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Temporal Lobe Seizures
Tue, 12/28/2004 - 11:02Comments
RE: Temporal Lobe Seizures
Submitted by Christine on Thu, 2004-12-23 - 12:53
RE: Temporal Lobe Seizures
Submitted by mollybright on Fri, 2004-12-24 - 13:35
Hi Angie!
My 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy after "fainting" in school. Now as we look back we realize that she was having occasional siezures/absence spells/warnings since she was 9. What I find most interesting is that she was in tune with her body enough to know that something was wrong even as a child. She first asked me when she was about 9 if she had a "brain problem", though she couldn't articulate exactly why she thought she was different.
My sense from your question is that you also have an intuition that something is not right and that your seizures may be affecting you in subtle ways. I say trust your feelings!
I have noticed is that my daughter has mood swings (depression and anxiety) and minor memory lapses which seem to precede a seizure/warning. These are often hardly noticeable (although sometimes obvious!) and could be attributed to adolescence, distractability, or ordinary life stresses (which is what her doctor is inclined to believe) but the longer I track these the more I think that there is cause and effect at work.
Recently, I asked her doctor about the memory problems and he told me the part of her brain that is misfiring (as determined by her abnormal EEG) has memory related functions! I don't know why he did not tell me this before, except that I don't think doctors like to suggest you might have a problem before you bring it to their attention to avoid it being a self fulfilling prophecy.
Anyway, since she has been on Lamictal my daughter's moods are more balanced and her memory lapses significantly decreased, not that either was keeping her from functioning normally before, but even small changes in emotion and memory can significantly impact your life.
From what I've read so far it seems that doctors are looking at the problem from the perspective that the burden of having epilepsy can cause depression, but I wonder if it is more that seizures or even just extra electrical activity that never leads to any obvious siezure/warning impacts the brain in some way that results in subtle emotional and functional changes. I'm not a doctor or a medical professional, but knowing that Lamictal - the med my daughter is on - is used by neurologists to treat epilepsy and psychiatrists to treat depression suggests to me that the brain pathways for both are related!
I encourage you to trust your insticts. No one knows you better than you do! If you have a sense that you are having subtle problems that might be related to your seizures then I'll bet you're right.
Molly
Hi Angie!
My 13 year old daughter was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy after "fainting" in school. Now as we look back we realize that she was having occasional siezures/absence spells/warnings since she was 9. What I find most interesting is that she was in tune with her body enough to know that something was wrong even as a child. She first asked me when she was about 9 if she had a "brain problem", though she couldn't articulate exactly why she thought she was different.
My sense from your question is that you also have an intuition that something is not right and that your seizures may be affecting you in subtle ways. I say trust your feelings!
I have noticed is that my daughter has mood swings (depression and anxiety) and minor memory lapses which seem to precede a seizure/warning. These are often hardly noticeable (although sometimes obvious!) and could be attributed to adolescence, distractability, or ordinary life stresses (which is what her doctor is inclined to believe) but the longer I track these the more I think that there is cause and effect at work.
Recently, I asked her doctor about the memory problems and he told me the part of her brain that is misfiring (as determined by her abnormal EEG) has memory related functions! I don't know why he did not tell me this before, except that I don't think doctors like to suggest you might have a problem before you bring it to their attention to avoid it being a self fulfilling prophecy.
Anyway, since she has been on Lamictal my daughter's moods are more balanced and her memory lapses significantly decreased, not that either was keeping her from functioning normally before, but even small changes in emotion and memory can significantly impact your life.
From what I've read so far it seems that doctors are looking at the problem from the perspective that the burden of having epilepsy can cause depression, but I wonder if it is more that seizures or even just extra electrical activity that never leads to any obvious siezure/warning impacts the brain in some way that results in subtle emotional and functional changes. I'm not a doctor or a medical professional, but knowing that Lamictal - the med my daughter is on - is used by neurologists to treat epilepsy and psychiatrists to treat depression suggests to me that the brain pathways for both are related!
I encourage you to trust your insticts. No one knows you better than you do! If you have a sense that you are having subtle problems that might be related to your seizures then I'll bet you're right.
Molly
RE: RE: Temporal Lobe Seizures
Submitted by angie on Thu, 2004-12-23 - 11:59
Lee,
I think you're right. It's been something that I have been mulling around in the back of my mind for a long time. Thanks and blessings to you and yours!!!
Angie
Lee,
I think you're right. It's been something that I have been mulling around in the back of my mind for a long time. Thanks and blessings to you and yours!!!
Angie