Seriously?! Epilepsy?!

I wrote this post on Wednesday, December 23, but it's taken me some time to get up the nerve to publish this post because of the life-changing implications and complications. I finally made the decision to make this post public because I made a commitment to share all my health-related experiences when I started this blog.

Today my husband and I went to the neurologist to get my MRI, MRA, EEG, and blood test results. I had the tests done earlier this month, but today was the earliest I could get in to see him for the results (he's got a full patient load because he's considered a top neurologist in the area, so it's difficult to get in quickly).

I fully expected the tests to come out normal. After all, they were only done just to be thorough; my only complaint had been regular headaches and increasingly frequent migraines. The good news is that my MRI and MRA results are entirely normal. Physically, my brain and brain arteries look good.

The crazy news is that my EEG was NOT normal. In fact, it was quite abnormal, indicating multiple "subclinical seizures."

WHAT?!

The good doc spent about an hour (AN HOUR!) with us asking me all kinds of health-related questions and answering my questions. Long story short, I've been diagnosed with "primary generalized absence epilepsy. Based on answers to his questions and my EEG results, he thinks I've had (or have) "absence seizures" (a.k.a. petit mal seizures).

The doctor has put me on antiseizure medications to see if they help my memory, concentration, sleep, and EEG results. The meds are depakote and neurontin.

Interestingly, depakote is sometimes prescribed to prevent migraines and neurontin is sometimes prescribed off-label for fibromyalgia. The depakote may help the frequency of my migraine symptoms, and the neurontin may help the new and unexplained pain I've been having in my upper back, neck, and arms.

The doctor is also recommending that I extend my Short Term Disability until I have been stabilized on my new medications.

Seriously?!

The doctor showed me an excerpt of my EEG results (the full thing is really long) and said he thought I'd be able to see the abnormal parts without him pointing them out. He was right. I immediately pointed to the wave areas of larger spikes.

Things are still sinking in. Only after I left the doctor's office did more questions come to mind like:

• Are you sure?
• What other reasons could cause an abnormal EEG?
• When can I have another EEG just to be sure?
• Exactly how many "subclinical seizures" did I have during the test?
• Is this condition for the rest of my life, or is it temporary?

After doing some research on epilepsy and absence seizures on the internet I came up with a couple more questions including:

• Most of the information I've read indicate that absence seizures are most common in children. Why would I develop this as an adult? or have I had it since childhood and it's just gone undiagnosed?
• Are you sure?

The epilepsy diagnosis does not explain all my CFIDS symptoms, so it looks like I'm just "lucky" and happen to have both conditions (in addition to all my other conditions) unless we can prove otherwise. Yippee...

I still don't entirely believe I have epilepsy at this point. I'm not sure if I am in denial or if I just have a healthy skepticism. As far as I know (and based on observations by husband), I have not had any clinical seizures. I don't remember having any seizures (but, ironically, not remembering having a seizure is one of the symptoms of absence seizures).

I am going forward with treatment nonetheless because the EEG clearly indicates some sort of abnormality. That is something I can't argue. If my neurological symptoms improve, I might be more inclined to believe the diagnosis.

I've got an appointment with my regular doc on Monday, and I'm going to ask her all the questions I should have asked my neurologist while I was there. I'm also going to ask if it's worth it to get a second opinion or if I should wait and see if I make any improvements on the new meds. My next neurology appointment is in a month.

It's all still sinking in...

P.S. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!