Pain with Left Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

[radiokitty]

Hi.  I have left temporal lobe epilepsy from a brain tumor that I had removed in 05.  My seizures are very painful.  It is a sharp, almost electric pain in my temporal lobe area of my head, mostly on the left side.  I have them several times a day, most of the time they last from 2 to 5 seconds.  But they have lasted 2 mins and longer where I need Ativan to stop it, either IV or pill.  I am pretty sure I am awake through these seizures, but the pain is a 10 on the scale and I can't commprehend thing due to the high level of pain.  The worst seizures are at night, they wake me up.  A little history,  I've had 4 grand mal seizures, I had focal  seizures for about a year after surgery,  also anything repetitive will set them off from lights to sounds, I take Tegretol, also I've had many EEGs, all are the same severe seizure activity on the left side.  My tumor back in 05 was an atypical left temporal lobe meningioma.  I had my first seizue in Jan, brain surgery in April.     So anyway, my question is this.  Are my painful seizures common?  Is taking Tegretol the right thing to do?  Are these seizures causing anymore brain damage?    Also just in case you are thinking migraines, we've already went that route.  After surgery I was put on every type of anticonvulsant and even tried many types of migraine medicines.  Nothing worked until one doc said TLE try Carbamazapine, and it has worked.  I can live a normal life on it.  My problem is I'm worried about the damage it is causing my body.  My docs have tried switching me to other meds like Lamictal, but they don't work.  Thank you so much for any info you can give me.