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Hi

Wed, 03/25/2015 - 15:18

Hi, I'm really, really new to epilepsy. A little background- I've had more than my share of medical ups and downs, and one of my daily meds is Gabitril... not for seizures, but for sensory processing issues (anxiety and agitation related to noise and sound). That was about 12 or 13 years ago.  I've always had dizziness and synoscope when I stand, since I went through puberty. The only time I told a doctor, his response was, "Stand up slower", and that was that. I'm leaving out huge chunks of my story, but I want this to be short enough that people will have time to read it :-)

Fastforward to this past November. I had these numb spots on my face for pretty much the entire month, so I made an appointment with a neurologist. Evidently the man is very popular, because it took 3 months to get in. Over that time, the numb spots went away and would reoccur for a few minutes every so often. By the time I got in to see him, I would just occasionally have a feeling of pressure like someone put a finger on my face, then it would go away. Coupled with my other symptoms, the doc said he suspected POTS and MS. I'm with him on the POTS 100%. I had suspected as much beforehand. Anyway, I don't know what the MRI showed, and I don't see the doctor until the 6th, but the nurse gave me the EEG report, and it says this: ...signifigant bifrontal predominant spikes and slow wave discharges, especially post hyperventilation.... this is an abnormal EEG that is consistent with a potential primary generalized epilepsy. Treatment using the right antiepileptic drug is highly recommended. 

I've tried to read up on epilepsy since I got the report, but I'm still so confused. It sounds like the numb spots on my face could be partial sensory seizures, but the because the report says 'primary' and 'generalized', that leads me to believe any seizure activity would be a big stinking deal, very hollywood movie-esque. Maybe the Gabitril has prevented that kind of seizure? I'm clueless here.

Anyway, nice to meet you all!

Comments

Some of the things you posted

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2015-03-25 - 19:18
Some of the things you posted can be parts of seizures or a seizure itself.. I would have my right hand feel wierd or numb as you put it. That ended up being a focal seizure. Dizzy feeling in your head could be the same. I know I had those. I was also being writen up for day dreaming in class when in reality those day dreams were absence or focal seizures.an abnormal EEG that is consistent with a potential primary generalized epilepsy. Treatment using the right antiepileptic drug is highly recommended. As Mereloaded said the EEG is saying you can have primary and generalized epilepsy.  There are medications that can control your epillepsy and it will take time to get the right medication and dosages set. I had been having seizures for a long time before I ever had my grand mal. It just took that seizure to get things started. It took testing 1-1 1/2 years for the testing to be done, But then that was back in the 60's.I was diagnosed with Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy. Today I do not know what the diagnosis would be I just know what me seizures are like and about how long they last. I see Mereloaded also commented because her son had several things happening but those too were seizures. Come back and let us know how things go Joe

Thanks for your input guys,

Submitted by halbrooks1jennifer@gmail.com on Thu, 2015-03-26 - 18:13
Thanks for your input guys, it was really helpful. I'll be sure to let you know what I find out!

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