Roommate seizure webmd sucks

[Paul B.]

lippy's roommate: WTF WERE YOU DOING LAST NIGHT WHEN I WAS HAVING A SEIZURE?!??
lippy: complaining about webmd on twoplustwo, duh.

[lippy]

[ QUOTE ]
lippy's roommate: WTF WERE YOU DOING LAST NIGHT WHEN I WAS HAVING A SEIZURE?!??
lippy: complaining about webmd on twoplustwo, duh.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I figured I'd get flack for posting this but I couldn't find what I needed and was hoping one of the 130 browsers had some sort of idea of what I was supposed to do. Meh.

[iron81]

I rememember hearing about this. The best advice I can give you is to 1. Stay out of their way and 2. move anything out of the way that they might bang their head on or otherwise injure them. You might put a pillow under his head if the floor is hard.

Of course, any advice I give you isn't going to be as good as what he gives you. Now that he's not having a seizure, ask him.

[asofel]

Lippy,

Glad everything's ok. I wanted to point something out, as I have some personal opinions in this area.

I've recently started working at Steve Case's new startup, Revolution Health Group. You can find lots of information at our site, www.revolutionhealth.com. In fact, a search for "epilectic seizure" brings up some articles, several of which give you advice on how to handle something like this.

Click for results

I've been part of the dev effort here for several months, so I enjoy passing out this info to others. WebMD is basically our main competitor and I think we're already pushing beyond them.

Anyway, glad it all worked out, and hope the site helps if you have other questions or concerns.

[tdarko]

lippy,

Rolly him to his side. Stay away from his mouth. Let the seizure run its course, there is nothing you can do.

If it is neurological, such as epilepsy then you don't have to take him to the emergency room unless he hit his head or something. If he isn't epileptic then most likely there is a cause and the person has to get to the emergency room to find out what it is. This doesn't apply to your roomie but swelling in the brain from a tumor causes a seizure, this is why if you were to take him to the the ER he would have a bunch of tests ran on him, which then would make him angry b/c he would know that he had the seizure b/c he is epileptic and then he would piss on your pillow before you laid down for bed at night.

There isn't much you can do for a seizure other than roll them to the side and let them come out of it. It looks frightening, if it is a full blown tonic-clonic seizure but just let the person be.

[4_2_it]

Lippy,

I suggest you Netflix Weekend at Bernie's so that you have a solid back-up plan in place.






Seriously, when your roommate comes out of this episode, sit his ass down and find out what you are supposed to do. It's not fair to you that he hasn't prepared you for how to deal with something that is probably a semi-regular occurrence in his life.

[BruinEric]

I defer to the information at the epilepsy website, but let me clarify a few points on this thread. I have a close family member who I care for with seizure disorder.

-If someone without a history of seizures has a seizure, call for medical help right away. It could be a sign of something very serious.

-We're all capable of having a seizure. Triggers can be sleep deprivation, or drug/medication problems.

-In general, a pillow is a bad idea unless you are completely monitoring the person. Some people have breathing difficulty during seizures and can suffocate. So you don't want to let him roll face-down on his bed either.

-In general, a seizure lasting longer than 5 minutes starts to become a cause for concern, and I would dial 911 at this point if in the OPs position and not knowing more about this person's seizure profile, especially given emergency response time. Seizures lasting longer, especially 20+ min are absolutely life-threatening events.

-Emergency responders have seen one before, so they'll know what to do. If the fireman gets there first, he'll make sure the airway is clear and maybe give oxygen and check vitals. When paramedic gets there, they are capable of dispensing medication that can stop a seizure.

-When someone has a seizure, turn him on his side to keep the airway clear and make sure he is in a safe place and won't hurt himself. You can typically tell a seizure is over when the person is responsive to verbal commands, makes voluntary movement, and/or you can "just tell."

-For many people with seizures, recovering is not in a "snap" like a person at some comic-hypnotist's show. Many are groggy, some are very sleepy.

-When you read that stuff about your playstation causing seizures, its because some people with epilepsy's "threshold" is crossed by visual stimuli such as that. You'll hear about oddball stuff every now and then, like certain sounds, certain emotions, etc. triggering seizures in certain patients. A very common trigger for people with epilepsy would be a lack of sleep or illness and fever. Sounds like OP's buddy might be ill from the phlegm reference.

All the above from my personal experience, consult your doctor, not liable for anything you do. etc. etc. etc.

[tdarko]

"A very common trigger for people with epilepsy would be a lack of sleep or illness and fever"

Diet such as lack of eating, alcohol and stress are triggers as well. So if you get hammered one night, get home at 6 in the morning, wake up at 9 to go to work, don't eat all day and are stressed out from your job...this is cause for concern. Combining triggers is bad.

Also, during a tonic-clonic seizure if a person loses bowel it is normal.

[superadvisor]

I wouldn't worry at all, this happens to me all the time and it's only killed me twice.

[Crimson]

Draw on him with sharpie.