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Rare Illness, Caught On Time

At Buddhi Clinic we are able to bring together a
multidisciplinary, holistic approach to managing Epilepsy & Seizures.

Seizures, memory loss, aggression: symptoms that left a television news editor unfit to work. Until a providential diagnosis helped him make a remarkable recovery.

When R, a television news editor in his 40s, came to us a couple of years ago, he was suffering from seizures, poor short-term memory, mood swings, irritability, suspiciousness and aggression. Although he had a great track record at work, his condition had left him unfit to return to his job at a well-known television company. We found that his symptoms were provoked by limbic encephalitis, an antibody syndrome where the body’s immune system attacks rather than defends it. Apart from repeated seizures, the condition, which affects parts of the brain that control memory and emotion (the temporal lobes), had left him with a set of neurobehavioral symptoms.
While treating him for this, a timely visit from Oxford by Angela Vincent, a world renowned expert on antibody syndromes, in 2014, helped us diagnose R with a second, hitherto undiagnosed — and rare — antibody-mediated syndrome called NMDAR 1. We gave him a second course of intravenous steroids (the first having been given during initial presentation) following this discovery, and saw a distinct improvement in his memory and behaviour.
Evaluating R in some detail, we found he had severe deficits in cognition, with very poor ability to remember any new information. Indeed, he took quite a while to even become familiar with our team that was meeting him each day.
These outbursts are fewer over the past 1.6 years since he joined Vidya Sagar, as he receives multimodal therapy, is on regular anticonvulsant, antipsychotic medication and SSRI, and his energies have been channelled, with the focus on academics.
Our integrative rehabilitation programme for him was, therefore, focused on memory retraining and behavioural management, but included shirodhara (an Ayurveda treatment with brain-behaviour focus), acupressure, reflexology and physiotherapy. He was also given a combination of drugs to control seizures, enhance memory and modulate behaviour.

Counselling the family, helping them understand his predicament

— that his symptoms were not deliberate or put on but an outcome of brain injury — was also part of the treatment. Working with his employer, who was concerned about R’s inability to do even some simple crucial functions, and prescribing a time-frame for our continued efforts, was also essential, helping R retain his job. Indeed, his immediate boss, a popular media personality, visited the centre to discuss R’s condition.
R’s recovery over two years was stormy. Seizure clusters, poorly controlled (pre-existing) diabetes, and an extraordinary reaction to a drug prescribed for seizures resulted in three emergency hospital admissions.
Also, R had great difficulty in accepting changes at home, such as his wife taking on decision-making and financial management roles. Paranoia and disturbed sleep taxed him and his interpersonal relationships greatly. At work, a change in the software platform magnified R’s difficulties. No longer could he work on auto-pilot; skills learnt over two decades were suddenly obsolete.
Supported by a caregiving trinity — family, employer and medical team — working in tandem, R managed to overcome these multifaceted problems.
Two years on, the transformation in R is remarkable. He is seizure-free, composed, communicates clearly, manages well at work having learnt to use the new software platform effectively, and enjoys a close trusting relationship with his family. He still has some residual memory and cognitive dysfunction and attends our centre for weekly cognitive retraining sessions. He continues to take some medication to control seizures and improve his memory.
This father of two, the sole breadwinner of a young family, managed to retain his job and win back his life because of a providential and timely diagnosis.

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Related Success Stories

Rare illness, caught on time

Rare illness, caught on time

Evaluating R in some detail, we found he had severe deficits in cognition, with very poor ability to remember any new information. Indeed, he took quite a while to even become familiar with our team that was meeting him each day.

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Oliver The Brainy Owl May 11, 2021

Epilepsy And Seizures

An Overview

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that causes unprovoked, recurrent seizures. A seizure is a sudden rush of electrical activity in the brain.

There are two main types of seizures. Generalized seizures affect the whole brain. Focal, or partial seizures, affect just one part of the brain. A mild seizure may be difficult to recognize. It can last a few seconds during which you lack awareness.
Stronger seizures can cause spasms and uncontrollable muscle twitches, and can last a few seconds to several minutes. During a stronger seizure, some people become confused or lose consciousness. Afterward you may have no memory of it happening.

Diagnosis

While the diagnosis is clinical, brain imaging, electrophysiology, blood tests to rule out reversible causes or indeed contributing factors and a thorough pre-rehabilitation assessment including evaluation for co-morbidities (associated conditions) will be required in all instances. At Buddhi Clinic our assessment includes standard outcome indicators for activities of daily life, quality of life, neuro-disability and mental health.

Treatment

At Buddhi Clinic we are able to bring together a unique skill set in managing epilepsy & seizures. We successfully combine our special neuromodulation procedure transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation tA-VNS (an India first) with drug treatment, psychological interventions & range of Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) interventions- Ayurveda, Naturopathy & Yoga for a unique, holistic, never before solution.

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Signs

Anyone can develop epilepsy, but it’s more common in young children and older adults. It occurs slightly more in males than in females.

  • Focal (partial) seizures
  • alterations to sense of taste, smell, sight, hearing, or touch
  • dizziness
  • tingling and twitching of limbs
  • Complex partial seizures involve loss of awareness or consciousness. Other symptoms include:
  • staring blankly
  • unresponsiveness
  • performing repetitive movements
  • Tonic-clonic seizures used to be called “grand mal seizures.” Symptoms include:
  • stiffening of the body
  • shaking
  • loss of bladder or bowel control
  • biting of the tongue
  • loss of consciousness

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