Aquaria Central - Blogs

When a Seizure Isn't

excuzzzeme — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:23:55 GMT

When is a seizure not a seizure? When it turns out to be an indicator of a disease. I think disease is a rather harsh and incorrect label, but lacking any other descriptor, will have to do since the medical field has adopted that.

First off let's clear the air - I am not wanting nor seeking sympathy. I don't write this blog for my own edification but rather as a tool to possibly teach you what it is like to live after stroke with all of it's maladies. I write in the hopes that you can glean some understanding for a loved one that may have had strokes. Not all strokes are the same. They vary from each other as snowflakes might vary one from another. No two are quite the same but do share many common traits.

Friday, 14 Aug, I had appointment with seizure clinic. I had no preconceived ideas of what might happen so I went in a bit curious. Typical initial banter of what brings you here, etc. followed by the customary physical tests to see what you can and can't do. A few quick mental tests and then more discussion. The exception being that my wife had taken a video to show the doctors what happens when I have a seizure. After they viewed it there was more Q & A. Finally it was my turn to ask questions. I had but one. "What is your best guess pending further treatment, that might explain what was going on?" I was not prepared for the answer.

The present initial diagnosis is "Lewy-body Dementia". It appears that it is a form of Parkinson's Disease coupled with Alzheimer's. Sometimes the signal for body movements are "forgotten" or crossed up resulting in involuntary sporadic movement with loss of muscle control. Hence, it appears to be a seizure without actually being one. Although many of the things that set off a seizure will also set off these wild body movements. Lewy bodies are irregular cells that develop in the brain and replicate themselves much like a cancer or Alzheimer's might. Unlike Alzheimer's, rather than having a hole form in the tissue, abnormal cells develop. More like what a cancer cell might do but without forming a tumor. The don't even clump together to form a patchwork. They just occur throughout the brain. This is not a rare condition (1.3M in the US alone) just not a headliner.

This condition is terminal and there is no cure. Certain drugs may help to give me a better quality of life as well as extend it, although at some point drugs will no longer work. I was not given a life expectancy as testing will first need to verify that this is what is wrong. The diagnosis might be incorrect but I should know within about a month. I will be admitted to the hospital in the next week or two and advanced, more thorough testing will be done. Parkinson's Disease is an umbrella label to many diseases that share a common trait with it. In this case, it also shares many common traits with Alzheimer's. Hence the need for more definitive testing. As I know more, I will post it as I learn.

More on my seizures

excuzzzeme — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 22:51:09 GMT

I may be a bit premature with this entry but needed to get it down. Seizures began about 2 weeks after my strokes. They are petite mal yet they are anything but, in my opinion. Have had a cpap for about 4 years and trying to use it has been a real battle for me. I have thus far been sticking it out and am finding the more I can stay on it, the less seizures I have. In our meeting and exam, the doctor felt that the increased occurrences and severity had a physical cause or could possibly be emotional and until I could stay on the CPAP all night it would be hard to identify. The doctor suggested that sleep deprivation was responsible or partly responsible for them becoming worse as a contributing factor. I have been doing my utmost to learn to sleep with it on and have been noticing an almost 0 occurrence rate when I do. When it comes off early in the night or I can't use it, the seizures are back. Sleep apnea, when severe enough, kills. I am in the the bottom of the severe category - if a score of above 90 equals severe, I am at 93, just enough to break into the severe category. When left unchecked, it gradually increases until it kills. That is all physical and not emotional. So I do my best to keep it on. What I don't understand that as is difficult as it can be to put on, how am I taking it off without waking? One of life's little mysteries I guess. The nice thing in all this is that I see a correlation between the number and severity of my seizures and the use of the CPAP. I have an appointment end of this week at the seizure clinic and hope to present my thoughts to the doctor and get feedback on it. I am hoping that this will get the ban on driving lifted. Maybe even get the need for some meds to be eliminated.

