Can this be epilepsy?

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Dave111

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I suffer from anxiety/depression and have been for several EEG's which have consistently located abnormalities in theta (spikes) in my left temporal lobe. I have never had a seizure - the closest thing to it is maybe 3 or 4 times I have had situations where my vision has gone all blurry, but I attributed this to migraines (even though the accompanying head ache was very mild). Is it possible to have epilepsy without ever having had a seizure? How do you tell whether it is epilepsy given that I have read that lots of people have abnormal EEG's without having epilepsy?

I have tried a large number of psychotropic drugs for the anxiety/depression over the past 10 years but none of them have appeared to make a difference. If the (supposed) epilepsy is treated will this resolve the anxiety/depression?
 
Hi Dave

I'm certainly no doctor but I can tell you that I had seizures for years without knowing until I was diagnosed after my 1st Tonic Clonic. But I lived with Simple Partials for years before diagnosed. Your EEG shows abnormal and do they say why?
As far as the depression and anxiety will it be resolved if you're diagnosed with E? It depends since they will place you on medication and some medication can cause both anxiety and depression, but NOT with everyone. Unfortunately it will be trial and error to determine whether or not you can handle a particular drug. Some people do good on one drug while others do better on another. There are number of anti-epileptic drugs out there today, so trial and error will determine which one is best for you. Obviously the 1st one may do the trick! GOOD LUCK and there's many more on here who know a lot more and I'm sure they'll be here to help answer your questions.
 
No, they did not say why. It was something to do with spikes in the theta - it got worse when I was sleep deprived or when I had to hyperventilate. The technician basically said that the results just had to be considered as part of the clinical picture (i.e. they did not definitively say something one way or the other). Given that the temporal lobe controls a lot of the emotional processing I was wondering if the abnormalities could be related to the psych stuff (particularly as normal anti-depressants/anti-anxiety drugs haven't worked for me).

I do not know how I could have seizures without my (or other people) being aware of it. Is it possible? Does anyone have any good journal articles about this kind of stuff?
 
It's interesting that you say the headaches are worse if you are sleep deprived...seizures, for most here, become worse if we lack sleep. I also have headaches with my seizures....headache is mild before the seizure and much worse after the seizure. Also I have simple and complex partials, my simples (also called auras) are visional. I tell people what I see is similar to dream sequence on tv shows...it get very wavy and blurry.
jenn
 
Hi Dave --

It's possible that you are having seizures at night, and/or that your seizures take the form of simple partials, which don't involve loss of consciousness or convulsions. There is a correlation between depression and epilepsy -- it's not clear whether one causes the other, or they both are manifestations of imbalances in brain chemistry. In your case where the clinical evidence is lacking, but the EEG is not, your doctor might start you on an Anti-epileptic drug to see if helps. Some of the AEDs (like Lamictal or Neurontin) have also been prescribed for bipolar disorder, so they might have a therapeutic effect for you.
 
Ahhhh, I

have to agree with Nakamove, and the others who have pointed out that migraines are now considered a form of seizure activity.

It does sound like you may have some E activity going on there, but you need to talk to a neuro to have it diagnosed for sure, that's not something that we can do. From the sounds of it, you don't have the full-blown tonic clonics, maybe just the simple partials........

Take a deep breath, listen to some soothing CDs. Then, start keeping track of everything, INCLUDING what you eat in a journal. You'd be surprised what you and your doctor may find. If you want more help with what to include, let me know. I have a good list to put in it.

Take care.

Meetz
:rock:
 
When I went to the neurologist he basically said that it was clinically meaningless, which at the time appeared to be a bit of an odd response (given that it has consistantly been there, it is in the part of the brain controlling emotions, and they are the things that I have had the most problems with i.e. anxiety, depression etc).

How would you be able to tell if you had a partial seizue in your sleep? I often space out/feel unreal/feel panicked but anxiety can cause this (in people who definitely don't have epilepsy).
 
There is also a study done with children that have a gluten sensitivity, and they found when given food with gluten (wheat), they have abnormal EEGs.

A finger has also been pointed to celiac for schizophrenia. So something as meaningless as gluten can cause some serious brain disorders. It has been implicated as having an effect in the autistic community. That is why I decided to try making nutritional changes with my daughter. She is med free and is see positive results.

I highly suggest it. Magnesium is also a part of our routine. I cleared up 30+ yrs of migraines for me, and Rebecca's neurologist prescribed it for her as an anticonvulsant.

Blood sugar disorders can also effect mood.

I see that there are a lot of proactive choices that you could attempt, and they would be rather easy to see if they make a difference in your episodes. It isn't a quick fix, but it is one that makes a long term difference.
 
If
a) abnormal EEG recordings can be found without there being epilepsy
b) epileptic seizures can occur during sleep/without overt symptoms

then how could you differentiate between an anxiety disorder and epilepsy given that you could have an anxiety disorder (with the abnormal EEG not being indicative of anything) or you could have epilepsy?
 
You're right Dave, that it's not an exact science. But while there can be both false positives and false negatives, repeated positives would be a good sign that some some sort of epilepsy is involved. One way to narrow down the diagnosis is to do more or longer EEGs, and/or have someone monitor you at night, to get a better picture of what is happening. Another way is to treat either the anxiety disorder or the potential epilepsy, or both and see if it helps.
 
Dave,

One doctor found theka spikes during hyperventilation during one EEG sequence and put me on Keppra. I took that for a month, until I went to an epileptology clinic. There they told me that even healthy people have spikes like these.

Eventually they ruled out E. So, it's not conclusive at all.

Don't quote me on this, but I think the anxiety/depression could be the cause of your problems. I might be going through the same things myself. You could be having migraine attacks.

By all means, all the best!
 
I also wanted to add, that treating the imbalance with neurofeedback, will most likely help with anxiety, depression, migraine, vision issues.

for more info you can go to www.EEGInfo.com
 
Dave111 said:
If
a) abnormal EEG recordings can be found without there being epilepsy
b) epileptic seizures can occur during sleep/without overt symptoms

then how could you differentiate between an anxiety disorder and epilepsy given that you could have an anxiety disorder (with the abnormal EEG not being indicative of anything) or you could have epilepsy?
Click to expand...

Hi Dave,

I'm not diagnosed so I can't say with absolute certainty - I'd call it 99.9999%- that what I thought were anxiety attacks for 30 years are actually seizures. Mine generally occur only when I'm driving, which was a clue for me in unravelling the mystery (I mean talk about a pattern to it, geez, it's so obvious now, I should've clued in years ago).

But, from reading the information I've found here and on similar sites, I'm realizing there were lots of other clues too that I just never associated with epilepsy or my "anxiety attacks." Stuff like little light flashes in the corner of my eye, explosive migraines, sudden loss of co-ordination. All of those were so arbitrary and infrequent that I never put it together.
 
Dave, I too have episodes they call epilepsy during the EEG. I have had 4 and all of them have been abnormal. There are spiked all over my brain. I got extremely hot on day out in the sun and the next morning I lost consciousness. I was taken to the hospital by 911. They ran all kind of scans and test. The ER doctor said he could not find anything wrong. Told me to see my local doctor. I am thinking this episode has something to do with a blood pressure med. I have been on since Feb. Look at all your meds, even those you think are OK. I really think mine event had something to do with the meds I was on and getting hot in the sun. Just a guess. Glad to know there is someone else who just has an abnormal EEG.
 
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