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Are Hand And Arms Tremors Along With Stuttering Signs Of Seizure?
Question: my fraternal twin sister, 60yrs old, has now had 4 episodes of (we don't know what) since May of this year. What happens is she suddenly experiences difficulty in her speech and has very strong tremors in her arms and hands. She does not lose consciousness and she is fully oriented. Her speech comes out like stuttering. She has had MRIs and C.T. scans and blood work and nothing shows up. One of the things I am concerned that her doctors may not know is she has been obsessed with her weight for years and everyone in the family knows she does not eat much or 'normally.' Does this sound like some kind of partial seizure?
Brief Answer:
Doesn't sound like partial seizure.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Judging from that description I wouldn't say that it is likely to be a partial seizure. The symptoms you describe are two widespread (speech and both sides), for a seizure to produce such motor seizures involving both sides it would be more than one brain hemisphere and would have generalization with loss of consciousness. Also partial seizures, especially appearing at this age, do not come out of nowhere, would be in the setting of something like a stroke or a tumor which would be seen on MRI. I guess an EEG could be considered, but not because the seizure hypothesis is likely, only as a last resort.
Of course her doctors should be informed of her eating issues so that they can have some more blood tests for nutritional deficiencies (though probably have already been done). Also this weight issue may indicate an underlying psychiatric disorder which may be at the root of these episodes as well, so that a psychiatric consult may be considered as well.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Doesn't sound like partial seizure.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
Judging from that description I wouldn't say that it is likely to be a partial seizure. The symptoms you describe are two widespread (speech and both sides), for a seizure to produce such motor seizures involving both sides it would be more than one brain hemisphere and would have generalization with loss of consciousness. Also partial seizures, especially appearing at this age, do not come out of nowhere, would be in the setting of something like a stroke or a tumor which would be seen on MRI. I guess an EEG could be considered, but not because the seizure hypothesis is likely, only as a last resort.
Of course her doctors should be informed of her eating issues so that they can have some more blood tests for nutritional deficiencies (though probably have already been done). Also this weight issue may indicate an underlying psychiatric disorder which may be at the root of these episodes as well, so that a psychiatric consult may be considered as well.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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