isn't all the same?

[LuminaryLucy]

Hi.

just want to post something that i have been thinking about and seek out opinions from others in the CWE community.

i was diagnosed with epilepsy in february this year - took the docs a couple of months to figure it out. but after that diagnosis i was torn between two categories. my mri and eeg came back all clear so the drs were tossing up epilepsy due to idiopathic causes or pseudo seizures. one warranted seeing a neurologists and the other choice seeing a psychiatrist and adding anti-depressants with my epilepsy meds. took me a lot to understand all this. in july a 24hr eeg found seizure activity in my left temporal lobe so i was lucky to get a conclusive diagnosis.

a work colleague has been experiencing similiar stuff. she confided in me and we compared notes. hers (in my non medically trained opinion) seems to come from the other category. see is on anti-depressants, admitted she has been very depressed and stressed, and had a terrible childhood. all the research i did on psuedo seizures said they were still seizures and the body didn't know any different.

at my workplace i am trying to explain to people to be more empathetic to my colleague - because everyone just thinks she is kooky. i feel bad becasue i was in the same boat until i was lucky that something was found - could've been me. everyone has been kind and supportive of me, but not so to her. aren't we all the same? regardless of who has proof of what causes our seizures?

has anyone else thought this? love to hear your opinions.

have a lovely day.

[Crystal11]

Psuedo-seizures can cause the same amount of stress on those around the person as real seizures- Psuedo seizures are phsychogenic and counseling and other services could help out, reduce them possible or help stop them. The person isnt really in control of them- stressors, panic disorders and other things can be the trigger- just like PTSD in people in war. Attacks just come on suddenly and they cannot help how they react. There are lots of tests they can do to determine which kind of seizure it is- symptomatic, idiopathic, psychogenic etc..
I don't think its fair to be treated any different cause of it- but a doctor would probably suggest ways to help a person in that type situation.

Please take care-
I'm glad you got some EEG results. It took a while to get mine and it does make you feel a lot better that seizures and spike and waves etc are on paper- I had to ware my 42hr EEG in college for two days! But it was worth it. I have always wanted to get results before taking medications- but I started taking medications before getting the ambulatory EEG-
I have complex partial seizures and those are not always easy to find.

-Crystal

[RobinN]

My daughter was diagnosed with Epilepsy, then psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, then Epilepsy, then seizures due to Hypoglycemia. This is why I dislike labels.
There is a reason that the body reacts this way. One way or the other. Worth figuring out WHY... if you can.