Am I epileptic

[Gemmalou1978]

I am 41 yes old and had my 1st very random seizure in the middle of the night followed by another one a few hours later. MRI and ct scans clear. Left hospital after 2 days with anti seizure drugs 2 x 250mg a day. EEG appt middle of December. Very confused as to what this all means. Fear is they wont know and just say I must have epilepsy??

[Likeabadstorm]

Did you lose consciousness with these episodes? I am very sorry. I am in the process of getting diagnosed....I don't lose consciousness, but have a lot of other neurological symptoms during episodes. Looking at non epileptic vs epileptic. First med they tried after one dose I was in hospital for adverse reaction and fear trying anything else til we know what it is. Been a long year still trying to get diagnosis or rule it out. It has caused me bad anxiety and panic which is one of the symptoms I get with episodes too.

[tatra8]

I would say try not to worry too much until you have had the EEG. My daughter has had 2 normal MRI’s but her diagnosis only came after a 72 hour EEG which showed clear evidence of epilepsy. She needed to be tested over 72 hours because at the time her seizures were infrequent, but in her case the triggers seem to be stress and lack of sleep.

[craigside]

I would ask have you started taking something new in previous months? I started having random episodes a few months after starting consuming the daily cholesterol lowering yogurts...

[G1na]

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I was diagnosed at 15, after I had a 2nd seizure on two separate occasions. I’m not sure if you reside in the US, but here you have to have 2 seizures to be diagnosed. I am confused on why they would send you home with anti-epilepsy meds. I hope all goes well in December. If I were you I would get a second opinion asap. We are all susceptible to have seizures which does not necessarily mean we all have epilepsy. There are many other reasons one can experience a seizure:

-Withdrawal (drugs/alcohol/prescribed drugs)

-Fever

-abnormal levels of sodium

-abnormal levels of glucose

To name a few.

The reason I worry that you were sent home with meds is because doctors don’t always have our best interest. We have to make sure we speak up for ourselves and educate ourselves. Which I’m glad you’re doing. 15 yrs later my epilepsy is not controlled; my doctor had me slowly climb up the medicine ladder. He talked me into having surgery (VNS therapy) with promises of experiencing less seizures. He’s been pushing for brain surgery for a few years now, but I am against it. What he did do is leave me with no other options. I’m waiting for the holidays to be over so I can get a second opinion. I should have done this before agreeing to take medicine at all. All the meds have caused many different problems to my health. The side effects may start small but long-term they

are affecting my daily life.

The purpose for an eeg is to see how our bodies respond without meds. They take you off meds for 3 days, hook wires all over your head and see how your brain waves respond without the meds, to try and locate where the seizures come from. I didn’t have this done until my doctor was ready to push for brain surgery, and we had experimented with many drugs that were ineffective. Now he wants to do the eeg on my actual brain since he did not locate where my seizures come from . My number 1 rule for myself is to not put all my trust in doctors, as I know what’s best for myself. Ask a lot of questions, write them down prior to apt. Research everything my doctor tells me, research medications as well as others experiences with them, I agree to med changes (but only make the changes if I see more positive reviews than negative), letting my doctor know him and I have different goals as far as my health goes. I now log my seizures and have seen patterns. My triggers are stress, menstruales cycle and lack of sleep. When I work on my stress and sleep, I experience less seizures. It’s a good idea to journal daily: foods, hrs slept, stress levels, menstrual cycle dates, etc. To try and find patterns. You can find seizure logs on google.

I apologize for the long response, but I don’t want others to experience what I have, if it’s not necessary. I have taken back my power. I put all my trust in him because I was young, and I allowed him to make me his lab rat. He doesn’t like that I have grown and speak up for myself. I don’t believe all doctors are this way but only we can look out for our best interest. Feel free to ask me anything if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Gina

[conwayinkzn in reply to G1na]

I agree about the side effects they really are horrid and I've been on meds for 30 years and my health has taken a huge hit since changing to epilem 5 years ago. Latest being diagnosed with a fatty liver and gallstones despite living a healthy lifestyle with exercise and good diet. Very frustrating. Make sure you get a diagnosis before being commuted to long term medication.

[Hidden]

Hello Gemmalou1978 I started the same way , was unconscious; after the 2nd seizure that same night my husband realized there was something wrong with me and called the ambulance. I was also incontinent (urine). My tests were all clear also. I was started on Epilim (no good for me), Then Keppra (VERY bad for me) and have ended up on Lamotrigine (Lamictal). What anti-seizure med are you taking? I have had 2 more seizures since, both at night. For me, no one knows what is the cause, either.

My neurosurgeon told not to get overtired (get to bed early).