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What Causes One To Be In A Trance State Followed By Migraine Headache?
Question: my granddaughter she stairs into space like she is in a trance. when she comes out she has a real bad mingrain. is she having seizures
Brief Answer:
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Migraine headache can often be preceded by auras, including visual ones, which may manifest with moving lines and dots, blurry vision etc. Auras can explain these episodes of staring you describe.
On the other hand there can be also the case where a seizure is followed by a headache. So it can at times be difficult to distinguish between the two possibilities.
It would be important to know what does your granddaughter remember from these episodes. Is her consciousness preserved, does she hear you, does she obey commands, is she able to speak during these episodes, how long do the episodes last? If that is the case then considering also the fact that auras are much more common as well as the normal EEG I would say that migraine with aura is very probably the case.
If her consciousness is not preserved though, if she does not speak or obey commands, has no recollection of the episodes then there is a possibility for the episodes to be seizures. Because the EEG outside the episodes may result normal it doesn't exclude seizures, it only supports them if positive. When in doubt, then prolonged 24 hour EEG studies may be considered in order to be able to register brain activity during episodes. If the EEG is normal during the episodes it does definitely exclude seizures.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Read below.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Migraine headache can often be preceded by auras, including visual ones, which may manifest with moving lines and dots, blurry vision etc. Auras can explain these episodes of staring you describe.
On the other hand there can be also the case where a seizure is followed by a headache. So it can at times be difficult to distinguish between the two possibilities.
It would be important to know what does your granddaughter remember from these episodes. Is her consciousness preserved, does she hear you, does she obey commands, is she able to speak during these episodes, how long do the episodes last? If that is the case then considering also the fact that auras are much more common as well as the normal EEG I would say that migraine with aura is very probably the case.
If her consciousness is not preserved though, if she does not speak or obey commands, has no recollection of the episodes then there is a possibility for the episodes to be seizures. Because the EEG outside the episodes may result normal it doesn't exclude seizures, it only supports them if positive. When in doubt, then prolonged 24 hour EEG studies may be considered in order to be able to register brain activity during episodes. If the EEG is normal during the episodes it does definitely exclude seizures.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
she is conscious,she does not hear you,does not obey commands,she does not speak,they last about 5-6 mins.
she also said that the walls are moving like a kieldoscpoe
she also said that the walls are moving like a kieldoscpoe
Brief Answer:
Read below
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for the additional information and my apologies for answering a little late (due to time differences your answer arrived when I had just gone to sleep and I was able to find a free moment at work only now).
The fact that she describes the wall kaleidoscope like movement is more compatible with the episode being a migraine aura. So does the duration of the episodes of 5-6 minutes, as seizures usually last less. So given the normal EEG I am more inclined towards the diagnosis of aura for those episodes.
However there remains a hint of doubt given the fact that she doesn’t answer or obey commands during the episodes, the possibility of seizures can not be discarded completely. For that reason if the episodes are frequent I would go ahead with more prolonged EEG studies, a video EEG, where EEG electrodes are kept for at least 24 hours being recorded by a camera at the same time. That way if the episode occurs during this recording we have obtained an EEG during the episode and if it is a case of seizures it will show on EEG, if the EEG is normal even during the episode, then seizures can be confidently excluded.
Let me know if I can further assist you.
Read below
Detailed Answer:
Thank you for the additional information and my apologies for answering a little late (due to time differences your answer arrived when I had just gone to sleep and I was able to find a free moment at work only now).
The fact that she describes the wall kaleidoscope like movement is more compatible with the episode being a migraine aura. So does the duration of the episodes of 5-6 minutes, as seizures usually last less. So given the normal EEG I am more inclined towards the diagnosis of aura for those episodes.
However there remains a hint of doubt given the fact that she doesn’t answer or obey commands during the episodes, the possibility of seizures can not be discarded completely. For that reason if the episodes are frequent I would go ahead with more prolonged EEG studies, a video EEG, where EEG electrodes are kept for at least 24 hours being recorded by a camera at the same time. That way if the episode occurs during this recording we have obtained an EEG during the episode and if it is a case of seizures it will show on EEG, if the EEG is normal even during the episode, then seizures can be confidently excluded.
Let me know if I can further assist you.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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