Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruins88
Thank you for the responses.
The first neuro I saw said yah they sound like seizures and once we got the normal eeg back, he dismissed it. Still kept happening for months but he never addressed it again, just said yah they sound like them.
The doctor that witnessed them was a general doctor. He was quite shocked and saddened that noone has treated them just because an eeg was normal. He said that a lot of times they dont show up on an eeg because they are occuring deeper in the brain.
Im not sure what the deal is but hopefully the new neuro will help. Im sure though they wont diagnose anything without some sort of eeg confirmation. Not really sure how that all works.
Thanks.
|
Hi Bruins -
I perform and review EEG's for Epileptologists. One thing I know for sure is that a normal EEG does not rule out seizures or epilepsy. Some seizures come from very deep in the brain and do not show up on scalp electrodes. The seizure semiologies you describe sound like more than one type, including possible migraines with aura. Staring spells frequently turn out to be absence seizures, which are generalized, but can also be included in more focal seizures that often have auras, hand and mouth automatisms like you described.
Anyway, a 20 min. EEG is not enough. Where I am we do at least 45 min, and the goal is always for the patient to fall asleep while the EEG is running. Frequently, an EEG in someone with epilepsy can be completely normal when they are awake, but when they get drowsy and start falling asleep, that's when the abnormalities come alive. If a patient has the kind of history you describe with such different types of symptoms, we often have them stay in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit where they would be hooked up and monitored for at least 24 hours - up to several days in order to catch their symptoms.