Article Text
Statistics from Altmetric.com
With the benefit of hindsight, I had probably been unwell for weeks or even months before the worsening of my condition was sufficient for me to allow my wife to finally seek medical advice on my behalf. I can therefore really only directly relate parts of my acute illness as I retain sketchy recollections of this time, so my wife (Sue) has filled in many of the blank bits.
Things were probably first really noticeable when one evening, we were at a concert and I had become acutely confused. Sue became worried when I had not returned after a comfort break. She had to send an attendant to look for me. When he located me, he clearly thought I was intoxicated and we made a hasty retreat back home.
Shortly afterwards on a weekend break to London the same thing happened when, on the third morning, I could not locate the breakfast buffet (even though I had used it the previous two mornings). Then as we disembarked from the plane home later that day, I told my wife that she was in no fit state to drive as she had had too much to drink…. It was 10 am.
At this point, Sue finally persuaded me to seek advice from my neurological colleagues (she had been at me for weeks to do so) and one of my colleagues, who was on call that weekend, kindly came out to see me at home that day. He immediately realised that there was indeed something wrong and arranged an urgent MRI. I had this the next day (probably a case of not what you know but who you know). As Sue was driving me home, we got the phone call that no one really wants:Turn the car around, and get back to …
Other content recommended for you
- Possible anti-VGKC autoimmune limbic encephalitis associated with SIADH
- Anti-voltage-gated potassium channel complex antibody–mediated limbic encephalitis: a case report of a 53-year-old man admitted to intensive care psychiatric unit with psychotic mania
- Epilepsy and psychosis: a practical approach
- Autoimmune encephalitis: proposed recommendations for symptomatic and long-term management
- Autoimmune limbic encephalitis in 39 patients: immunophenotypes and outcomes
- Causes, presentation and outcome of lesional adult onset mediotemporal lobe epilepsy
- Antibiomania: clarithromycin-induced neurotoxicity mimicking autoimmune limbic encephalitis
- A patient with an acute confusional state
- Clinical relevance of positive voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC)-complex antibodies: experience from a tertiary referral centre
- What to see when you are looking at confusion: a review of the neuroimaging of acute encephalopathy