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No MRI, so how to be sure?

Wed, 01/28/2015 - 23:04

I just read Dr. Crepeau's post about MRIs being better diagnostically than CT scans. I've never had an MRI, but was diagnosed with left temporal lobe epilepsy after a couple grand mal seizures a few years ago. The first one happened when I was driving, and they couldn't find any evidence of epilepsy. Given no neuro symptons, they put me on a cardiac monitor for a week, found my heart was slowing down significantly, and after the second seizure, implanted a pacemaker. After the pacemaker I didn't have any more grand mal seizures, but had a few absence seizures - lights are on, but nobody's home for a minute or so. Since they couldn't do an MRI (because of the pacemaker), they sent me home with an EEG-type recorder for a week. I didn't have a seizure, but they found abnormal activity in the left temporal lobe and started me on Keppra. Since then, I don't think I've had any seizures (didn't know when they were happening anyway - no auras or warning signs - so it's hard to know when they're NOT happening), and my pacemaker is pacing less than it used to, which leads the docs and me to think that the cardiac electrical signals were getting interrupted during the seizure activity.

Without an MRI though, it's hard to have a definitive diagnosis. So I guess I just assume that I do indeed have epilepsy. The Keppra seems to help, and it has made a difference in my pacing needs as well. It just would be nice to have a definite diagnosis based on something that a neurologist could actually see on an MRI, instead of just by process of elimination. I guess my only opportunity will be in the future, when MRIs and pacemakers/wire leads can be built not to interfere with each other. Anyone else in a similar situation?

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