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22-Year-Old with Seizures
Wed, 07/05/2017 - 20:56Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
Hi everyone! I'm hoping someone can give me some direction. I'm a mom with two sons who have both been diagnosed with benign rolandic epilepsy. I'm not writing about them - we've had our diagnosis for years and my older son has outgrown his seizures. But because both of my boys have epilepsy, our neurologists of course believe that there's a genetic component. I have a 22-year-old niece who has recently started having seizures. They've progressed from partial to generalized tonic/clonic. She has seen a neurologist in Tampa Florida where she lives (I'm in California). Her MRI was negative and they did capture one seizure while she was hooked up to the EEG. The doctor said nothing registered on the EEG so therefore they think the seizures may be psychogenic. I do understand that psychogenic seizures are a thing, but I also feel like she's getting a rush to judgment here, especially considering our established family tendency toward seizures. But I admit we're all fumbling in the dark and wonder if anyone has experience with seizures that don't register on an EEG or how to truly discern what type of seizures she's having. Sorry to be rambly and thank for any help anyone can offer.
Comments
Thank you Amy Jo. We're
Submitted by hdauria on Thu, 2017-07-06 - 15:07
Thank you Amy Jo. We're working on researching a good epileptologist where she is. The first one sort of just dropped on a 22-year-old the concept of psychogenic seizures and all she heard was "you're faking it." Not very delicately handled. I appreciate your input. :)
if there's a tonic clonic
Submitted by Amy Jo on Thu, 2017-07-06 - 02:05
if there's a tonic clonic (generalized seizure) like episode and eeg saw nothing then.. not an epileptic seizure. if it was some partial that wasn't recorded on eeg, still could be epilepsy as eeg can't catch everything as thereg are physical limitations. people with psychogenic seizures often have epilepsy so one test is not definitive for that. if psychogenic seizures are suspected, an epileptologist is best to be seen.