Simple Partial Seizures-general info about duration and auras

[Dstini]

He will see me only after my scheduled MRI on May 25. So I have a few more weeks of 'not knowing' anything. That's the worst part. Fear, imagining the worst, not knowing, ho-hum attitude of neurologist. He is a good guy, he just can't do anything without tests, I suppose. Doesn't make me feel any better.

 

[k2s4ever]

My verdict is that my olfactory aura is representative of a migraine disorder, not SPS. I am on Neurontin and Lamictal for them. Mine persist like the dickens. So far in June, I've had them every day but one. I'm sick of it as mine are an unpleasant burn smell which then also affects my taste, biggest effect being it makes coffee tastes flat out burnt. Last few days-no specific trigger-they just go off, but I do have a very specific cooking smoke odor that is a sure trigger, and smells are a big migraine trigger. My aura lasts way too long and happens too often that I would have likely gone into secondary generalized by now, over 5 years in to when this first started happening. And looking back on my history-it is rather clear I had visual auras since childhood that I never realized were seen in migraine. But I remain in common with the E world that I take same type of medication and share the olfactory aura annoyance that some people with E have.

 

[Dstini]

Hmm. I'd suggest asking your doctor about adding a new medication in addition to the Tegretol. I got up to 1200 mg/day of Tegretol also at one point and was still having a lot of simple partial seizures, so my doctor added Keppra.

I've now been on Keppra for about a month (1600mg/day) and slowly being weened off tegretol. My symptoms are NO better and I may be worse. I have 3-15 simple partial seizures EVERY DAY. I am still on leave from work. I get migraines regularly. Some of the seizures last 1-3 min up to 15 min (or they are clustering). I've had one huge cluster that lasted 90 min until I had an anxiety attack and it stopped with a bout of crying and shaking. MRI was clear. Did another EEG and they caught 2-3 in a 4 hour time period. So ya, I'm a basketcase, afraid to be alone, meds aren't working, nothing seems to work. Sigh..

 

[AngelwithDentedHalo]

I love my Neurologist and yes, the waiting is hard. When I had my MRI, they had the results within minutes after they finished, which is a good thing since I had a brain bleed. The EEG took longer though. Had that first, then the MRI.