Off to get EEG results...

[Loopy Lou]

Got butterflies in my stomach, but not in a nice way.

I'm also going to ask to be taken off Lamotrigene. It's making things worse, and i'd rather be meds-free if they're going to affect me this much.

Wish me luck! I'll be back in an hour or two probably.

 

[skillefer]

Good luck Lou!!

 

[Meetz1064]

ooooo

Best of luck!!!!

 

[brain]

Hope it all goes well, or I wonder if maybe a
lower titration would do?

onder:

 

[Loopy Lou]

Well, apparently the EEG showed "abnormalities" in the left and right temporal lobes, but more in the left than the right.

Not entirely sure what that means though. onder: Does that just mean the left and right side of the brain?

I think i'm going to have to look it up lol

The doc has referred me to the neurologist again to talk about my medication, because it's really starting to affect my work.

 

[Loopy Lou]

Oh yeah, the word "focal" came up somewhere (?)

Trying to research it a bit.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Lou --
This may or not help:
1. The temporal lobes are parts of the brain located over the temples. Your EEG showed some abnormal brainwaves in those lobes (not the entire right or left sides of the brain), so that's probably where any seizure activity starts.
2. Focal Seizures (also called Partial Seizures) are seizures which affect only a part of the brain at onset (such as the temporal lobes).
3. There are two main categories of Focal Seizures: Simple Partial seizures and Complex Partial seizures. Simple = no loss of consciousness. Complex = some loss of consciousness. In some folks, Simple can progress to Complex which can progress to Tonic-Clonic ( = full loss of consciousness).
4. Lamictal: It can take a while for the body to adjust to Lamictal. Have you been on it for awhile? Maybe the dose needs to be adjusted? Or maybe it just isn't working for you. If you go off of it, you'll need to do it very slowly to be safe.

Good luck!
Nakamova

 

[Loopy Lou]

Thanks nakamova - thats a great help! I tried looking online, but it was mostly full of jargon. I wish they would do an informative site with plain english on it lol.

The simple and complex sound like me, and i've had two TC's, but luckily thats the only two i've ever had.

Mind you, if i'd never had those seizures, i would probably never have gone to the doctor's in the first place, and carried on believing that i was either

A. Daft, or
B. A persistent daydreamer.

Every cloud, i suppose.

Apparently, from what i have managed to glean from these websites, this type of epilepsy can be caused by a knock to the head or something like meningitis.

I had a pretty bad fall when i was 15 and broke my cheekbone in the process. Mind you, i think i may have been having seizures before that.

Ach, i don't know :roflmao:

 

[Nakamova]

Yeah for over half of all epilepsy cases, they never figure out for sure what causes it. Sometimes it's there from birth. In my case, it might have been a bad fall I had when I was 5. But the seizures didn't start until 30 years later. So who knows...

The main thing is to find the medication/treatment that works best for you. The Lamotrigene/Lamictal sounds unpleasant, so maybe you're right -- no meds might be best. But you want avoid having any more tonic-clonics -- the more of those you have, the more of those you're gonna have -- the brain gets used to having them.

 

[Loopy Lou]

Yeah you have a good point about the TC's there... Doc said he's going to send me back to the neurologist to see about my medication. It'll probably take a few weeks for the appointment to come through though. I'm only on a pretty low dose of lamotrigene (200mg per day), but i'm worried about switching in case it makes things even worse. On the other hand, it could make it better too. It's really affecting my work, and while they can't sack me for having Epilepsy, they can sure as hell fire me for incompetence!

In the meantime, i've booked me and my brother a wee holiday for next week

 

[Loopy Lou]

Hey i just thought... if they picked it up on the EEG does that mean that i had at least one seizure during the test? I don't remember anything apart from feeling that the time had gone really fast. Oh yeah, and my heart pounded a couple of times. onder:

 

[RobinN]

There has been research on children with celiac and have EEG tests showing abnomalilites when the patients have consumed wheat.

So your nutrition can throw off EEGs as well as some meds.
The doctors just do not know, but are unwilling to say so.

We were even told by a Neuro at UCLA that the first neuro most likely did not know how to read the EEG results properly. So go figure.... They can tell you what they want. It is all a matter of trust.
I believe what I witness, and my 6th sense more these days.

Trust what your body is telling you.

 

[Loopy Lou]

My instincts are telling me that they're right and i've been burying my head in the sand for a loooonnng time.

I don't think i'd eaten anything besides a yoghurt and a banana before i went for the test. It was quite early in the morning i think. The neurologist's department i go to is considered the best in Britain. I didn't realise that when i complained about having to traipse there and back :woot:

 

[Nakamova]

Brain wave patterns that characterize epilepsy can show up on an EEG whether you're having a seizure or not. So if you don't think you had a seizure during your EEG, you're probably right...

 

[Loopy Lou]

Brain wave patterns that characterize epilepsy can show up on an EEG whether you're having a seizure or not. So if you don't think you had a seizure during your EEG, you're probably right...

Ok, thanks!