Lacking a firm diagnosis: is it epilepsy?

I believe this is a common problem for epilepsy sufferers. The diagnostic tools are MRI, CT scan and the EEG (usually sleep deprived). The neurologist is looking for the epiletiform pattern in the EEG though this is often not present between seizures. Many if not most epilepsies are idiopathic --having no known origin. This means that none of the diagnostic tools reveal a specific cause such as a lesion in the temporal lobe. This can be very frustrating for both patient and doctor. Often the doctor must rely on the patient's description of the event. These descriptions can be particularly arcane because the experience of a seizure is so unlike anything in everyday life. I'm speaking here of the simple partial variety or the aura that precedes a generalized seizure as these are the only seizure types which permit consciousness of the event itself. My own experience fits this pattern: twenty years of very intermittent episodes, often more than a year apart. Brief, very intense and often euphoric. Each episode characterized by a powerful sameness. Duration:30-45 seconds followed by exhaustion, pallor and sweating. During the episode unable to stand or stand with difficulty. Able to talk throughout but with some difficulty. Know exactly what is happening. On one occasion experienced spatial distortion. Occasional motor oddities--head thrown off to one side. These come in clusters (largest 9 in one day) and are sometimes preceded by nocturnal seizures the night before. My neurologist believes these are seizures but has not (thankfully) felt it necessary to prescribe anti epileptic drugs. Final note: I have a pacemaker. I suspect there is a connection.