You may wonder what all this has to do with strokes. Let's see if I can make an easy to understand explanation. When a person has a stroke it is basically like having a heart attack but located in the brain. In a nutshell, it is the stoppage of blood flow (ischemic). Because of a clot, blood flow stops, the brain starts to die from a lack of oxygen very quickly. The other type of stroke is called an aneurysm. In this case a major vessel in the brain will have a blow-out like a car tire. Blood begins to flood the brain killing off brain cells as it spreads.

When brain cells die off, the path that the neurotransmitters use is no longer available. Sort of like an instant roadblock. The trouble is that the brain failed to erect "DETOUR" signs to tell the electrical impulses how to get around the blocks. When signals fail to reach their intended target, parts of the body can begin to fail. Arms and legs fail to work, fingers, eyes, speech, hearing quit functioning and so can some of the internal organs. Where the stoke occurs and how large an area that dies will determine what quits working. As time goes on, some paths can be re-established and function can be regained even if it is not at the same level it used to function.

Because of these short-circuits, the electrical impulses in the brain can effect the chemical balance which can in turn compound the problems. Pretty much a chain reaction of events. Some of these short-circuits and different chemical balances can cause misfiring resulting in twitches, seizures, and other odd or different behaviors.

Returning to my sleep apnea, this existed prior to my strokes but I was never fully diagnosed to just how bad it was or wasn't. It is very possible that it may have contributed in part to the strokes. Since sleep apnea can result in a lower blood/oxygen level, this too will change the chemical balance in the brain and cause misfiring of the impulses. So if the stroke wasn't bad enough on it's own, sleep apnea can be a huge contributing factor in the failure of correct impulse firings. Hope that ties everything together for you.

My right side is weaker than my left by a large difference. This includes problems with my eyes, comprehension, reading, math, walking, talking. If that isn't bad enough, when I have a full bladder my right hand becomes painful. The signal that is supposed to tell me I need to use the bathroom is misdirected to my right hand. It feels like someone is trying to slice up my hand with a very sharp knife. Add that to the feeling of having a really bad sunburn on the right side of my body constantly. Pain? Yeah. The best that can be done is to be on Fibromyalgic* drugs that women take to ease the pain.

*Fibromyalgia (FM or FMS) is a medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain and allodynia, a heightened and painful response to pressure.

Feel free to PM me with questions you may have.

Some intersting things going on

excuzzzeme — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 16:35:06 GMT

Interesting to me because it.s new. Well what's new is that wife bought me a scooter to putt around town on since I am not allowed a car anymore. Boy does it give me freedom! Well, at least the appearances of freedom. Regardless, I am not stuck in the house all day every day. Getting out and away from the house even for a few minutes is such a blessing! It breaks up the monotony of the 4 walls.

My seizures are escalating. No one knows why or what sets them off. My head, arm and leg shake like I have a bad case of Parkinson's Disease. Only it is worse, much worse. I've been having headaches again as well.These seizures last most of the day now. Sometimes I wonder if it is side effect of the meds. I take so many I am a walking pharmacy. Head hurting will write more later.

African Cichlids Havin' Babies!

lisaemc2 — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 20:04:45 GMT

I have a Demason�s Cichlid and an Electric Yellow Labio. When I got them I was in the process of changing to a bigger system but was derailed when the car needed new tires. I got a flat so that became priority. Then life happened; 3 weeks in Europe, people got married, children were born and the fish got bigger and began hiding all the time. I was in the process of finding the fish a new home and was cleaning the tank when I spotted movement in the plants. There are 3 of them. They have the colouring and body shape as the Labio but with the stripes of the Demason.

This always surprises me, no matter how many times it happens. The last time I had Cichlids my goal was to breed them but I had always been told they�re famously hard to breed so I went in hopeful but didn�t expect much. Within a week the breeding trio killed everything else in the tank. I saw that as a sign the courtship had begun. When I first discovered the fry there were 12 but only 6 survived. 6 months later I moved to London and had to get rid of my tank. The aquarium I took them to gave me top dollar for them.

