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Tons of Tests, No Results
Tue, 10/04/2016 - 20:23I'm 17 years old. I had my first seizure may 8, went through a bunch of testing including MRI, CT scan, EEG, and blood tests. However, the doctors couldn't find a cause. I was put in Keppra (Levetiracetam) and vitamin B-6. I was told the whole don't take baths, don't drive for three months spiel. The doctors explained to me that it's really common to only have one and never have another seizure again. So a few months down the road, I figure I'm probably one of those people who will only have one, so I don't take my medication as often. Then on July 25(2 weeks until I could have driven again ☹️), I had my second seizure and was told that now that I had two seizures, I was considered epileptic. My neurologist increased my Keppra dose, but that was it. What I'm wondering is if there are other tests that can be done, if there are some lesser known causes of seizures that I should look into. Also, would it be worth it to get a second opinion?
The doctors were right. There
Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2016-10-05 - 11:16
The doctors were right. There are many things that can cause a person to have a seizure. Any doctor can diagnose epilepsy if a person has had 2 seizure.The 2 main tests rune by all of the neurologists I have been to are the EEG and the MRI. The EEG is a brain wave test showing the electrical output coming from your brain. The MRI is what your brain looks like. Is there anything different with it. Any growth deformations? Any scar tissue, Any thing different in any way? They can all cause electrical activity to hit wrong. I had 20-25 different EEG's that all came back normal but I was having seizures. It was in a battery of tests and the last test was another seizure in which I fell asleep in that showed abnormalities. By seeing where they came from the neurologists looked closer at the MRI of the 1960's and the closer look in that area they found scar tissue in the left lobes of my brain. So I am one of the few that can say what causes their epilepsy.As for the neurologist increasing your medication... That is what they do to help control your seizures. Like a cardiologist increases or decreases medications for heart ailments.The only test that would be done in a longer EEG or a sleep deprived EEG where you are in a monitoring unit and you are on the EEG for a few days and being videoed. That may show more. Also know that a regular EEG may not bring up the electrical activity from deep in the brain and your activity may be deep.