(((Hugs))) Sorry the EEG looked so messy. We had a talkative tech one time. I did enjoy her. Tom was already on Tegretol and at the time we suspected absence seizures (EEG did not show this). Anyway, I asked her if she could interpret any of it. She told me about which traces were coming from which parts of the brain, etc. Then she said, "THAT doesn't look good." She pointed to a small squiggle that showed up occassionally on a few of the traces. Personally, I never would have picked it out. Three / four months later, we were back having another EEG, because Tom's seizures had changed to myoclonics. That tech wasn't very talkative. But, I could clearly see the difference in his EEG. "Messy" is a good description. All of the traces were overlapping each other all over the place. Definitely showed myoclonic seizures as a type of generalized seizure.

Her suggestion of trying a med for a month is a good one. Also, I know you and Spencer have a lot of dietary restrictions... can't remember all of them, but I'm pretty sure about dairy and gluten. Has he had any allergy testing done recently? I don't know a lot about allergy testing, but I do know there are tests for immediate reactions, and tests for delayed, and I can't help thinking that the delayed reaction tests are better for neurological issues. A friend of mine did the York Labs test with 90 or so different foods. (Pretty sure it's this place, if you're interested: http://www.yorkallergyusa.com/info.html. I'd like to try this for Tom, but I'm waiting to see if the DAN! doctor will run it for us.) She was amazed to discover the foods they indicated mild reactions to, she did indeed react to, when she removed them from her diet, and then added them back in. Also, is Spencer off of ALL the foods YOU react to? And, there is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which would get you off of corn (but not necessarily all of its derivatives) and soy. I'm trying to cut back on our soy and corn exposure... not sure how good a job I'm doing.

It was dairy that generalized Tom's seizures. I guess that's why I'm harping on food. When we talked to our neuro about taking Tom off medication, he asked if an EEG would make a difference in our decision. I said, "no." So, we didn't have another EEG (I probably could have pushed for one, but I wasn't sure I wanted one). It's been a year since we took Tom off drugs, and he's had 5 simple partials since then. I'm betting if we did another EEG, that small little squiggle would still show up in a few of the traces, but for now it's speculation.

Anyway, I hope you see the neuro soon. I'm sorry you have to add the "to medicate or not" to your list of things to worry about. The eye-rolling doesn't sound good; neither does the messy EEG. On the other hand, I understand your fear of med side effects, especially after the poor treatment you and Spencer had during the dark and ugly days. I am glad for the drugs Tom had when I felt he needed them. Now that I've figured out some (most?) of his triggers, I feel better about him being drug-free.