I bought the Electric Yellow and Demason knowing they need lots of room and are very territorial. My plan was to move them to a bigger tank then get them mates. The people at the pet store didn�t know how to sex the Cichlids and with my limited experience I thought I�d got 2 girls. My first mistake was buying the fish before I�d set up the larger tank. My second mistake was not reacting fast enough. That said; apparently African Cichlids are easy to breed because not only are they 2 different breeds but the tank is too small. Maybe the only thing wrong with this picture is the size of the tank; Chem levels, salinity and temp. are at optimum.

I�m still not at a place where I can get a larger set up so I�m setting up the 10 gallon I use for quarantine to house the babies.

More of Life after stroke

excuzzzeme — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 06:34:47 GMT

It has been a year since I last posted to my blog and was surprised at how time has flown by. I am still stuck with the depression and this past year from about September to March I was in a really bad place. Real bad. It was scary like a never-ending nightmare that you can't wake up from. I was afraid I might continue a downward spiral and never survive it. Surprisingly, I did. There was no magic to end it, there was no medication to mask it that I was willing to take, it had to run it's course and I had to be strong enough to hang on for the duration and not give in to the demons that came with it.
Sort of reminds me of a passage in the Bible, Book of Revelation :" I beheld a pale horse and he that sat upon him was Death and all of Hell followed after him." Perhaps the easiest part of dealing with it was simply to acknowledge its presence and continue on as if it wasn't there. But the other times, that is a far different story. At one point, I finally understood why people commit suicide. I saw it from the inside, not as a detached observer, more like an active participant in a very awful "game" that I wanted no part of but was trapped into. At the end of this "game" final score was: Me 1, Depression 0. I won that battle but it is a long war that I will have to fight continuously. The next battle may be more intense but I have been strengthened by this last round. I know that I now can survive it and come out on top once more. I now have that knowledge that it can be beat but it is so very difficult.
Time will tell who is the stronger and I intend for it to be me.

Seizure (pregnant guppy)

TrumanL — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:07:42 GMT

Hi, I recently got a few female guppies, addition to my other 14 guppies I raised since they were babies. So today one of the new ones looked like it was about to give birth, so I took it out and put it in a mini tank. After an hour or so, it still hasn't given birth, so I decided to put her back in the main tank. And after 2 minutes or so she started having a seizure, that scared the life out of me, she was going super fast moving around the tank, and spinning! (she looked like a torpedo while spinning) It had a seizure attack every 15 or so seconds, and lasted around 3 seconds, after, it just floats, belly up, and somewhat swims sideways. After another 2 minutes or so it died :/. One of the reasons I thought might contribute is maybe the water temperature difference? The mini tank was at about 81F, <--- I made the water a little warmer, so it would be comfortable giving birth. And the main tank was 74F ( forgot to turn on my heater)<-- a little low. The fish seemed healthy, no fin rot. I'm not too sure about internal diseases though, but while it was *trying* to give birth it was breathing heavily. Anyways, I was wondering why it had a seizure and died? :confused:

Agressive Female Guppy

TrumanL — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:00:51 GMT

Hi, I recently got a female guppy from the pet store. I also have ones that I raised since they were babies(most of them are related to each other, I have 14 at the moment). Now they have their very own babies, and surprisingly, they won't eat them too, that's why I usually leave the baby guppies I can't catch in the main tank with the adults. Now here is the problem, this female guppy that I recently got always tries to eat the baby guppies, which now I have to try and catch all of the babies from the main tank, to the 'baby guppy tank', but not only that, this female always attacks other guppies. Is there anything I should do? Take it back to the pet store, or have it in a separate tank? Or any other ideas? because I was actually hoping it would have babies, since it was so colorful :naughty:.

Planning...

LiveMermaid07 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:10:37 GMT

oh God, I just typed up this huge long thing and everything got erased except the title and tag, argh!!!:mad2::swear::pc:
:confused:
Computers can be such a pain in the :swear:.

