Posted by Mitch on May 20, 2001, at 14:43:23
In reply to Re: Temporal Lobe Epilepsy » Mitch, posted by medlib on May 20, 2001, at 3:02:58
Medlib,
I really appreciate your calming support. I will take your advice and do some calling next week. I want to get to the bottom of this. It is just that I don't look forward to skepticism and expensive diagnostics that don't show anything. I just fear that at the end of it all, I will just get a "shrug" from a neurologist (and bills for two years). My current (and past) pdoc has diagnosed me already with several disorders-and it just seems like every visit is going to end with "the diagnosis of the month"!Yesterday, before I went out I grabbed the Trileptal (oxcarbazepine)and took 150mg with my Neurontin and Klonopin. I had an accentuated "alert-awake" feeling and I really felt like socializing-it was interesting.
I think that you are "spot-on".I am glad tht your son has been able to get through grad school and start a family despite the epilepsy and the meds to control it. That has given me a lot of needed encouragement.
Thank you,
Mitch
> Mitch--
>
> My son has had TLE since age 14--20 years. His diagnosis is "complex partial seizures, secondarily generalized"--what used to be called "grand mal seizures with auras." (An aura is a complex partial seizure that may, or may not, lead to a generalized one.) He has never had an abnormal EEG. He's taken Tegretol (carbamazepine) nearly all of that time and hasn't had a generalized seizure in 12+ years. (He still has occasional auras when he's forgotten a med dose or gotten too little sleep or too much stress.) Although he's on 1200 mg. Tegretol/day and describes his short-term memory as "Swiss cheese," he's completed grad school with a 4.0, has a responsible job, a good marriage, and is expecting his first child in a few months.
>
> I tell you all this to emphasize that proper med management can enable many epileptics to lead perfectly normal lives. Over the years, I have heard other epileptics describe nearly every symptom you listed--including echolalia. There is a logical connection between ADD and epilepsy. If you think of a brain which has insufficient "brake fluid"-i.e. GABA, one stimulus may trigger an appropriate electrical "firing" in the brain, but that signal doesn't stop normally--it spreads to perhaps adjacent, but unrelated areas. However, if a biological connection between epilepsy and ADD has been clearly established, I'm not aware of it. (Since my son has been stable, I haven't followed the field as closely.)
>
> My son's neurologist specializes in epilepsy, and is on the board of the local Epilepsy Assn. Your nearest chapter might be willing to list such specialists for you or your primary physician may be able to refer you to one. I believe that such a specialist is essential, especially for you.
>
> Good luck on your diagnostic journey. Well wishes---medlib
poster:Mitch
thread:63474
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010515/msgs/63713.html