Alcoholic epilepsy is not one type of disease, it is a whole group of pathological abnormalities that occur in the body of a person who has been using alcohol for a long time. Sometimes such an attack can occur even in people who do not suffer from alcoholism, but who have consumed large amounts of alcohol at a time.
The main symptom of the disease is convulsions and loss of consciousness. This type of epilepsy is considered very serious and is the result of severe alcohol poisoning.
General characteristics of the disease
The constant impact of alcohol on the human psyche cannot go unnoticed, so most often everything ends with serious consequences for the person himself. An alcoholic may suffer from memory loss, his intellect is weakened, and in some cases dementia begins to develop. The most terrible manifestation of alcohol addiction is paralysis, which more and more often begins to haunt the alcoholic, schizophrenia, psychosis in relation to others and, of course,alcoholic epilepsy begins to manifest itself over time. Such a manifestation of the disease has recently been encountered quite often, but it is not always possible to save a person by providing him with timely assistance.
Classification of epilepsy
It is worth noting that an attack of ordinary epilepsy and alcoholic one are very similar in their characteristics, but the reasons that led to this condition are completely different, which means that the treatment will also be different. Basically, it is worth focusing on seizures that can develop after a person has consumed alcohol or after a person has experienced a hangover. After alcoholic epilepsy can occur even five days after drinking the alcohol itself. Consider the main stages of such epilepsy:
- Initially, an epileptic reaction begins to appear, it appears even in people who do not depend on alcohol, but simply consumed it in a moderate dose. An attack may appear as early as the second day, but after the alcohol poisons are removed, the person's he alth will improve.
- Epileptic syndrome is already a more serious form of manifestation of pathology. Before such a syndrome, a person may experience hallucinations, sweating, headache.
- The last stage is the alcoholic epilepsy itself. It begins in people with a long history of drinking alcoholic beverages, accompanied by additional psychosis.
Each stage of the pathology is dangerous for a person, not alwayseverything passes without a trace, so before you drink alcohol, you need to seriously think about how it can end.
Causes of disease
Doctors say that in the first place a person may have an innate predisposition to epilepsy, which is aggravated by alcohol consumption in the future. Also, it cannot be ruled out that it is ethyl alcohol that has a detrimental effect on the body, which, by reaction, resembles mushroom poison. Consider in detail the additional causes of alcoholic epilepsy:
- People who once suffered from meningitis or encephalitis are more likely to develop this type of epilepsy.
- People with traumatic brain injuries are exposed.
- People with poor intracranial circulation.
- If there are tumors in the brain.
- Hereditary disposition.
The conditions described above are only exacerbated by alcohol, resulting in epilepsy. Neurons in the brain from alcohol begin to break down, especially if a person consumes low-quality alcohol.
Symptoms
Distinguishing is quite difficult, when a person has ordinary or alcoholic epilepsy, the symptoms are very similar to each other. But still there are some features that are worth paying attention to:
- A person may lose consciousness.
- There are muscle cramps.
- The color of the skin changes, it becomes icteric, and then turns blue around the mouth.
- Sunriseeyes.
- May foam around the mouth.
- Vomiting appears.
- Lost coordination of movements.
When an attack of alcoholic epilepsy begins, the body of a sick person begins to arch, the tongue bites, hoarseness appears when breathing. Once the seizure subsides, consciousness returns, but occasional hallucinations and disturbing behavior may be noted. Rarely, but there is another type of epilepsy, it is called "alcohol absence".
In this case, the attack is somewhat easier, the person does not lose consciousness, but the ability to hold objects in hands is lost for a while.
Forms of epilepsy
There are several forms of alcoholic epilepsy:
- Mild form of epilepsy from alcohol can occur with virtually no symptoms, convulsions are not fixed, but the mental state of a person remains tense. Attacks are accompanied by mood swings, and this clinical picture remains for a long time.
- The classic form is accompanied by pallor of the skin on the face and hands. A sick person may fall and throw back their head.
- The severe form is distinguished by its symptoms. Alcoholic epilepsy in this case is accompanied by tonic convulsions. A person tries to pull his body into line and groans, and also grinds his teeth. In a person during an attack, not only breathing is disturbed, but there is also an involuntary release of urine.
Importantremember that after alcoholic epilepsy, the patient may suffer from insomnia. With ordinary epilepsy, the patient may not remember anything at all what happened to him. If the attacks of alcoholic epilepsy increase, this means that the pathology is gaining momentum, and one cannot do without the help of qualified doctors.
Diagnosis
As a rule, alcoholic epilepsy is detected after the first attack or a significant deterioration in a person's condition after he drinks alcohol. When a person seeks help from a specialist against the background of the received history, he can prescribe all the necessary tests.
- MRI being done.