RIP - Cheeto :*(

LiveMermaid07 — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:42:51 GMT

Male orange/blue betta. May 30?, 2011 - January 25?, 2012

My poor little baby! He had always ignored the hole in the top of the coconut hut cause it was too small to fit more than his head in (the few times he'd start to stick it in he'd back out almost immidiately since it was obviously too small), but I found him jammed in the hole. So I picked it up and held it just under the surface so he could get air when he needed and hopefully wiggle free. After a half hour or so he hadn't been able to get himself free, so I had to try to break him out. Unfortunately that didn't go well.
In desperarion, as a last resort, I put him to sleep with clove oil (the article had kept going on and on about how hard it was to overdose fish with clove), then slid my hand into a bag - for a glove - and carefully pried him lose. The poor baby had cut his back open. I placed him into clean water with an air stone and some hornwort for good measure and waited, hoping he'd wake up. Perhaps labarynth fish don't react the same to clove oil. He never woke up. The next morning he was floating and definitely dead.
My poor sweet baby Cheeto! *sobs* :(

RIP :*( Sam Quiggly Beloved Cat 1996 - 2012

LiveMermaid07 — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:15:10 GMT

Sam Quiggly

Mom's oldest cat. Black and pretty and grumpy and silly and soft. Our first cat to die of old age. OMG, it was hard to watch.
Lil sis found him out side, we think he had a stroke, he was crying and dying and trying to fight it off, g it was sad to see. The other kitties avoided him, they always cuddle up to him cause he's their saragant dad (though I think Foozey and Joey still think he's 'mom' lol). Mom brought him inside and laid him in a box with blankets and covered him with a towel. He smelled very bad. So she turned on the garage light and I brought a lamp for more warmth and she set the box on another blanket in there. Mom's been sick and had to go to bed so I stayed up with him. He kept crying and crying and occassionaly tried to climb out, but I don't think he could move his back half so he just ended up throwing his towel off. He couldn't close his eyes, I don't think he could even see us anymore. I stroked his head softly and used a dropper to give him so water, his throat sounded so sore. When he realized the dropper was water he tipped back his head to make it easier to give the water to him.
I had to leave him to take care of some things, I'm not sure he noticed, but came back to check on him now and again.
The second the last time I came in he wasn't crying anymore, he almost seemed to be asleep, so I petted him for a while and left. Shortly thereafter he died. Alone. I am sorry Sammy. :(

Sam would have been 16 this summer.
I think we got him in an August.
Mom picked him out when some cousins and an aunt were visiting with us and one of the cousins wanted to name him 'Simba.' :grinno:

The other cats in with him at the store were picking on him so he hid in the litter pan. When we got him home he liked to sleep in the litter pan and 'make sand castles' as mom put it LOL.

We used a big empty poptart box as his toy box and put a basket with blanket for him to sleep in. He learned about taking his toys out of the box very quickly, but he never learned to put them back. :rolleyes:

My little sister had 2 stuffed toys that he absolutely loved, a large yellow duck that she eventually gave him for his basket, and a 4 foot teddy bear she won from some valentine drawing somewhere or other. She brought it up to see what he'd do, he checked it out, sniffed it, and then climbed on and started 'kneading' him (he did that to the duck also). He'd roll his eyes up and just purrrrrr!
Lil sis couldn't decide whether she liked him or was afraid of him, she'd go back and forth with this. During one of her afraid times she decided she'd try to scare him away from her so he'd leave her alone. Well, it backfired and he loved it! He started lying in wait for her then when he'd see her come by - even if she saw him, cause he thought he was invisible - he'd run by and either tag her leg or wrap himself around her leg and act like he was going to bite, but then jump back up and sprint away before she had time to do anything about it, LOL! He even started hiding under the armchair - which was a squeeze when he got bigger, but it was his favorite spot - and wait for somone to sit down, then he'd reach out and 'tag' their leg, and if you didn't know he was there it could really startle you lol!

Once he was playing with one of those little fluffy mice (not real) in the kitchen - he was still a kitten - and I threw a second one over to him. He blinked at it confused, then back to the first mouse, batted one, then the other, looked back and forth at the mice, then started backing up and hissing at both of them, heeheehee!

