Saw my doctor

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horsehead

horsehead

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I went to my doctor.She is tring me on a new med. She does not think my spells are due to panic attacks but that they may be pseudo seizures,i dont think I spelled that right,possibly caused by my anxiety or just seizures of unknown cause.She is tring me on trazodone,ever taken that? It is supposed to help with my sleep.She is taking me off lexapro. I am also going to see a psycologist, by my request, just to rule out any psycological reason for my spells.
 
Trazodone is prescribed as an anti-depressant, and also to help insomnia and panic disorders. Usually you can feel its effects within the first week. It may help with the seizure-like symptoms you've been experiencing, but if it doesn't, be persistent about getting additional help or treatment.

These days, pseudoseizures are actually called psychogenic seizures. "Pseudo" implies that the patient is faking the seizures, where as psychogenic is more accurate. Psychogenic seizures are triggered by some sort of psychological trauma or PTSD. They don't have the abnormal neural firing, but external experience of the seizures is very real.

I hope that the psychologist helps out -- getting rid of stress is always a good idea!
 
yes my doctor wants me to let her know how the new med works .I'm just tring to rule everything out to hopefully get some answers . She didn't say anything about faking them. I'd be very upset if she had.Just that there was nothing on the eeg and mri. I asked her about frontal lobe epilepsy and she said it wasn't her area of expertise and I'd have to see someone else about it. Another symtom ive had has been hearing voices as if someone was standing behind me and talking into one ear. Has that happened to anyone here? My doctor said that would come from the tempral lobe not the frontal lobe.
 
Hearing voices can be a seizure symptom. I suggest that you consult with an epileptologist, or someone who has expertise in all the kinds of epilepsy. And remember, just because nothing shows up on an MRI or EEG, it doesn't mean that it's not epilepsy.
 
Horsehead, my spells are more prevalent during times of high stress/anxiety (like now, my mother is in the hospital) and I've had more than 35-40 of them today and lack of sleep. Those alone cause quite a few, together and I'm a blubbering mass :) Don't mean to joke, but sometimes you just HAVE to laugh at this stuff.

I really hope you get this all figured out!!! You are in my thoughts, I know it can be quite trying!!
 
It is strange but I seem to have my spells after a stressfull time like once I calm down or when I'm on my period.
 
Your menstral cycle could be a seizure trigger Horsehead. Have you mentioned tuhis to your doctor? I get a lot of seizures around this time myself. I think this is called catamenial epilepsy.

tam bam
 
yes i believe it is.i have mentioned it to the neurologist but everything comes down to what the eeg and mri showed.
 
I know I'm a broken record about this, but... if you can, find a neurologist who understands that the MRI and EEG are not the primary diagnostic tools! What you actually experience -- i.e. seizures or seizure-like symptoms should have equal or greater weight in evaluating treatment options.
 
What I plan on doing is seeing how this new medication works. Then I'm going to go see a psych to see if i can get any help there. after that I will take all the information to a new neurologist. I just think that would be best that way hopefully they wont say its all psychological and shove me out the door.
 
Okay, good luck, and keep us posted!
 
horsehead said:
What I plan on doing is seeing how this new medication works. Then I'm going to go see a psych to see if i can get any help there. after that I will take all the information to a new neurologist. I just think that would be best that way hopefully they wont say its all psychological and shove me out the door.
Click to expand...

I honestly believe that some neurologists, well doctors over all, tend to believe what they can see/read than what the patient says anymore. I've known my personal physician since I was like 5/6 years old, so he listens. With my first seizure, back in '06, the ER doctor would NOT listen to my wife. She described the car seat being tweaked and twisted, the noises I was making upon her finding me and all that and he kept saying it was probably my blood sugar, he kept insisting that is what it was until he saw that it was normal.

So, with this new neurologist you go to, insist that he/she listens to you AND any test results. You are the patient, basically the doctors boss, so MAKE them listen. :D

Good luck and we are here for you!!!
 
Nakamova said:
I know I'm a broken record about this, but... if you can, find a neurologist who understands that the MRI and EEG are not the primary diagnostic tools! What you actually experience -- i.e. seizures or seizure-like symptoms should have equal or greater weight in evaluating treatment options.
Click to expand...

Ther's only one problem with this method for me. I forget most of if not the entire day that I the seizure! :twocents:
 
horsehead said:
I asked her about frontal lobe epilepsy and she said it wasn't her area of expertise and I'd have to see someone else about it. Another symtom ive had has been hearing voices as if someone was standing behind me and talking into one ear. Has that happened to anyone here? My doctor said that would come from the tempral lobe not the frontal lobe.
Click to expand...

Hearing voices can have something to do with some types of dissociation, anxiety or a few other psychological issues. It's good you're going to see a psychologist, but it would be better to see a psychiatrist -- I'm not knocking psychologists here, they're very competent and helpful, and therapy is probably a good idea with the experiences you're having, but they are not trained medical doctors, and cannot recommend or prescribe medication.

Of course, hearing voices could also be seizure symptoms. I haven't been able to find the articles again that I read this in, but much of what the frontal lobe controls isn't well understood, so sometimes seizures can start in that morass of grey cells, without showing any discernable effect until it spreads elsewhere in the brain -- because the frontal lobe is close to the temporal lobes, if a seizure starts in a non-noticeable spot near the lateral sulcus (the fissure separating the frontal and occipital from the temporal lobes), it can spread into the auditory processing area of the brain and manifest as an auditory hallucination.

The brain is a complex thing that's poorly understood, and frontal lobe E has not been researched as deeply as temporal lobe E.

/obsessive researching regurgitation rant.
 
I didn't know there was a difference between the two. I dont really know which I'm going to see. I just have a few numbers of people to see.
 
horsehead said:
I didn't know there was a difference between the two. I dont really know which I'm going to see. I just have a few numbers of people to see.
Click to expand...

That kind of surpises me that you haven't been to a psychiatrist already, since your doctor seems to think these are psychogenic as opposed to E-related. Sometimes you can't trust them to follow their suspicions or diagnoses through logically -- most of my partner's psychiatrists have suggested he might have E, but none ever sent him to a neuro :rolleyes:

What do we pay them for?!
 
Well it has been suggested before. I did see one when I was younger and it did no good at all but we will see.
 
I have to agree with Foreverdark on this subject. We hire doctors and they sometimes tend to forget we have the power to fire them as well. I for one have fired many of them in my journery of being in the process of being diagnosed with E. I realize it is hard for them sometimes but some go by the book wayyyy too much and do not listen. I have always said that they do not just need to rely on tests alone and what the patient states as well.

Also Occb is currect as well. She makes a good point. Psychologists cannot prescribe meds and cannot diagnose and can only listen to your problems but a psychiatrist can diagnose you and prescribe meds but also a neuropsychiatrist can maybe be of some better help as well. This kind of doctor is a neurologist and a psychiatrist. This kind of doctor can also run tests. I had one briefly at one point in my journey and he retired before he could do any testing on me and then that is when I became worse. That way you may be getting the best of both worlds at the same time if you have one in your home town.

tam bam
 
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Horsehead,
I've taken 150mg of Trazadone for sleep since June of 2007. My quality of sleep is very good and I get sufficient sleep which makes a difference in my seizure activity. Only thing I can say is that trazadone, in higher dosages, can actually trigger seizures. But if it's only to help with sleep, my doc says no problems. That's been my experience.
 
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