Hello

I'm asking this question for my dad. He is 57 years of age. For the last three years he has been having these "turns". We don't know how else to descibe them. When these turns happen he is very staggery when trying to walk. He can say things which are totally out of character for him. Myself and my mother know by just looking at his face when one of these turns are happening. On two occasions while having one of these turns he has woke up while asleep in a chair shouting with a cramp in his, stood up to go to the toilet and collapsed along the way. He started to make like a very deep snoring noise and came round after about five minutes. Ambulance men were called both times but it takes them a while to get here and bp and things they checked were fine. First time he was brought to hospital, further tests were done but with no result. I do know epilepsy was ruled out. Second time he got very angry that we had called the ambulance and refused to go with them, VERY out of character for him. The doctors and hospital are not taking it any further and our family doctor has put it down to fainting, which we know its not. It seems the only way he can come out of these is to sleep it off over night and when he wakes up the next morning he doesn't remember anything that he's done or conversations he has had. It doesn't happen everyday but coming much more frequent, 2-3 times a week. And mostly happens in the evenings but has been known to happen throughout the day. If you could give us any idea what this could be or what road to follow next we would be so grateful. This is very frightening for me and my family.

Thank You.

There are neurological conditions that sound like this, but we don't know what tests he had (just an EEG?), and this is not a 'free doctor chat site,' although there is one doctor here on occasion (not lately), and a few nurses. Demand a referral to a neurologist, or try to get to university medical center, where they may be more willing to examine him more thoroughly. A family doctor who just says it is 'fainting' isn't putting much effort into this, and should be concerned even if it were just fainting.

You don't say if he works, what he does, or if he is on any medication - important. Feel free to answer below.

I would hope that a doctor would consider Parkinson's Disease, which cannot really be tested for except to give medication (levdopa) to see if it alleviates symptoms. PD symptoms develop slowly, the most obvious being tremors. There may be some change to movement, such as dragging one leg a bit or holding one arm close to the side, and slowing down in general. What doesn't sound typical though are his odd statements. A condition that can be tested for is Huntington's Disease, which may start this way but eventually the main symptom is involuntary jerky movements. PD tremors can get jerking-like too. His symptoms sound like a mixture of conditions. Catelepsy, which looks like 'sleeping awake' with a sort of rigidity with some flexibility, is a sign of both Parkinson's and epilepsy, but can also be brought on by certain drugs like Reserpine and Haldol, and by cocaine withdrawal. There are others, such as Tourette's, in which people have tics and say things (usually obscene) out of character (I don't think this sounds like Tourette's though), and brain tumors, not necessarily malignant. Again, they all have to do with areas of the brain, and all are neurological, so get him to a neurologist.

I'm not trying to diagnose, just offer some names of conditions.

Please answer back if any of this helps.

Thank you for answering. Yes it was an EEG that he had.

Yes he works at fixing televisions and setting up satellite TV so he's up ladders a lot which is worrying. He is not on any medication.

I would be a bit worried too.
And I hope you live where you can get to a big medical center for a thorough neurological exam. Maybe you could go with him and insist on seeing the neurologist with him. Men aren't always very good about saying what's wrong, don't persist, and play down their symptoms.

If you can, I would try another doctor, and see if they can give a better diagnosis. There is more going on than just "fainting".