Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
Possible epilepsy diagnosis, scared of MRI results
Wed, 08/26/2015 - 09:11Hello! I'm 30 years old and have had what I thought were migraine aura attacks or just strange fits for 15 years now. I'll have problems with my vision and lose depth perception for 5-15 minutes, I also have fits of a "strange" feeling where everything seems unfamiliar and at least three times I've had weird hallucination type incidents at night. I finally went to a doctor last week since they increased last fall when I was under a lot of stress. I was pretty shocked when she said that my symptoms point to temporal lobe epilepsy and not migraine. I have an MRI scheduled in two weeks and a new neuro appointment in a month.
I've spent the past three days reading up on epilepsy and treatment and have pretty much come to terms with the possibility of epilepsy. It would explain all the strange feelings and it would be great if they could be controlled. I also have family members with epilepsy, so the genetic link is there. My only concern is the possibility of the cause being a brain tumor. I've tried to find information, but since many brain tumor patients have seizures, it's hard to search for. I have a month to wait and fret about a tumor and was hoping someone has any info of how common brain tumors are as a cause of epilepsy. Epilepsy websites tend to say "sometimes", I guess they don't want to freak people out. :)
Relax The MRI is a close look
Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2015-08-26 - 17:11
Relax The MRI is a close look at the brain. In most cases the MRI will come back normal. The main test the neurologist will use is a EEG.The EEG is basically a brain wave test showing where in the brain the electrical impulses are coming from. Tumors can be found at times. But so can other things. Like a growth deformation. Or a cell that grew differently. But then they can find other things like the cause of my epilepsy. With me the MRI of the 1960"s came back normal until the EEG showed abnormalities in the left lobes of my brain. The neurologists then took a closer look in that area and BINGO they found scar tissue. That scar tissue was caused by a hemorrhage to the brain. That hemorrhage was from a blow to my head which knocked me out even for a second or two. That blow happened between 6-8 YOA.So the MRI can and does show the neurologists things that can help. In most cases like I posted the MRI's come back normal.I can also tell you that more people have their tests all come back normal. So many people do not know the reason they got epilepsy. You too may be one of them.You are 30 and already are thinking about things which may never show up. What would you be thinking about if you had a EKG ordered? It to is a test. It shows the electrical activity of your heart.Like I said relax and deal with the things you can see and are happening right now. Tomorrow will take care of itself.You will learn many different things but the one things you will need to do is live for today, Plan for tomorrow and take them one day at a time. Until the neurologist looks at the MRI there is NOTHING that you can do. Go out and have dinner and a good time with your friends. Watch the game this weekend and deal with things as they come up.I hope this helpsJoe