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Definition of 'controlled'

Mon, 09/18/2017 - 21:13

Topic: Medication Issues

I was diagnosed with right temporal lobe epilepsy in January, based on symptoms I documented and confirmation of a spike in my EEG. My neuro put me on 150mg of Lamictal and it's helped, but I still have occasions where I'm experiencing tingling around my head (which I associate with auras) and the kind of anxiety that originally led me to the neurologist in the first place. My second EEG (taken this month) showed the same kind of spiking, but my neuro declared that the epilepsy was 'under control'. I have a background in a hard science, so I was surprised with this diagnosis because I was expecting the EEG results to not show any spiking... Is this a misconception? I'm not terribly trusting of doctors, based on past experiences... and need to do as much research on my own as possible. Otherwise they tend to 'wave off' concerns as inconsequential. So I'd appreciate hearing from others with this experience. Thank you in advance for any replies!

Comments

Thanks for sharing your

Submitted by sindarintech on Thu, 2017-09-21 - 14:55

Thanks for sharing your experiences. OK, I guess it was unrealistic to expect no spiking on my EEG. The neuro got back to me about this and said that no spikes would indicate a cure... which is impossible. Also, regarding the 'controlled' issue: Perhaps it's unrealistic to expect full control. It's hard to properly gauge where the threshold is with prescriptions. If I tell the neuro that I'm still experiencing symptoms that got me to the epilepsy diagnosis in the first place, and he pooh-poohs it as 'anxiety' without considering the possibility of an increase in medication, it becomes more than a little frustrating. Particularly since the PCP diagnosis I got 8 years ago was documented as 'anxiety' when it was actually epilepsy. It's so irritating.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I

Submitted by sindarintech on Sun, 2017-09-24 - 18:16

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've spoken with my neuro but he's been hesitant to increase my dosage because I told him that I'm having memory recall issues with the 150mg daily Lamictal. My Primary doc, however, put my on a low dose of gabapentin (300mg) and that seems to be helping... though it's tough waking up in the morning.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I

Submitted by sindarintech on Sun, 2017-09-24 - 18:19

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