When he was older (4?) older sis brought 2 kittens home, they were only about 3 weeks old (the person who gave them to her thought the mom had abandoned them only to find out later she'd just gone out for food :shakehead:) and about the size of hamsters. The second they saw Sam they ran right up to him and tried to nurse! He of couse did not like that lol! After only a few more encounters with them like that Sam quickly learned how to avoid them. Which he did until they were 6 months old and way past the nursing phase - except for one time. Maybe a couple of weeks after they'd first arrived, Sam had just checked on the kittens from afar and decided that it was safe to lay by the couch and take a nap, or at least sit down. So he was laying there all comfy and suddenly Foozeball comes running around from the back of the couch. Sam's tensing up to bolt as he sees her nearing him, but she slows down and just curls up a couple inches in front of him instead of 'attacking' him. He looks at her suspiciously but slowly starts to relaxe and mom and I can see on his face, he seems to be thinking, 'Ok, this isn't soooo bad...,' but just then he looks up an sees mom and me watching him and he bolts, startling wee Foozeball, and she looks so surprised and hurt, but then Joey runs around from the back of the couch and pounces on her and she doesn't have time to think on how hurt she was. Sam successfully avoided them after that until they were about 6 months old lol.

Sam would kind of 'babysit' the kittens, say they would run up the short stairs and down the hall, he would sneak behind them and peek over the top of the stairs to see what they were doing, as long as they didn't see him he would watch, but the second they saw him and started running towards him he would bolt and leave them wondering where he went.

When he realized they were old enough to not nurse anymore he would clean them. But at the food bowl, he was top cat. If they were in the way of his food (and they were so small they were in the dish, at least that was Foozey's excuse, Joey was just a pig lol) he would place his paw on their forhead and give a push. After a while he just had to put his paw on their forhead and they would let him eat.
Foozeball being so small however decided one day to give this method a try. Joey was at the water bowl (he was nearly twice her size) and she wanted water. He wouldn't leave. So she placed her dainty little paw on his head. Nothing happened. She took it off. She placed both front paws on his head (he's drinking the water right now) and jumped down on his head! Joey came up spluttering and probably wondering what had just happened while a triumphant Foozeball got herself some water. :grinno:

A few years later sis brought another cat to us. Sam's initial reaction looked something like this, "Another one? Seriously? Oh well, the others didn't leave and I kind of like them now, so I guess I'll go over and say hello." He seemed to know he had to choice in his 'adopting' another cat and he took to being 'den mother' very well.

Of course once Foozey had grown up into her little self she was co-top cat, but she still allowed Sam to think he ruled. (She did however make sure her brother Joey knew she was ranked above him lol.)

Later Sam was 'forced' into 'adopting' another cat, a rather difficult one. She was loud and rauscious and violent and spoiled and longhaired and didn't know how to groom herself, and thought that brushes were evil and she loved her claws, and always getting her way. It took years but with Joey's help (the other longhair who is always grooming and meticulous, but never leaves a dirt clod un rolled in) she finally allowed them to groom her and she started learning how to groom herself (we tried, but as I mentioned, she thought brushes were evil). She is still learning but has made some progress.

Sam you were wonderful and will be dearly missed!

Funeral / Burial scheduled for Saturday.

Note to Mom, older sis and I still think a cat should never be named Quiggley as it sounds like something found in the litter box!
:grinno:

Help me re-home my fish please? cries

LiveMermaid07 — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:17:58 GMT

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums...11#post2732011

Lettuce

TrumanL — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:50:57 GMT

Hi, I own many guppy fish; babies and adults, I also have a Pleco. I recently saw it seem kindof down, since i just cleaned the tank, and there wasn't much food for it, so I decided to feed it many different vegetables, including mushrooms, peas, cucumber and lettuce, the Pleco seemed to like it, but the guppies also seemed to nibble on it, so I was wondering is it healthy to feed guppies lettuce, if so, what other food should i feed them? because I only have fish flakes as my guppies main source of food. Thankyou :goldfish::rolleyes:

Where ARe my pHotos?!!!!!!

LiveMermaid07 — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:19:52 GMT

Arrrrrgh!

