What should I expect with an EEG?

[FurballsMom]

I saw a neurologist for the first time today.  I am scheduled for an EEG very soon--Monday.  After I described my symptoms, he thinks that I am very likely experiencing more migraines than I am aware of.  

[FurballsMom]

Yes, they had me hyperventilate.  I hated it.  I couldn't wait for those few minutes to be over with.  I had the same sensation you're talking about, plus it made me feel light-headed or dizzy, which I don't need more of.

[Mark1968]

Did they make you do the panting part to hyperventilate you?  That was the hardest part for me.  Then after they had me stop, it felt like my brain was buzzing inside my head.  It was a very, very strange sensation... like nerves were discharging inside my brain rapidly.

Mark

[RobinHood70]

Yeah, I've also become photosensitive, though mostly it shows up in that nearly any kind of light will wake me up, even very indirect light.  In addition to having most of the light from my window blocked with roll-down and horizontal blinds, I've had to start wearing a blindfold at night because the reflected light from other rooms coming in my door in the morning was enough to wake me up.  (And I can't close the door because my cat sleeps with me.)

It also shows up, though it's less irritating, in that I retain after-images much longer than I ever used to.

[FurballsMom]

For me there is no doubt that photosensitivity is a symptom, because I'm not taking any meds that would cause any problems with light sensitivity.  I seem to be more photosensitive than ever over the past few years, too.

[Mark1968]

My eyes have become more sensitive to light at night when I'm driving lately.  Not sure if it's a side-effect of one of the meds I'm taking, or a symptom.  Plus my night vision is going down the tubes too!  I pretty much either don't drive past sunset if I don't have to, or have someone else drive me...

Mark

[FurballsMom]

Yes, this is what they did with the test.  The reason the lights bothered my eyes so much is because I'm photosensitive, meaning light sensitive.  I know it only seemed to keep getting brighter, because I don't tolerate bright lights well at all.  I'm sure I'm not the first person the tester saw that looked like I was trying to back away from the lights.

I know the neurologist won't be one bit surprised about the reaction to the lights, because he saw first hand just how light sensitive my eyes are when I saw him in his office that first time.

[Mark1968]

The EEG measures electrical activity of the brain, both at rest and under stimulation.  What the did during my procedure was put this cap on your head lined with sensors in a dark room and have you close your eyes.  They read the activity for about 5 minutes or so then, they switch to the stimulation part of the testing.  There were two parts, nothing too terrible.  The first part is where they had me breathe at a rapid panting pace for about 5 minutes.  Basically what that does is hyperventilate you.  That was the hardest part of the whole test, because you body by nature wants to stop doing that.  Then they have you stop once you reach their time goal.  They read that activity.  The last part is where they put a strobe light in front of your face with your eyes closed and they go through various sets of strobe light flashing activity.  It starts of slow, then progresses to super high flashing.  It doesn't hurt your eyes, the only thing that is intensifying is the amount of flashes per second, not the brightness of the flash.

Is this what they did during your test too?

Mark

[RobinHood70]

Glad to hear everything went well other than the strobe light.

[FurballsMom]

I had the EEG done.  I didn't laugh when the lights went off.  It was near the end of the test.  I couldn't wait for the lights to stop myself.  They hurt my eyes.  Strobe lights have always bothered me eversince I can remember.  I remember telling the tech that the lights seemed like Chinese Water Torture to me.  

I'm not really surprised that the lights bothered me, though, because I'm photosensitive, and I always have been as far back as I can remember.

[RobinHood70]

I can't recall anything that made me feel unwell, though it's been a while, but perhaps it's triggering a partial seizure for her or something.  For myself, I remember I had an irresistable urge to laugh when the light was flashing at certain speeds...it was sort of like it was tickling my brain or something...so maybe it's something like that for her as well, only a more negative sensation of some kind.

Maybe the best thing would be to ask her why it was a problem for her.  Her memories will probably be more recent than mine, as mine would've been almost 20 years ago now.

[FurballsMom]

Thank you.  A friend of mine has epilepsy and she hates this test and gets all emotional about it.  She seems a little bit afraid of the test.  

[RobinHood70]

I had an EEG done a long time ago (for something unrelated to CFS) and nearly fell asleep during it! LOL

It's much like an ECG (the one for your heart), only in this case the sensors are stuck all over your head.  There's a variety of things they'll do like flashing lights at you and such, but by and large, you can just sit back and relax for most of it as I recall.

[FurballsMom]

Perhaps I should clarify my question here.  I've never had this test done before, so I don't know what the test is like.  I was told it will take an hour.  Has anyone else here had this test done, who can tell me what the test is like?