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Diagnosing Epilepsy
Fri, 08/16/2013 - 13:06Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
My son started to have seizures last year. They diagnosed him with a seizure disorder then I looked into epilepsy and after several months I wanted to know if my son was epileptic. The dr didn't know ? Eventually after seeing several neurologist in the hospital they have us the diagnosis that he's epileptic.. I wanted to know what the cause was. He had a EEG done and MRI done at the very beginning . He started with seizures in July 2013 . He was admitted to the Phoenix children's hospital during that time and that's when the imaging was done.. They said that he showed signs that his brain was "misfiring" more on the left than the right . That was more than a year ago.. He is now seeing a epileptic specialist but I'm still in the dark as to what type if seizures he's having (since he's had several different kinds) he is now on two different meds, trileptal and lamectal . I'm trying to get more answers from the dr but he says that the EEG done a year ago ( not by him)before having alot more seizures he's happy with. We still don't know what's really going on. It seems to be that they just want him to be put on more and more medication and without a reason behind why he's having seizures . He hit his head and needed stitches in December of 2011. No imaging was done and he hit bricks on the back of the left side if his head. Shortly after he was on the hospital for pancreatitis ( the were confused as to why) then in February he had his first seizure although we didn't know it was a seizure . He had another one and again we didn't know it was a seizure because he just seemed to be dreaming and would wake up fine but then in July for 4 days he had seizures this was when we realized what they were since they got worse . That's when he was admitted to the hospital.. I'm just trying to do my own research since all drs seem to tell me is " give him this medication with all it's side affects and learn to live with him having epilepsy" I will not accept this .. U would like to know a reason and the type. Please any input is appreciated . GOD BLESS
Judy
Re: Diagnosing Epilepsy
Submitted by just_joe on Sat, 2013-08-17 - 15:09
Afternoon
A short form for a seizure would be: An electrical impulse going off wrong in the brain which causes a chair reaction. Think about dominos being all lined up on a table or the floor all close enough to be hit by another domino. Tapping one domiino starts a chain reaction causing them all to fall. Now think about medications they are to stop those chain reactions. Kind of like putting your finger between the dominos stopping them after the first one falls which leaves all the others up. which stops the seizure. That is not the perfect answer to what a seizure is but yo should be able to picture it better. And if your son askes that might be a way to show him too. The medications are like your finger
You are not alone. My mother was given information about my seizures. The EEGs showed no seizure activity (your mis firing). Back in the 1960s there were no CT scans or MRI's and back then a neurologist handled all problems in the central nervous system.
I was diagnosed with Grand mal seizures, focal motor epilepsy and pettit mal epilepsy. Names have changed to types in many areas.
The types of siezures I have are
auras
absence seizures
partial seizures
focal seizures
complax partial
generalized seizures
tonic clonic seizures
grand mal seizures
I listed the names first then the types. Each name can and does have several types of seizures. What happens in one epileptics seizures may not happen in another persons seizure. Kind of like one medication works for one person and not for others. Dosages vary too because each person is different. I have a high tollerance to medications of all kinds and because of that I end up taking more medicines than many others.
Please do one thing that will help you by using the diary at the top of this page. You can start with the medications and dosages, there is a side efect area where they can be noted. Note his mood time of day whe n the seizures happened,the amount of time it took for him to get back to normal. The note pad there can be used to note what the seuzures looked like and what happened in them. I am saying this because the diary can be sent to your doctor or downloaded and printed to it can be taken to him. With this information he may be able to see any possiable triggers.
Afternoon
A short form for a seizure would be: An electrical impulse going off wrong in the brain which causes a chair reaction. Think about dominos being all lined up on a table or the floor all close enough to be hit by another domino. Tapping one domiino starts a chain reaction causing them all to fall. Now think about medications they are to stop those chain reactions. Kind of like putting your finger between the dominos stopping them after the first one falls which leaves all the others up. which stops the seizure. That is not the perfect answer to what a seizure is but yo should be able to picture it better. And if your son askes that might be a way to show him too. The medications are like your finger
You are not alone. My mother was given information about my seizures. The EEGs showed no seizure activity (your mis firing). Back in the 1960s there were no CT scans or MRI's and back then a neurologist handled all problems in the central nervous system.
I was diagnosed with Grand mal seizures, focal motor epilepsy and pettit mal epilepsy. Names have changed to types in many areas.
The types of siezures I have are
auras
absence seizures
partial seizures
focal seizures
complax partial
generalized seizures
tonic clonic seizures
grand mal seizures
I listed the names first then the types. Each name can and does have several types of seizures. What happens in one epileptics seizures may not happen in another persons seizure. Kind of like one medication works for one person and not for others. Dosages vary too because each person is different. I have a high tollerance to medications of all kinds and because of that I end up taking more medicines than many others.
Please do one thing that will help you by using the diary at the top of this page. You can start with the medications and dosages, there is a side efect area where they can be noted. Note his mood time of day whe n the seizures happened,the amount of time it took for him to get back to normal. The note pad there can be used to note what the seuzures looked like and what happened in them. I am saying this because the diary can be sent to your doctor or downloaded and printed to it can be taken to him. With this information he may be able to see any possiable triggers.