I HATE it when I spend SO much time uploading photos and they don't show up!!!!! GAH!!!:rant2:

:flamed:

Late fish-aversary - Pearl - crowntail female betta

LiveMermaid07 — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 06:40:37 GMT

I believe July was actually Pearl's fishy-versary (when I got her).
She is still doing great, but a little pssd at me for moving her into a different part of the divided tank she's ususally in lol. Moving them around helps keep them entertained.

Let's see, Pearl was about 3 months old when I found her, the only spikey tailed girl betta I'd seen or other fancy-finned female at any store hereabouts so I just had to add her to my 'collection.' :)

When I first got her, and for the first few months, her body was almost completely white other than a small dark blue spot/streak, and red fins. Her whole body and fins had a thick purple iridescent shimmer. Over time the white turned pink (she's a Valentine's fish lol!)
It took me several months to find out what type of betta she was (yes I do feel stupid lol). A crowntail, and more recently have learned she might have some halfmoon in her too.

She is very good at getting through tight spots, I have never discoverd how she gets through the dividers! You really would not know that from looking at her, she is very small, but quite rotund in the egg area, you would think that would get in the way!
Her fins (and spikes) are quite long, but possibly look more so as she is the smallest full grown girl betta I've ever had, including fins she's only about 2" or slightly over long! This doesn't seem like such a difference from 2 1/2" and 3" on ruler, but in person it makes a lot of difference. It is odd that the first betta girl I had was the largest/longest and since all of them have been getting smaller. Oh well.

During her first few (or less) months she lived in a large jar with some live plants a wee bit of matching (matched her lol) gravel and an airstone, w/ daily water changes, while I was resetting a tank for her. I also had a new sorority about this time, but was lothe to add her to it and have her beautiful fins ripped off. I'd discovered with my first sorority that sometimes when fins are eaten they don't grow all the way back - with some of the girls it took the same area being attacked multiple times for this to happen, and for others the first time was all it took.

She ended up for a short while in a 4way divided 10g, but I was able to successfully integrate the red betta girl (RedRidingHood, died recently) into the sororoity. (It was kinda funny, the rest of girls there were blue or green and at first she ignored them and they ignored her lol.) Afterwards I reduced it to a 3way, which it still is today.
Her tank mates originally were (she was on the left side) Roy - red betta male in the middle section, and Charlie - blue betta male - in the right section.
Unfortunately, she eventually found a way past the divider (?!) and into Roy's area. Remember how I didn't want her fins damaged? Yep, he nipped off some of her fins before I found her and scooped her out. Most of the fins grew back, but she is short at least 2 spikes on the end of her tail (like a gap tooth) and possibly one on her lower. I think the top fin was fine.

Some time after this during the same day wriggled into Roy's area 5! times and I kept having to remove her. I got tired of having to catch her and didn't want her eaten, so instead I caught Roy and put him in her area. When I got up the next morning, well what do you know? She can't/couldn't get out of the middle area LOL! So I left her there heehee. She seems to prefer the middle, silly girl! A while later to keep things interesting I switched Roy and Charlie so they could check out each others areas (and after a few months switched them back ;) ). Charlie seems to like to be on the side with the filter so he can let it suck him up to the prefilter sponge lol, he is so lazy! :D

I estimate Pearl is 1 year and 7 months old. My oldest living girl before now was 2, but she had grown a tumor about 8 months before she died, Pearl looks great (but so did my other pink fish just before she went into the death throws... :( )
Here's hoping for a long life Pearl! *cheers*

No, you can't have a beer!

But in fishy years I'm old enough...

I don't care how old you are in fish or human years, you are not getting a beer young lady!

But...

No! How bout a worm?

Oooo! WORM! GIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMME GIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMMEGIMME!!!

Mushrooms

TrumanL — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:33:42 GMT

Hi, recently i've been giving my Pleco fresh mushrooms to eat. I also have many baby guppies that are starting to turn colour in the tank, but i was wondering, is it ok to feed mushrooms to the guppies, they seem to be nibbleing on them. I've noticed it gave my guppies some more colour and patterns, it changed over night. I would also like to know is it ok if "vegetable juice" (example: cumcumber in tank) would ruin the tank water, thankyou very much :)