Urgent warning after man suffers deadly seizure ‘triggered by common medicine’
AN ELDERLY man suffered a deadly seizure after taking some common medicines to ease his cough.
The 84-year-old end up in hospital after he was unable to control his bladder and his family found him in a state of confusion.
Just hours before, the Arabic man had been given some over-the-counter decongestants, a type of medicine that can provide short-term relief for a stuffy nose, a cold and even flu.
While waiting in hospital to be seen by a doctor the man had a seizure.
Seizures are bursts of electrical activity in the brain that temporarily affect how it works.
They common among people who have a condition known as Epilepsy.
In some cases, a seizure may cause a person to have pauses in breathing.
If these pauses last too long, they can reduce the oxygen in the blood to a life-threatening level.
Writing in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, medics said the man had no underlying health conditions which could have caused the fit.
They concluded the seizure was brought on by the cold medicines, which contained a combination of pseudoephedrine and caffeine.
It comes as medicine experts in the UK have launched an investigation into drugs containing pseudoephedrine because they may cause vessels supplying the brain to contract or spasm, reducing blood flow.
The concern is this could lead to seizures and even a stroke.
However, drug regulators stress the likelihood of this happening is extremely low.
Previous studies have found the medicines pose a danger to people with high blood pressure or heart disease.
Products already include warnings about the rare risks on patient information leaflets that come with the medicines, as well as more common side effects such as headache and dizziness.
Pseudoephedrine comes in sprays, liquids and tablets, and is sometimes mixed with other medicines for coughs and colds or allergies.
What are the symptoms?
Seizures can affect people in different ways, depending on which part of the brain is involved.
Possible symptoms include:
- uncontrollable jerking and shaking, called a “fit”
- losing awareness and staring blankly into space
- becoming stiff
- strange sensations, such as a “rising” feeling in the tummy, unusual smells or tastes, and a tingling feeling in your arms or legs
- collapsing
Sometimes you might pass out and not remember what happened.