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What Causes The Misdiagnosis Of Epilepsy To A Pseudoseizure?
Why is the medical disorder of epilepsy frequently misdiagnosed as a psuedoseizure requiring the care of a psychiatrist, as well as psychotropic drugs? Do they not realize that by blocking the seratonin and dopamine receptors, which are natural anticonvulsants, and increasing an amino acid which will induce seizure activity-and that is precisely what psychotropic drugs do, the potential harm that they may be causing the patient?
posted on
Mon, 5 May 2014
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Fri, 3 Mar 2017
Answered on
Fri, 3 Mar 2017
Last reviewed on
Hello!
Welcome on HCM!
Regarding your concern, I would explain that often there is commorbidity between epilepsy and pseudoseizures, because epilepsy patients tend to have psychiatric troubles (like depression or anxiety too).
From the other hand the presence of abnormal EEG activity may be both in pseudoseizures and seizures. And sometimes epilepsy patients have a normal EEG.
That is why the seizure description and even video registration of the patients during the seizures is necessary to distinguish between seizures and pseudoseizures.
Anyway, it is true that antidepressants and anti-psychotics lower the seizures threshold, but when psychiatric problems are present in epileptic patients, they are given concomitantly with anti-epilepsy drugs, in order to improve the situation.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards, Dr. Aida
Welcome on HCM!
Regarding your concern, I would explain that often there is commorbidity between epilepsy and pseudoseizures, because epilepsy patients tend to have psychiatric troubles (like depression or anxiety too).
From the other hand the presence of abnormal EEG activity may be both in pseudoseizures and seizures. And sometimes epilepsy patients have a normal EEG.
That is why the seizure description and even video registration of the patients during the seizures is necessary to distinguish between seizures and pseudoseizures.
Anyway, it is true that antidepressants and anti-psychotics lower the seizures threshold, but when psychiatric problems are present in epileptic patients, they are given concomitantly with anti-epilepsy drugs, in order to improve the situation.
Hope you will find this answer helpful!
Kind regards, Dr. Aida
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