Partial Complex Seizures

Greetings. I was just diagnosed with Complex Partial Seizures today based on the results of a sleep-deprived EEG that showed abnormalities in the temporal lobe. I have a wonderful neurologist who answered many of my questions, but I was so stunned and taken aback by the news - the possibility of epilepsy had never entered my mind - that I did not ask the right questions. (We had initially thought I had ADD.) I'm a middle-aged woman who just always considered myself "spacey" at times because I zoned out and often felt disorganized and unsettled, even though I worked hard at being organized in my fast-paced profession. These symptoms are relatively new - especially a feeling that's hard to describe but reminds me of a sudden jump in my stomach that runs through my body. It happens a lot at night, as do strange thoughts that I wrote off as the start of perimenopause. I thought I was just blowing things out of proportion, and I tend to tough things out. My family doctor has told me in the past that I am stoic and not a worrier, but now I am worried. I started lamotrigine today... Among my questions: In addition to the medicine, is there anything else I could do to lower my chances of getting seizures, or at least cut the frequency? Better diet, more exercise, sleeping more, etc? Also, does a sleep-deprived EEG rule out growths in the brain? The reason I ask is that I feel an unsettling feeling, and have for several months, like something is wrong inside my head. A good friend says it's the power of suggestion, but I've felt like something has been in my head for a while now, even though I just learned of my epilepsy diagnosis Friday. Any thoughts? Am I just being neurotic? Should I give it a rest? Thanks for any advice, insights and help you can share. I apologize this is so long...

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

I appreciate your concerns. It is very easy for someone to say your symptoms are out of anxiety. Even after studying medicine, I still believe human have a good intuitive power, which can at times hint towards what's wrong with the body.

I guess you seizures have recently developed. It is unusual to develop complex partial seizures, especially if you never had them before, at this age.

I would have ordered an MRI right away. I would expect some lesion in the temporal lobe which is causing this abnormal electrical activity.

Meanwhile, please take you medicine regularly. Try to ask your neurologist for an MRI of the brain.

Regards

[naturegal208]

Dear Dr. Deshmukh,

Thanks from the bottom of my heart for your kind and quick response. I really appreciate your advice. After experiencing other symptoms - difficulty remembering words, clumsiness, weakness, etc - I will call my neurologist this week and ask her to consider an MRI. My symptoms and seizures have surfaced in the last several months; prior to that, I was always creative and a little "spacey" but did not have the unsettling symptoms I have now. My doctor said my complex partial seizures are in the left temporal lobe...On the slight chance there is a lesion, would it also be in the left temporal lobe? Wouldn't an EEG have picked up a lesion? And are my other symptoms, including headache, compatible with a lesion of some kind? Thanks for your kindness and expertise. Warmly, naturegal