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I don't know if I even have Epilepsy
Sat, 04/08/2017 - 21:54Topic: New to Epilepsy.com
Hello all! Last Friday I had a grand mal type seizure that landed me in the hospital. All my blood work and CT scan came back good. They released me and told me to see a neurologist. I had a lot smaller one-two minute seizure again Monday night (nocturnal both times). Tuesday/Wednesday the neurologist immediately put me on briviact. My MRI came back normal and I had an EEG Friday and am unsure of the results but won't be surprised if it's also normal. I'm worried she put me on medication far too quickly, without exploring the reasons for even having the seizures. I've had such a bad reaction to Briviact. I've gotten depressed, sad, really anxious, easily agitated, and a lot of the "normal" symptoms of it. The part that worries me the most is the uncomfortable level of chest/upper abdominal/lung pain that I have had the past two days. It hurts to breath deep breaths. The back of my neck hurts. The neurologist said try to stick it out. I don't know if I even belong on this medication. I'm currently taking 25 mg in the morning and 25mg before I go to bed. She advised if it's too uncomfortable to take it just before I go to bed but I'm wondering if I should wean myself from it first. I don't want to be on any of this stuff, especially if it isn't necessary! Any input?
The EEG is a brain wave test
Submitted by just_joe on Sat, 2017-04-08 - 22:42
The EEG is a brain wave test showing the electrical activity in your brain. What starts a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in your brain. That hit causes a chain reaction (the seizure itself)... What the neurologists will be looking for is abnormalities, spikes, waves aka epileptiform aka seizure activity.I had 20-25 different EEG's that all came back normal. I was still having focal and partial seizures though. It was the 27th EEG that showed seizure activity (not a seizure itself). By seeing that they knew where in my brain they came from. the neurologists then looked at the MRI and a closer look in that area they found scar tissue, So scar tissue is the cause of my epilepsy.All it takes to diagnosis epilepsy is 2 seizures. This post has at lest 2 seizures. As for medications. what you are experiencing may be side effects of the one you were put on. It takes 3-4 weeks for your body to get used to the medication and the therapeutic levels to build up. During that time most of those side effects will go away. For me I have had a side effect last a few days in the 50+ years I have ben taking meds for my epilepsy. Oh and in that period of time I have used 20-27 different medications and combinations of medications. They all have side effects. Even medicines you buy at the store has side effects. Do people read about them?? Most do not. As for weaning yourself off medications.. I would say please do not. the longer a person goes without treatment the more rapid the seizures will become and each one will get stronger.When I first started taking meds way back whenever I took my night meds right before bed.Oh and the therapeutic levels are the medication levels in your body which can help if you take a dose late or even forget one. Been there done thatI hope this helpsJoe