am a living example and would take part in any studies you are aware of.
Kind Regards,
Ryan Trost
DM-1 1983
52y