New to the Forum

[bamajely74]

I'm new to the form. I was told that I have Absent Seizures. I'm so confused. My EEG and my MRI are normal. I'm also fighting Cigna for my short term and long term disability. They keep turning me down cause both are showing normal. I just don't know what to do. This is putting me in the poor house. I'm on meds but if this keeps up I won't be able to afford them .

 

[Nakamova]

Hi bamajely74,welcome to CWE!

(I moved your post to give you your own thread).

With absence seizures, it's not unusual for the EEG to be negative, and unless there's a structural issue like a tumor or lesions, the MRI usually comes up normal as well. You may need to get your neuro to write a letter of support confirming that the diagnosis is correct and that test results only play a secondary role in the diagnostic process -- the symptoms are the primary criteria.

What medications are you on? There may be a generic that you could try that would be more readily covered by your health insurance. And many of the pharma companies also offer discounts on medication. See this CWE thread http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f45/when-you-cant-afford-medication-1452/ for more info.

You might be interested in a dietary approach to controlling your seizures. Some studies have shown that the Modified Atkins Diet can help with reducing/controlling seizures, particularly absence seizures. See http://www.atkinsforseizures.com/studies.html for info about this approach.

 

[bamajely74]

I was on Lyrica, I didn't like the side effects and was taken off and put on Trileptal. I have only been on this about two weeks now. The fight with Cigna is only for the short / long term disability for income.