EEG & Tegretol

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I was diagnosed as bipolar Dec '06 & my doc put me on Tegretol & Clonazepam. I'm scheduled for an EEG Jan 19-22 to (hopefully) find out if what I had was a seizure. I called my neuro to find out if either drug would interfere w/the EEG & his nurse assured me it wouldn't, but it would seem like it would. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

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Re: EEG & Tegretol

Submitted by Ahmet on Mon, 2013-06-24 - 21:10

hye tonialpha/ i just wanna asking abt some medication drugs ,because i want to know the effect of them in EEG Signal ? which of them have a huge effect on EEG signal ,couse my graduation project abt classifier between normal and abnormal dataset ,so ,i want to which of them effect of signal to make it abnormal as(spike,flat) to get clearly to classifier between normal dataset and patient take this medication ! which best ? thx :) 1. carbamazepine (Tegretol) 2. valproic acid (depakine) 3. Phenytoin (epanutin) 4. oxcarbazepine (trileptal) 5. 5hydroxytryptamin(Serotonin)

Re: Re: EEG & Tegretol

Submitted by mcdonaja on Wed, 2007-01-31 - 13:15

Thanks for the info. Seeing that you have experience in the field of reading EEG's I have a couple of questions (more like a whole bunch! since we can't get a straight answer from my son's neurologist) Anyway pre May 2000 our then 5 yr old son was normal. Post May 2000 he developed an e.coli infection complicated by Heamolytic Uremic Syndrome (known for causing seizure conditions) and a host of complications. During acute stage of illness developed altered concisousness, irritability, confusion etc. Upon discharge condition continued along with bizzare behaviour, mood swings, tantrums, blank stares, irritability, confusion, drop in cognitive ability etc. Initially treated as behaviour problems related to his hospitalization. No change found after psychological intervention. One neurologist witnessed him walking in circles with altered conciousness. She began him on Clobazam that had little or no improvement on the symptoms and at times seemed to make them worse. To complicate things more he was diagnosed with a diffuse brain injury from the e.coli. A sleep EEG showed poor sleep pattern with several indicative epileptic spike patterns. His first awake EEG was negative showing the benign "Psychomotor variant". A subsequent followups then showed a wave pattern that indicated CPS. He was started on Tegretol and showed a significant improvement however not full symptom control. During another EEG the neuro commented about the slow spike wave discharges but said it was due to the TEGRETOL. Recently we noticed an increase in his symptoms again and felt that he possibly required an increase with his meds. He went for an EEG which was "normal". His treating Neuro then announced to us that as far as he was concerned our son had NEVER had epilepsy and everything he showed symptom wise was from "Psychiatric problems". He stated that after looking at all of the EEG's he was satisfied that all our son had was the psychomotor variant, and he wanted to discontinue his meds immediately. So being naturally astounded by his "new" diagnosis we questioned him about the EEG Tech's conclusion on the majority of the EEG's - CPS. The EEG tech was the same for all of the testing. Needless to say we are now getting a second opinion. After reading up on the different types of epilepsy I would almost hang my hat on Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome since his symptoms are so varied and all over the map. Just wondering as a professional what you thought of this? Also would the tegretol cause this slow spike wave formation? Rather long story but your input/comments are greatly appreciated. J

Re: Re: Re: EEG & Tegretol

Submitted by tonialpha on Wed, 2007-01-31 - 17:26

It sounds like you have a lot of variabilities the Epileptolgist should review not a reg. Neurologist, in my opinion. I see one a John Hopkins in the Maryland area. I would check the University settings or the Epilepsy Society in your area or the Neurolgy listings for Epileptologist. Your son having had a brain injury of some sort caused by e. coli sounds like something to check. A wake/sleep EEG or a EEG done on telemetry sounds like a good idea, which sounds like you have done partly already. I take Tegretol and I have never heard of this before and I have read a lot of EEGs and never heard of Tegretol doing it. I have not been in the field for 10 years so there may be some truth in it at this time but not when I was working. Barbituates cause fast waves or Beta activity to ride on waves. Most anticonvulsants do not effect the EEG unless the patient is toxic on the medication. Normal EEG's on seizure patients are not unusual. That is why they do other studies, like wake/sleep EEG or monitor the patient in the hospital for a time period, to help w/ diagnosis if their is a question. They do MRI'S , CT's , etc. I have heard myself of doctors thinking it is psychological but a lot of time, it is because they are puzzled on the diagnosis and it is not straight forward. Sometimes it is the patient too. Sometimes the patient has both psychological and neurological tendancies that need to be addressed. It is a big puzzle at times. You are right on the benign psychomotor variant being diagnosed as normal. The sleep study showing Epileptic spikes should be indicative a seizure disorder. One doctor told me a long time ago if there is one spike, the patient has a seizure disorder. He was from UCLA. The Complex Partial Seizure (CPS) indication on the EEG is definitely indicative a seizure disorder indicating a seizure focus not a generalized focus and the patient should be on anticonvulsant or some say anti-seizure medication. I can go on but leave your eyes to rest.