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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Is Tramadol Causing Seizures And Having History Of Anxiety And Severe Migraines?

I had a seizure the day before yesterday and spent the day in the ER. It was, I think, my second seizure in 4 mos. I have never had seizures before. I have a long history of an anxiety disorder, and severe migraines. I have a history of breast cancer, and a CT scan came back negative for tumor. The first time I thought I had a severe anxiety attack because at the time I was home along, but I still do not know what happened that caused me to cause an ambulance for myself. Very untypical of me as I would never go to the hospital for myself unless absolutely necessary. On a 1/2 of this past week it happened in front of my boyfriend and what he described was not passing out, not anxiety, it was a seizure. One minute I was sitting up at my desk talking to him, and the next thing I knew I was sitting on an ottoman in my house and he had called an ambulance. He said I was dead....I went into convulsions, I curled my hands and moaned, my body became rigid/almost hard, foam came from my mouth and my face was contorted, then I got very quiet. That is when he thought I had quit breathing. The ER person on the phone with him told him to feel my chest and check if I was breathing and he may need to begin CPR if I wasn t. He said they would talk him through it. Just when he went to check me I flew up off the floor and against the wall. He put me on the ottoman, which is flat, and sat there with me until the ambulance arrived. He said I was moving his fingers apart and pulling on them in a strange manner. I remember nothing....all I remember is he was trying to talk to me but I did not understand what he was telling me, what had happened, and why it seemed we were going somewhere but I couldn t figure out why. He held the picture of my niece/nephews up to my face (a picture I fell up against and hit with my head), and I had no idea who they were. I knew my name, but I did not know my boyfriend s name - and we have been together for 7 years. I didn t know where I was. I used to take medication for chronic pain management for something like 10 years (started with severe migraines in my early 30 s as well, then degenerative disc disease in my c-spine and l-spine. My Oncologist (who had treated me for breast cancer in 1995 and dealt in palliative medicine, was all too willing to write my pain medications until they started cracking down on them....now it is a lot more difficult and I have had to take Tramadol instead. Now I wonder if the Tramadol is causing this.
Mon, 13 Jan 2014
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Neurologist 's  Response
Hi,

Thank you for posting your query.

The description of the episodes seem like convulsions or seizures.

Tramadol increases the risk of getting seizures. However, you need to be evaluated to find out the underlying cause of seizures.

MRI brain-epilepsy protocol and EEG would be helpful.

In the meanwhile, you should be started on anti-epileptic medications to prevent seizure recurrence and prevent injuries due to them.

I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information.

Wishing you good health,

Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology)
Senior Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, India
Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in

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Is Tramadol Causing Seizures And Having History Of Anxiety And Severe Migraines?

Hi, Thank you for posting your query. The description of the episodes seem like convulsions or seizures. Tramadol increases the risk of getting seizures. However, you need to be evaluated to find out the underlying cause of seizures. MRI brain-epilepsy protocol and EEG would be helpful. In the meanwhile, you should be started on anti-epileptic medications to prevent seizure recurrence and prevent injuries due to them. I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information. Wishing you good health, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) Senior Consultant Neurologist Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, India Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in