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Good Day, I Am Writing Regarding My Mother Who Is
Question: Good Day, I am writing regarding my mother who is 89 years old. She recently moved to NM and I am in NY. MY brother told me she has had at least five episodes of what he describes ad witnessing her becoming somewhat unresponsive, dizzy, her eyes glazing over, her skin looking grey and her going down. He says she is not loosing consciousness. He and my father will get her to a chair and for a while she will just sit. My father refusing getting medical treatment for her. My brother is at a loss what to do. I realize this is all very vague. I am flying out to see her in two weeks. This is a difficult situation as both my parents say she is fine and do not wish to see a doctor. I know this isn't much to go on but any information you may offer is certainly welcome.
One more things that happens during this spell is the whites of her yes become dark red. This goes way shortly after.
Brief Answer:
Needs to be seen by a doctor...at least
Detailed Answer:
Your mother may be suffering from a seizure disorder which is not uncommon at her age even though it is not in the traditional sense of jerking limbs, head turning, and other dramatic symptoms that most people would recognize as a GRAND MAL seizure.
However, she has all the salient features of aberrant electrical activity in the brain by becoming temporarily unresponsive with the going down and all. I don't have a ready explanation for the reddened eyes except to say that if during or as a result of these episodes her tears are temporarily halted in production OR more likely her eyelids are failing to blink as they would normally due to the change in her mental status and condition of the brain which is not functioning on all cylinders....the cornea may be drying out for the minute or 2 she is like that. However, when she returns to normal functioning and the episode breaks....then, tear production starts again and/or blinking of the eyes begins again which then, relieves the dryness of the eyes.
I doubt these are TIA's since your description is not necessarily of a FOCAL DEFICIENCY (such as drooping face, weakened arm or leg on one side, alterations in speech such as slurring or word salad). The other possibility is that she may have some type of cardiac arrhythmia which temporarily puts a sudden reduction of blood flow to the brain which might cause the equivalent of stroke like symptoms but because the heart rhythm problem greatly reduced blood flow can get to the brain.
A simple way to test this theory out would be for your brother (the next time it happens) to lay her down flat and see if she doesn't come back to normal within 30-60 seconds). If so, then, maybe what she really needs more than an EEG of the brain would be an EKG or HOLTER MONITOR of the heart.
Your brother may explain to your father that the risk in not calling for medical assistance would be that she could deteriorate into XXXXXXX TONIC/CLONIC SEIZURES which then, can become very very bad and in extreme cases cause either anoxia of the brain or the heart (lack of Oxygen flow to the brain or heart). This could then, become a significant stroke or heart attack. I would educate your father on the very treatable nature of this problem but she needs to be brought to medical attention as soon as this happens which means CALL 911 as soon as she is demonstrating any symptoms of an latered awareness or odd sort of behavior or sudden slow down or arrest of speech.
Of course, there are other things to consider but all of that can be figured out over time. What you really want to do is get her evaluated ASAP in an ER setting so that they can determine whether or not she merits an inpatient workup so that in the event of another spontaneous event advanced medical assistance is only moments away as opposed to being home where things may complicate due to lack of equipment or personnel that are properly trained in case they may need an MI or cerebrovascular protocol. I do not think your mother is capable of knowing what just happened to her and so her wishes should not be considered valid under the circumstance. She is what we would refer to as POST ICTAL if in fact, she is having a seizure. Your father, I'm not sure why he wants to make a decision of NO TREATMENT when this is a very easy thing to resolve with just a simple neurological examination, EEG, MRI of the brain, and some blood work and urine.
If I've provided useful or helpful information to your questions could you do me the utmost of favors by CLOSING THE QUERY along with a few positive words of feedback and maybe even a 5-star rating if you feel it is deserving? I am definitely interested in getting updated information on your mom's condition if you'd care to drop me a line at www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi and let me know how things turned out.
You can always reach me at the above address for this and other questions. I wish you the best with everything and hope our discussion has aided in your understanding of a few concepts related to your concerns.
CHEERS!
This query required 23 minutes of professional time to research, assimilate, and file a response.
Needs to be seen by a doctor...at least
Detailed Answer:
Your mother may be suffering from a seizure disorder which is not uncommon at her age even though it is not in the traditional sense of jerking limbs, head turning, and other dramatic symptoms that most people would recognize as a GRAND MAL seizure.
However, she has all the salient features of aberrant electrical activity in the brain by becoming temporarily unresponsive with the going down and all. I don't have a ready explanation for the reddened eyes except to say that if during or as a result of these episodes her tears are temporarily halted in production OR more likely her eyelids are failing to blink as they would normally due to the change in her mental status and condition of the brain which is not functioning on all cylinders....the cornea may be drying out for the minute or 2 she is like that. However, when she returns to normal functioning and the episode breaks....then, tear production starts again and/or blinking of the eyes begins again which then, relieves the dryness of the eyes.
I doubt these are TIA's since your description is not necessarily of a FOCAL DEFICIENCY (such as drooping face, weakened arm or leg on one side, alterations in speech such as slurring or word salad). The other possibility is that she may have some type of cardiac arrhythmia which temporarily puts a sudden reduction of blood flow to the brain which might cause the equivalent of stroke like symptoms but because the heart rhythm problem greatly reduced blood flow can get to the brain.
A simple way to test this theory out would be for your brother (the next time it happens) to lay her down flat and see if she doesn't come back to normal within 30-60 seconds). If so, then, maybe what she really needs more than an EEG of the brain would be an EKG or HOLTER MONITOR of the heart.
Your brother may explain to your father that the risk in not calling for medical assistance would be that she could deteriorate into XXXXXXX TONIC/CLONIC SEIZURES which then, can become very very bad and in extreme cases cause either anoxia of the brain or the heart (lack of Oxygen flow to the brain or heart). This could then, become a significant stroke or heart attack. I would educate your father on the very treatable nature of this problem but she needs to be brought to medical attention as soon as this happens which means CALL 911 as soon as she is demonstrating any symptoms of an latered awareness or odd sort of behavior or sudden slow down or arrest of speech.
Of course, there are other things to consider but all of that can be figured out over time. What you really want to do is get her evaluated ASAP in an ER setting so that they can determine whether or not she merits an inpatient workup so that in the event of another spontaneous event advanced medical assistance is only moments away as opposed to being home where things may complicate due to lack of equipment or personnel that are properly trained in case they may need an MI or cerebrovascular protocol. I do not think your mother is capable of knowing what just happened to her and so her wishes should not be considered valid under the circumstance. She is what we would refer to as POST ICTAL if in fact, she is having a seizure. Your father, I'm not sure why he wants to make a decision of NO TREATMENT when this is a very easy thing to resolve with just a simple neurological examination, EEG, MRI of the brain, and some blood work and urine.
If I've provided useful or helpful information to your questions could you do me the utmost of favors by CLOSING THE QUERY along with a few positive words of feedback and maybe even a 5-star rating if you feel it is deserving? I am definitely interested in getting updated information on your mom's condition if you'd care to drop me a line at www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi and let me know how things turned out.
You can always reach me at the above address for this and other questions. I wish you the best with everything and hope our discussion has aided in your understanding of a few concepts related to your concerns.
CHEERS!
This query required 23 minutes of professional time to research, assimilate, and file a response.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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