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What Causes Sudden Loss Of Sense Of Direction?
Question: Tonight my husband stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work. As he got in the van, he lost his sense of where he was or what he was doing. His next remembrance was of being across town in a very bad area. He checked his blood pressure when he got home and it was a little high, but not alarming. I tried to get him to go to the Dr, but he wouldn't. Any ideas of what might have happened to XXXX? Thank you. My email is YYYY@YYYY .
Brief Answer:
Kindly answer these questions and visit a neurologist.
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXX,
1. An event in which a person, "loses sense" of what he is doing and "ends up somewhere else" can be due to many reasons, most of them which are not really alarming.
2. This can happen either due to:
A. Seizures (complex partial variety).
B. "Blackouts" (drug induced).
C. Fugue states (dissociative reactions).
D. Stupor.
E. Any organic lesion that interferes with prefrontal cortical activity.
3. The 5 different reasons above can be taken care of.
4. I would like you to think and write back to me the answers to these
questions.
A. Does your husband drink alcohol? Does he use substances? (like marijuana)
This is only a question. We need to ask people about these issues.
B. Does you husband take any medications prescribed by other doctors?
If so, can you please give the medication history. Medications, in combination are
notorious for causing such reactions.
C. Can your husband perform intellectual tasks well?
for example:
1. Remembering names and numbers.
2. Solving simple puzzles.
3. Operating a computer or a smartphone.
4. More importantly, does he avoid performing such tasks?
5. My first advice is to take him to a neurologist. He needs a checkup.
Such medical actions cannot be performed online.
Kindly send me this information. We can speculate on the diagnosis.
We can then educate you on the best options. And more importantly
what the problem is NOT.
Regards,
Dr. Neel Kudchadkar
Kindly answer these questions and visit a neurologist.
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXX,
1. An event in which a person, "loses sense" of what he is doing and "ends up somewhere else" can be due to many reasons, most of them which are not really alarming.
2. This can happen either due to:
A. Seizures (complex partial variety).
B. "Blackouts" (drug induced).
C. Fugue states (dissociative reactions).
D. Stupor.
E. Any organic lesion that interferes with prefrontal cortical activity.
3. The 5 different reasons above can be taken care of.
4. I would like you to think and write back to me the answers to these
questions.
A. Does your husband drink alcohol? Does he use substances? (like marijuana)
This is only a question. We need to ask people about these issues.
B. Does you husband take any medications prescribed by other doctors?
If so, can you please give the medication history. Medications, in combination are
notorious for causing such reactions.
C. Can your husband perform intellectual tasks well?
for example:
1. Remembering names and numbers.
2. Solving simple puzzles.
3. Operating a computer or a smartphone.
4. More importantly, does he avoid performing such tasks?
5. My first advice is to take him to a neurologist. He needs a checkup.
Such medical actions cannot be performed online.
Kindly send me this information. We can speculate on the diagnosis.
We can then educate you on the best options. And more importantly
what the problem is NOT.
Regards,
Dr. Neel Kudchadkar
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Shanthi.E
Answered by
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