The Seizures That Came with Her Periods
🔸When 26-year-old Priya (name changed) walked into my neurology clinic, she and her family were frightened and confused.
🔸A few days earlier, she had experienced a sudden generalized seizure. She lost consciousness, fell to the ground, and developed jerking movements of all four limbs. It was the first major seizure of her life.
🔸But as I listened to her story, something important emerged. For the previous six months, Priya had noticed a peculiar pattern. One day before the onset of her menstrual periods, and during the first two to three days of bleeding, she would develop severe headaches, eyelid twitching, unusual confusion, and a feeling that "something wasn't right." These symptoms would then disappear until the next cycle.
🔸Believing the symptoms were related to hormonal changes, she first consulted a gynecologist. When routine tests were normal, she was reassured. Later, she saw a psychiatrist because some people felt the symptoms might be stress-related or emotional. Yet the episodes continued.
🔸The breakthrough came when her first generalized seizure occurred. The close relationship between her symptoms and menstrual cycle immediately raised suspicion of a condition called catamenial epilepsy.
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