I'm back from the Psych Dr.

[momof3boys]

I went to my appointment this morning with the psych dr. Told her everything from the state of when I was dx with epilepsy, and what took place during my VEEG, etc.

After she asked questions about my life, like if I had any stresses with my daily life, or any mental illnesses, etc.

After telling her I live a pretty good life, not being full of any kind of bad stresses that I could see causing seizures, being a stay at home mom of three little boys, two of which are in full time school, one still stays home with me during the days. I have a ton of family supporting me, which she said is very good to have. I told her the dr was wanting me to have a grand mal seizure, which never occured, but still showed epilepsy on the VEEG. Thats why I was put back on the Keppra XR. The seizures i experienced were different from the complex partial seizures Ive had before. I did bring up that Ive heard that having simple partial seizures could be too deep within the brain to detect on a EEG. She said she has heard of that too.

She said I seem to be a overall balanced person who doesnt appear to have a stressful life in her eyes. She said if I ever have any stresses in my life that may affect me having seizures to call her.

I told her that ive gone with being slowly weaned off of them and being totally off my medications for 10 days before I had a seizure. this time, I was taken off cold turkey.

She really didnt have much to say after that.

 

[Endless]

Huh. Well, at least you can check that box off.

So what does your neuro plan to do now, I wonder?

 

[momof3boys]

Huh. Well, at least you can check that box off.

So what does your neuro plan to do now, I wonder?

Well, as far I know, I dont know what he plans to do. My next follow up appointment is on may 25th. I dont know if this dr will send her notes to my neurologist. Overall she said it sounded like it was just my body's way of coming to a seizure. I couldnt have a grandmal, and I wasnt having the complex partials like I had before, which my last one was in July 2005. Like I told her, I really think my dr may be right on me outgrowing the big seizures, but the seizures that I had while doing the VEEG, those just didnt read on the VEEG. I told the doctor this and she shook her head saying its very well possible thats what took place. Unless I hear from my neurologist, the next time I see him will be in May.

 

[Nakamova]

Well, that tends to back up your own hunches about things, which is good. It also underscores how much guesswork the docs have to indulge in -- there are just so many unknowns with epilepsy. I like it when they can admit that...

 

[momof3boys]

Well, that tends to back up your own hunches about things, which is good. It also underscores how much guesswork the docs have to indulge in -- there are just so many unknowns with epilepsy. I like it when they can admit that...

Me too! when I first walked in and sat down to talk, I got the impression that she was really thinking I was nuts! I just started out by telling her when I was dx'd with Epilepsy, and what the VEEG was like, the outcome, etc.

Thats when she kind of frowned and said, "Oh, so you do have epilepsy still then?"..... DUH! LOL Why the heck would my dr keep me on the Keppra XR if I didnt have epilepsy? and another thing I pointed out is that after being on the keppra a couple of days, the seizures actually stopped. But at night, I get the feelings that one might want to pop up... like with the strange smells, or feeling like Im not quite all there.

She said from the sounds of it, it looks like Ive outgrown the big seizures and I have left some small ones that just didnt pop up on the EEG. She had not much more to say after that. So, I guess I wait to hear from my neurologist, thats if he gets her notes on this appointment, if not, I see him in May.

 

[elizzza811]

I don't even know why they sent you to a psychiatrist?...every time they can't explain something, we need mental help?...

Maybe I'm missing something here, but I also suffer from severe OCD and have been reading that OCD and strep might be related. So if high strep titers are causing my OCD, what good would counseling ever serve? And why wouldn't I wonder if this (high strep titers) could also be causing my seizures?

 

[mel239]

read an article while back about multiple strep as a child and seizures later in life-was so excited I might have found where mine came from until I thought-does it matter?Im not trying to discount those who have been helped by the psychs but me/Im not seeing where talking about my past and present stressors makes a hill of beans

 

[elizzza811]

But if seizures are caused by high strep titers, even though the strep infection might be a thing of the past (or may not be? who knows?), the antibodies created to destroy the infection are mistakenly attacking your brain, not strep bacteria, and there are treatments out there to reduce these confused autoimmune antibodies. So why take an antidepressant and suffer the side effects if you can reduce these antibodies over time and be cured of your seizures and/or OCD?

 

[mel239]

from my understanding of this article,this cannot be rectified now.this was simply a possible idea of where seizures could come from.According to this article,this was about multiple exposure as a child and not taking the required antibiotics.This type of epilepsy[?] did not show up til later in life-my case about age 44 but maybe hints of it sooner