Can diagnosis be made if EEG was normal?

[Rjamison]

my son who is 9 was told its very possible he has epilepsy, the visual-only kind, even though his EEG came back normal.

is diagnosis possible if the EEG was normal? the doctor seemed not to care at all about the EEG results, but I find it odd that he would conclude this.

my other question is about Fatigue. my son gets his visual disturbances, which are possible seizures according to our doctor, at least once a day sometimes more, and is very fatigued all day long everyday.  my question is, do seizures cause the person to feel tired/exhausted, not during the seizure itself but inbetween?

thanks a million.

[kirsty702]

i have just been diagnoised and i havent even had a eeg test just a ct scan which ruled out , major things like brain tumours or bleeds or things of that nature, i was also very confused that this could be done i was only with the neoroligist for around 15 minutes , i had been in hospital aswell but the actual person that confirmed me as epileptic i was with for all of 15 mins and the whole thing felt very rushed , but yes the doctor also said that the eeg very often comes back normal and that this is a very hard thing to figure out , i am sorry if i am not much help but this is just my understanding of the whole thing, also i have had several fits / episodes now and i do feel very wiped out after them , also i find that taking the epileptic medication makes me very tired also i dont know if your son has started this ?

[flipper336]

It is possible to have a seizure disorder with a normal EEG reading. If the part of the brain that is causing the seizures is located deep within the brain a normal EEG test might not pick it up.

It is common for a person to feel tired/exhausted after having a seizure. When I have a seizure I get tired and depending on how severe it was I will lay down and go to sleep.

[Chris6588]

i know when i had my seizures, i would have to stop what i was doing and go home because i would just knock out. it always took alot out of me.
all my tests came out normal.
you seem skeptical about the diagnosis. what does he do when this event happens?