Tuesday, February 2, 2010

And the award for best actress in a hospital gown goes to...

This morning I did a hospital consult on a psychiatric patient with pseudo-seizures.

While I was talking to her she suddenly yelled the dreaded "Oh no! You're making me have a seizure! Here it comes!"

This was followed by a an acting job with yelling, thrashing, and moaning that looked more like Meg Ryan's famous deli scene from "When Harry Met Sally" then any kind of epilepsy I've ever seen.

"Oh God! Oh my God! Oh my God! I'm having a seizure! I'm seizing! Oh! Oh! Oh!"

After it was over she opened her eyes and said "Did you think I was having a seizure?"

I thought about telling her what I really thought she was having, but decided to keep my mouth shut.

22 comments:

instant student said...

Haha, maybe you should have told her.
Might have been the cure. :)

J-Quell'n said...

One usually does not shout "I'm having a seizure!" when one is actually having a seizure, correct?

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Jacqueline- generally not, though there are exceptions.

This one, however was definitely NOT real.

webhill said...

people are so weird. at least my patients do not generally fake seizures ;). I did have a dog patient whose seizure disorder was hard to diagnose at first - his seizures involved very ataxic walking backwards across the room!

Sara said...

You have to watch this. It's a patient faking a seizure, too funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m64cy1MMPg

Celeste said...

I wonder if she fakes her orgasms as badly as she fakes her seizures.

instant student said...

@ Celeste: Maybe she confused both shows...

terri c said...

I wonder if rectal manipulation would cure her seizure. You'd have to refer her for that of course...

mommanator said...

Now how do you maintain that descretion!

C. said...

Well when you said she was a psych patient, I just figured it was going to be a good story.

danielle said...

I want to know if you yawned your answer at her? Or jsut stood leaning against the wall, with your arms crossed, and a very pathetic round of hand clapping when she was done??? At least in your mind that is....

student dr. blaze said...

I'm laughing so hard, I almost sprayed diet coke all over my MacBook. The guy mopping the cafe is looking at me like I'm the psycho patient. If he asks, I'll tell him Dr. Grumpy made me do it. ;-)

Chrysalis said...

Oh brother....

I love the comments. They make me laugh as much as your posts do. These guys and gals are the best.

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Danielle- I told her it didn't look like epilepsy, and I'd discuss it with her other doctors (translation- I'm calling your psychiatrist).

stewbert said...

oh wow ... i think you should have told her, too. haha

Anonymous said...

So was the diagnosis "Attention Whore"?

Monkeys have more sense.

LD50 Rat

Just Curious said...

So, what do seizure fakers in general (not just this particular psych patient) hope to gain by pulling the wool over an MD's eyes?

Benzos, barbiturates, tranks, narcotics, sympathy, something more, something less, all of the above, none of the above?

Changing subjects, sort of, when y'all refer to "migraineurs" is that another way of saying malingerer using migraine as a pretext?

Grumpy, M.D. said...

Just Curious- migraneur is a medical term for a patient with migraines. It doesn't connote anything beyond that.

Mark p.s.2 said...

From this description I think she was having an orgasm (if her body muscles actually spasmed). You should have told her. Unconscious-subconscious fear made real through a feedback loop of fear of having an orgasm-seizure.
It could be natural or from SSRI's or whatever drugs she was taking.
LINK

River said...

Obviously she's never seen a seizure happening, or she'd be better informed.

Anonymous said...

An ambulance brought me a guy having a reasonably good-looking seizure in the ER. I ordered 2 mg of Ativan right as his very concerned-looking fiancee showed up, so I ask her "so, he has seizures?" and she very ernestly tells me "oh yes. He has pseudoseizures!"

Anonymous said...

We used to refer to that as Status Dramaticus. AD has an entry about a full day of it.


ambulancedriverfiles.com/?feb_network_search_context=blog&s=status+dramaticus

 
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