Hi salukgirl,

Welcome to the forum! This sure sounds like you are having possilbly absence (petit mal) along with aura seizures also known as simple partial seizures. I've had epilepsy since 1972 and just like you it's temporal lobe epilepsy. My seizures start on the right temporal lobe. I had surgery done to help reduce the seizures but when my neurosurgeon cut into me they found that 2 more areas were causing seizures that not a single test would show and this may be what's going on with you. The area(s) that are causing your seizures may be to deep in your brain for any tests to show anything.
My advice to you is to see an Epileptologist (Dr. specializing in epilepsy) You can usually find these Drs. at University Hospitals where they have an Epilepy Center. I've seen many neurologist over the yrs. but I've gotten the most help from an Epileptolgist because they know more about epilepsy and how to handle it. Plus they have always had me on fewer seizure meds know as AED's Anti Epileptic Drugs. I will tell you to stay away from anything with nutra sweet in it like diet soda because nutra sweet (aspartame) causes more electrical activity in the brain which can trigger seizures. Also stay away from cell phones my Dr. told me that is one of the biggest problems today that are causing seizures for people. Cut back on the carbs. and starch foods and eat foods high in fat this is known as the ketogenic diet and it does wonders reducing and stopping seizures for many people it's very similar to the atkins diet. You might want to start keeping a journal and keep record on a calendar of each time you have a seizure, write down what time the seizure happened and give a discription of the seizure also make sure you put down if there's a low pressure in the weather because that can often cause seizure for people. Be sure to write on the calendar when you start and stop your monthly period and take note if you are sick because often people will have seizures if they are sick with a cold or a virus. I found taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day a big help reducing my seizures the B12 calms the nervous system down. If you are around a lot of bright light or flashing light like strobe lights and you have a seizure you may be photosentive and that means certain bright lights will cause seizures the same thing can happen for some people when they hear certain sound and this is known as audio seizures. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue