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Seizures?
Wed, 11/16/2005 - 13:30Hi to all of you.
I have a similar situation to several people posting on this site. My eeg and MRI came back normal, but I have exhibited symptoms of seizures. For the past several months I have been having periods of blacking out. This has happened at home, at friend's homes, at work, even at the grocery store. I am told that I sometimes mumble, have a blank stare in my eyes, say odd things, or may walk around with no definate destination. I am told that I am either unresponsive or mumble in reply during these times.I am unconsious during these periods of time. I am told that this lasts 2 or 3 minutes. These episodes will come upon me suddenly with no warning. Quite a few of them have occured within a week of the start of that time of the month.
I have had a long history of depression and anxiety problems, but nothing like the symptoms I am having now. I am on medication for my depression. However, there is also a history of epilepsy in my family. I have an uncle that had convulsive seizures as a child and the type where you blackout for a few seconds as an adult. I also had a cousin that had nighttime seizures as a child. Since I do have a history of depression and emotional problems, the first place I went to was a mental health clinic. Ihave been under stress lately. They suggested that I go to a neurologist. I went to one and they did an MRI and EEG. Those tests came back normal. The neorologist does not think it is seizures I am having. He mentioned something to me about still having my coodination. Does one lose coordination when they have epilepsy? Given the side effects of anit-epileptic medications, I understand the doctor's hesitation to prescribe something if he thinks it is more psychological than physical. I would like some feedback from others. Thanks
TLH
Re: Re: Re: Re: Seizures?
Submitted by gretchen1 on Thu, 2005-11-17 - 12:19
I have two thoughts: First, if you go to a surgeon they are going to tend to look at a medical condition to be surgically fixed. Likewise psychologists are going to perceive a problem from a psychological point of view A neurologist from a neurology pathology. I read an article once that no pysician can eye ball a seizure or listen to the description of one and state it's origin. This takes testing. I have very active and confirmed epiilepsy yet twice I've had an ER physician state I had a pseudo seizure now known as a non epileptic seizure. I found that unbelievably insulting as well as not very enlightened. Not enlightened because every physician should know you can not eyeball a seizure and diagnose plus they should know there are many ways to manifest any seizure. My CPs alone can manifest themselves in many different ways. My second thought is that the testing done when you first suspect you're having seizures are "rule out" testing. IOW and MRI to rule out you have a brain lesion, blood work to rule out for instance your blood sugar is haywire. Other testing such as a neuropsych eval, maybe a CT scan and an EEG. As others have mentioned you can have a normal EEG and still have a seizure disorder. I had my first recognized siezure on the job as an RN, was transferred to the ER in a status epilepticus seizure. An EEG was applied which was positive for a generalized seizure and a neurologist was called during the seizure. Plus I have a rich family history of epilepsy so I was diagnosed on the spot. My MRI and CT scan originally was normal. I've had a head injury since then from falling when seizing. However I will caution you about hving mobile MRI scans such as is done in smaller towns out of a semi truck. I've read and heard these MRI's are of poorer quality. My first MRI was done by one of those. There are also different generations of MRIs. IOW some are better, more sensitive than others. A PET scan is also more definitive for problem areas in the brain than either an MRI or CT scan. But to return to my original thought, the testing you have isn't to necessarily find something that would indicate epilepsy but more to rule out any pathology that might be causing your seizure activity such as a brain lesion. Good luck. It must be very hard for anyone to be having seizure activity and be having a difficult time getting appropriate physician attention. I sure do agree that an epileptologist is a much higher level of care than a general neurologist. It also sounds like you are having automatisms, or repetitive behaviors. That can be a symptom of complex partials. I'm also clumsy. I run into things. Often reach for something like a glass and knock if over. Often trip going up or down stairs. I wham my shoulders and knees on furniture and door jams. I wasn't clumsy like this before I started having seizures. I drop things constantly. I also forget words midsentence. If you read many of my posts you'll often see me stop mid sentence and say....sorry, forgot. Good luck Gretchen