New Member Miss Muffin

[Missmuffin]

Hello folks I'm miss muffin A.K.A Danille, a 29 year old female from good o'l Wisconsin. I have been having panic attacks anxiety for 3-4 years. and recently as of this fall I was having panic attacks in my sleep from the looks of it from what my other half had witnessed and recorded. shortly after within 1-2 months I had a few times from the look of it I was have seizure like symptoms. And as of March 9 experienced my first one while being conscious, so went to the Neurologist with no MRI and EEG yet to look. After poking me and the basics sent me on my with and to be on 200 mg a day of Lamotrigine. Which made me rather nervous, so after 30 days of being seizure free, I leveled off at 100 mg a day not the 200 mg a day.but any who I recently changed my neurologist and my new one will have a EEG and MRI to look at the end of this month. But was just wondering I've been waiting over a month now and no one can really explain my EEG very well to me.

Intermittent polymorphic slow waves and sharp wave activity was recorded over the right frontal temporal region with equal potentiality at F8T4 and some phase reversal seen at T4. Slow waves were seen in the theta and delta frequency band from 3 to 5 hertz. Definite epileptiform appearing sharp waves were seen at times with this. Abnormal activity was increased slightly with the drowsiness.
Background activity consists of 10 hertz alpha seen symmetrically over parieto-occipital heard regions and shows normal attenuation to eye opening. Spontaneous sleep is recorded with the well-developed vertex sharp waves and sleep spindles.

EKG showed an irregular rhythm.
Classification
Grade 3 focal dysrhythmia.
Impression
This EEG showed an intermittent disturbance of cerebral activity over the right anterior temporal region with some definite epileptic abnormalities over this region. This is consistent with focal seizure disorder.

Other then that my MRI came back with nothing, and they say I'm perfectly healthy human otherwise. But it's nice to meet similar people that are experiencing the same. Nice to meet you all.

 

[Ruth]

Hi Dani,

Welcome to CWE. This forum was made out of love by Bernard for his wife Stacey. This love has permeated throughout the whole forum.

I have had lots of EEG's and my doctor has always explained them to me. A sharp spike means a seizure. An in between spike means a smaller seizure and so on. When you get no spike at all you did not have a seizure. Your medicine will lower the seizures and does not always show up seizures for that reason.

I have had a lot of EEG's that have showed up nothing. That shows that my epilepsy is under control.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Missmuffin, welcome to CWE!

There's certain contextual information (whether you were awake or sleep at different points during the EEG, how frequently any spikes occurred, etc.) that is important for interpreting an EEG. So your neuro is the best one to do the interpreting. Don't be shy about calling and making him explain the results in full. Even if you're switching neurologists, it's his job to do so.

In the meantime, here are some general takeaways from your EEG report:

First off, to both you and Ruth: Spikes and waves on the EEG don't neccessarily mean that you are having a seizure at the moment that those waveforms appear. There are certain kinds of waveforms associated with epilepsy that show up during a seizure, but there are also waveforms characteristic of epilepsy that show up even when you aren't having a seizure. These interictal ("between seizure") patterns usually involves sharp waves such as the ones that appeared on your EEG.

Focal = originating/appearing in a specific area (focus) of the brain rather than spread throughout the brain. A focal seizure is a seizure where there isn't full loss of consciousness. Focal Seizures are also called Simple Partial Seizures and Complex Partial Seizures. Simple partials feature unusual sensations and distortions, including episodes that can feel like panic attacks. Complex Partials feature a degree of impaired awareness. They can be a bit like sleepwalking, where you do or say things but aren't fully in control. I suggest that you read more about both kinds of seizures here: http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/types-seizures/simple-partial-seizures
http://www.epilepsy.com/learn/types-seizures/complex-partial-seizures

Your abnormal brainwaves are focused in the right front temporal area, which might suggest that you have "frontal lobe epilepsy". After temporal lobe epilepsy, frontal lobe epilepsy is the next most common type of epilepsy that features partial seizures.

Grade 3 focal dysrhythmia: The "grade" system was developed by the Mayo clinic and is just one way of quantifying EEG results. There are four different grades of dysrhythmia and any of the "grades" can be indicative of a seizure disorder. The grades don't indicate severity -- they refer to the intensity and frequency of certain brainwave activity.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Nakamova

 

[chop456]

Hello Danielle. Good to see another Wisconsin friend here! CWE is a great source of support and information. Welcome!

 

[Missmuffin]

Thank you all.

Nakamova, Ruth. I'd like to thank you for your input it was very enlightening and helpful to me. Chop456 thank you for the warm Wi welcome. As of update still no seizures, seems like it may be almost hormone related issue. I will be starting birth control again to see if it's related to when my estrogen spikes near my cycle, always seems to rise and fall with it. Other then that still a little deja vu, short term memory loss here and there and the quick anxious moments but they recede rather rapidly. And just a little tongue chewing on the sides in the back which is really my only concern atm. But my doctor told me to not use a mouthguard for a choking hazard. But I figured a large enough one would be hard to swallow and I think would be a better option then trying to eat or bite off my tongue in my sleep.

 

[Nakamova]

seems like it may be almost hormone related issue.

Seizures that are triggered by spikes in estrogen are called catamenial epilepsy. You can read more about that here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamenial_epilepsy
and the link below will take you to CWe threads that reference it:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/tags/catamenial epilepsy.html

 

[Bernard]

Hi MM, belated welcome to CWE.

... just a little tongue chewing on the sides in the back which is really my only concern atm. But my doctor told me to not use a mouthguard for a choking hazard. But I figured a large enough one would be hard to swallow and I think would be a better option then trying to eat or bite off my tongue in my sleep.

My wife has had some really nasty damage to her tongue from seizures. Once she had a pretty serious gash in it that took months to heal.

That said, it's a myth that you are in danger of severing or choking on your tongue.

It is possible that any mouthguard might get torn up, or misplaced and lodge in the throat. I would think that could pose some serious risk.

 

[Ruth]

I agree with Bernard. A mouth guard would be dangerous during a seizure.

With all of my years of seizures, I have never choked or bitten my tongue. I would never use a mouth guard.