- An electroencephalogram is ordered.
- Computed tomography.
The doctor must check tendon and oculomotor reflexes. Encephalography allows you to see exactly what changes occur in the human body. It is important to remember that as soon as a person completely refuses alcohol, epilepsy disappears. The specialist must also pay attention to the age of his patient, as well as to the experience of his drinking, because in this case, seizures may occur. Sometimes, even when alcoholic epilepsy is present, pre-seizure symptoms may appear long before the seizure itself.
Treatment
It is impossible to point to the exact therapeutic methods, because they simply do not exist. Most often, specialists use anticonvulsants, which help to calm down ordinary epilepsy. As a rule, if the patient himself refuses alcohol and begins to leada he althy lifestyle, seizures forever cease to bother him. It is important to remember that a person who has suffered from seizures should try not to drive and not work in hazardous industries for a year. It is important to remember that if there is alcoholic epilepsy, treatment should be carried out by a doctor, and even after recovery for some time, it is necessary to be observed by a specialist. If the case of epilepsy proceeds in a complex form, then the following methods are applied:
- First of all, poisons are eliminated from the human body.
- Acid-base and hormonal balance must be restored.
- Anticonvulsants are used.
- Psychotropic substances are prescribed.
It is worth noting that during the attack itself, you should not hold the patient's movements, it is advisable to just do everything possible so that he does not injure himself.
How to deal with cramps
Manifestations of seizures must be treated, for this the patient will have to go through three stages:
- The specialist must choose a drug that will effectively remove convulsions.
- Each medicine has its own dosage, so the doctor must set it for each person independently, while the main goal is to increase the remission period.
- The last stage is the complete recovery of the patient and the withdrawal of the drug altogether.
Only the attending physician has the right to prescribe drugs, each person has his own scheme. Can't be allowedaddiction to the medicine, so the narcologist must control this moment. If the therapy is not effective, then one drug is removed and another one is prescribed instead.
Medicated treatment
When a person has alcoholic epilepsy, the causes of the drug treatment play an important role. All drugs are aimed at removing negative symptoms, and only then curing the disease completely. The following drugs are mainly used in medicine:
- Carbamazepine is used as an anticonvulsant drug.
- Complex attacks are eliminated with the help of drugs such as Difenin and Benzonal.
- Sometimes antipsychotics are prescribed.
- If the patient has a mental disorder, then antidepressants are prescribed.
It is important that the patient himself wants to be cured, in which case encoding and hypnosis can be additionally used. A person can go in for sports, but physical activity should not be large, so as not to cause new attacks.
Folk treatments
Folk methods can be great helpers in the treatment of medications. A sick person is recommended to use the following medicines:
- Decoction of wormwood.
- You can drink teas from different herbs.
- Make coffee from acorns.
- It is recommended to take baths with the addition of mustard and lemon juice, after which the soles of the feet and fingers are well massaged.
Folk methods cannot be cured, so you should use themin parallel with medications.
Complications
Alcohol primarily affects brain cells, which leads to their death and begins alcoholic epilepsy. The consequences can be the saddest, so it is impossible not to treat the disease. A large number of alcoholics suffer from the fact that they lose the ability to think normally, because of this, mental disorders occur. It also happens that the seizures last in succession, this is called "status epilepticus", in this condition a person can stop the heart or experience swelling of the brain, which leads to coma or subsequent death.
First Aid
It is impossible to prepare in advance for attacks, because they occur suddenly, so people in whose family there is an alcoholic should always be ready to give him first aid.
Let's consider detailed instructions on how to proceed:
- It is important to do everything possible so that the person does not fall, so you should pick him up and put him on a flat surface.
- The main task of the person who is nearby is to prevent the patient in convulsions from injuring himself.
- There should not be any sharp objects nearby, as a person during epilepsy does not feel pain and can get hurt.
- If the mouth is open, then place an object and prevent biting the tongue, and turn the head to one side so that the patient does not choke on vomit.
- It is advisable to hold the patient's head between his knees and stay in this position for about fiveminutes, that's how long an attack can last.
- After the attack is over, the patient should lie down a bit, as he will experience muscle weakness.
- Be sure to call an ambulance, the patient will probably need hospitalization.
Further on, only a doctor will be able to assume or deny that the patient has alcoholic epilepsy. The causes of this condition in adults may be hidden in other diseases, but this will already show an accurate diagnosis.
Prevention
The best prevention for a person who has ever had alcoholic epilepsy is to avoid alcohol. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to use special restorative therapy. It includes communication with psychologists who can convince an addicted person that alcohol is not his helper, as well as an examination by a doctor at least once a year, and, of course, a he althy lifestyle, playing sports. Getting rid of alcoholic epilepsy is possible, but for this you should get rid of alcohol addiction in the first place.
