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Has anyone ever had an abnormal EEG without seizures?
Fri, 02/26/2016 - 13:50I am scheduled to have an outpatient EEG next week, and I am wondering about this. Here's some background: After having complex partial seizures for over 10 years, I finally found an epileptologist, was determined to be a surgical candidate, and had left temporal lobe surgery. That was in 2006. I was seizure free for about 3 years, then started having periodic breakthroughs, simple partials. Over the past year or so, though, I had markedly more sp seizures, and almost three months ago, had a seizure while driving and hit my neighbor's garage and SUV. Thankfully, no one was hurt. My doctor upped my dosage of Vimpat to 150 twice a day (also on 2000 of Keppra XR twice a day). He ordered an MRI, which he expects to be unchanged from the last time (my seizures were/are caused by heterotopia), and I'm having an outpatient EEG next week. While the increased Vimpat seems to be working (one aura/sp since the change), part of me is almost hoping the EEG will show something. I know it's a long shot, but has anyone ever had an abnormal EEG without having a seizure?
What the neurologists are
Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2016-02-28 - 11:10
What the neurologists are looking for in the EEG is abnormalities. The start of a seizure is a electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain. the seizure itself is the chain reaction following that electrical impulse hitting wrong. I had 20-25 different EEG's and all came back normal. It was an EEG in which I fell asleep in that came back with abnormalities (seizure activity). They are looking for abnormalities because that is where in your brain the seizures start, One side of the brain controls the other side of your body. In my seizures they always affect my right hand. The scar tissue causing my epilepsy is in the left lobes of my brain in the area that controls my right hand. Yes a person can have abnormalities without having a seizure. They can also have abnormalities when in a seizure. As Jazz posted in the EEG you are going to have they can view the difference between the activity by looking at sleep and awake. Hop[e this helps