After trying to explain to three different neurologists that I have long-suspected I might have some sort of seizure disorder, I got one to order an EEG. I've had several lay-people tell me that I sound like I might have non-grand mal seizures, but then when I went to doctors and expressed my concerns, they just brushed them off and told me I was just depressed.

Here are some of the reasons I think I might have issues with seizures:

1) This hasn't happened in a while, but I used to just randomly start smelling a burning sensation out of nowhere that no one else around me could smell. One time, I jumped out of my bed and went running into the hall because I thought my house was on fire, and my dad was just like, "...there's no smell."

2) Sometimes, when I'm overtired, before I fall asleep, I start involuntarily biting down every few minutes and continue doing this until I fall asleep.

3) I've had several incidents where I was at my computer (so I could tell around what time it was when I 'fell asleep'), fell into a deep sleep and had a really vivid dream, and then jolted awake about 4 minutes later with an awful headache. My understanding is that real dreaming doesn't happen within a few minutes of falling asleep, so I've wondered if this is some sort of seizure instead. I tried explaining this to my neurologist, and he responded, "Daydreaming can happen anytime." I'm not talking about daydreaming; I'm talking about, my head is down on the bed, table, whatever, and my eyes are closed.

4) I'm really sensitive to flashing lights and fluorescent lights. They give me a really intense headache and make me feel like my brain is going to explode, is the best way I can describe it. It's difficult for me to drive through areas where the sun is flickering through the trees because it makes me dizzy and nauseated; on bad days, it results in me having a violent gagging fit behind the wheel or even just turning around and going home because of how sick I feel.

5) Sometimes, I just go into a daze out of nowhere where everything around me seems slowed down and muffled, and it's really difficult to think straight or respond to people. I *can*, though, it's just hard and therefore embarrassing. I'm not completely unresponsive, though.

So my situation is atypical. I don't have the convulsions that people think of when they think of seizures or anything. Maybe I don't have seizures at all. Who knows. I did have one urgent care doctor ask why I've never had an EEG before after explaining a few of my symptoms to him, but he didn't accept insurance and I couldn't afford to make him a regular doctor.

I'm supposed to be scheduled for an EEG within the next week and was wondering if there was anything that one should do to maximize the chances of any seizure activity to show on the test. I ask because I was reading about the test and found that several resources claim a lot of people have seizures, but they're never detected on an EEG.

Let me know please. Thank you.