Can late-stage Alzheimer's cause seizures?

"In patients with Alzheimer's disease (the most common form of dementia), approximately 10-22% have at least one unprovoked seizure. Seizures usually occur in later stages of Alzheimer's disease, on average, > or =6 years into the course of the disease."

* I found this on the internet. Lots of information.

* Also, consult with your husband's MD and Alzheimer's Association.

* Perhaps check into (more) medication - to ease his suffering.

Gena / Touch Matters

Hi ckds52, I’m not a physician but am an expert in Alzheimer’s & dementia. I have been managing care for my patients for 42 years now with these diseases and have found that yes, they can develop a seizure disorder at anytime during their disease. It can come once or regularly, and may not appear to you as a seizure - he may just stare then pass out, then sleeping for hours as a normal seizure patient would. By sharing this info with your husband’s neurologist or PCP, they can prescribe medications to assist when this happens. Wishing you all the best, and please please take time for your own care.

ckds52: His primary care physician and also his neurologist should have a better answer to your questions than I, personally, can offer.

(copy and paste)

https://www.verywellhealth.com/alzheimers-disease-causes-of-seizures-1204507

My mom developed partial complex epileptic seizures, which sounds like this. Only lasts a few seconds, and the person is sort of "not there" for that time. Ensure you speak to doctor, write everything down, etc. She may need epilepsy medication, such as my mom now takes. Uncontrolled it can cause more damage daster...but doctor will know if she should take them based on where she is at in her Alzheimer's

His Physician should be notified for further assessment. There are many many variables with health and illnesses of all sorts including dementia illnesses and, there can be other causes presenting the new symptoms. Get his Physician to assess him and the event as his Physician knows his overall status including meds etc etc

Once the brain 🧠 starts breaking down and old age anything is possible - leave him alone .

I think you are wise to not put your husband through the tests. This may have been a one-time occurrence.

My husband had small seizures for years, except we didn't know they were seizures, and he refused to do an MRI. The doctor referred to them as transient ischemic attacks based on my description. After he had a tonic-clonic seizure in 2017 and an MRI was done while he was sedated (and had no choice), that's when we found out he had frontotemporal disorder. Testing in the hospital also showed mild (now moderate) cognitive impairment. Epilepsy meds have kept him 90% free of seizures. Whether he would have gotten those meds without the MRI, I don't know.

This could be a one-time event for your husband. I'm glad a caregiver spotted it and documented it. I'd mention it to his doctor for their records and then wait and see if it happens again. If it happens again, then perhaps a mild anti-convulsant med could be given.

Only a doctor can help.

Your situation is very similar to mine. My husband was diagnosed with Frontotemporal dementia 10 yrs ago and is not in advanced stage. He can no longer talk or is bedridden. Starting in Nov 2019, he began to have seizures lasting 5-10 secs. The docs say they are related to his dementia. He’s taking two meds for that but beyond that there’s nothing anyone can do.

I would say its the Dementia. Anytime the brain is compromised I think seizures can happen.

According to Google, People with dementia are at risk of having epileptic seizures. We've known this for a long time – it was described by Alzheimer himself in 1911. However, how common they are remains unclear. This is because epileptic seizures can often be subtle.

What stage of Alzheimer's do seizures occur?

Seizures usually occur in later stages of Alzheimer's disease, on average, > or =6 years into the course of the disease. Seizures in Alzheimer's disease are more likely to occur with early-onset disease, particularly if there is a familial presenilin I mutation.

How common are seizures in patients with Alzheimer disease?

An association between Alzheimer's disease and seizures was reported in several studies with figures for seizure prevalence in AD from 0.5% up to 64%.

My Husband in late stages had what the Hospice Nurse called "Myoclonic seizures"
She did not seem concerned about them
He would have one...sort of space out for a brief moment then return to his "normal"
I saw no other effects from them, at the time he was wheelchair bound and non verbal so there was no worry that he would fall.
(My Husband had been diagnosed "officially" with Alzheimer's but I suspect he also had Vascular Dementia)

If they continue I would probably have him confined to a wheelchair so that he is less of a fall risk. Or whenever he is walking someone should be with him and he should have a Gait Belt on for a bit of support.

Only your medical team can answer this question for you, but, as a retired RN, I can assure you that there are quite a number of things that can cause a seizure-like affect.

For instance, I witnessed in my own mom a seizure in which she had fallen, been to the hospital, had a scan on her head due to the bump on her head, returned home just fine, and was sitting in the kitchen chair with a cup of tea while we chatted. She stopped mid- sentence and I looked toward her to note she seemed to be fighting to stay upright. I eased her to the floor where she had a very brief seizure. Her blood pressure bottomed quite a lot. I kept her down, then she had a nap.
Lived another 15 years without ever having another.

As you can see there is not always an explanation. This was likely mental trauma combined with a fall in BP, but the MD could only guess.

If seizures continue your hubby may need meds. But this is for discussion with his doc today as to cause and followup, and I wish you the best of luck.

Because all of the dementias are a degenerative brain disease, I imagine that seizures would actually be quite common with folks that have dementia.
My late husband developed seizures about a year after his massive stroke at the age of 48 and they continued until his death at 72. And he developed vascular dementia towards the end of his life.
I also have a friend who's husband has dementia and he too has developed seizures since his dementia diagnosis.
I would certainly keep an eye on things as seizures can be deadly, and if needed a neurologist can put him on some seizure medications to try to keep them at bay. My husband ended up on 3 different seizure medications at very high doses to keep his at bay, and they still occasionally snuck through.
I wish you both the very best.