More than one kind of epilepsy?!
Question: My niece was diagnosed with epilepsy recently, but she doesn't have seizures. Sometimes, she blacks out for a few seocnds and doesn't realize any time has passed, but I thought that was just some other type of neurological condition. Is there more than those two types??
Answers: My niece was diagnosed with epilepsy recently, but she doesn't have seizures. Sometimes, she blacks out for a few seocnds and doesn't realize any time has passed, but I thought that was just some other type of neurological condition. Is there more than those two types??
I worked for an epileptologist and there are many different types of "seizures". I used to hear about the ones that you are explaining all of the time. There are also seizures that you have just in your sleep. Then there are different types of seizures that most people are used to visualizing with the body shaking, biting of the tongue, etc. The way they are diagnosed is by an EEG or a video EEG. That test, which I am sure your niece had, is what tells them the what and where in the brain the seizures are occurring. My only advice is that she has the best neurologist she can and try for a doc that is an epileptologist. That is what they specialize in, so they are usually very up-to-date on the newest and best ways to treat. Good luck to you all and just educate yourselves the best you can, ask many questions even if you think they are silly and alway's, alway's remember that the doctor is there for your niece. Don't ever walk out of the office feeling like you got nothing from it.
There are several different types of seizures. The classic is a grand mal seizure, but there are peti-mal seizures, absence seizures and narcoleptic seizures.
Narcolepsy is a form of epilepsy and it sounds like that is the type she has.
There are so many different types of epilepsy from grand-mal epileptic seizures, abscense seizures, nacroleptic seizures, petit mal. I have what's called Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME) with nocturnal seizure disorder. JME is characterized mostly by muscle twitching, which really isn't a huge problem, it's the grand mals at night that cause me my problems.
Her black outs ARE a form of seizure. They don't have to be the writhing on the floor type to qualify. Some other neurological disorders can mimic epilepsy... My daughter has tuberous sclerosis, her siezures were typical petit mal seizures normally associated with epilepsy. EEG's showed pattern typical of epilepsy but in the wrong area of the brain. So, not epilepsy. There are others but epilepsy is a fairly well researched disorder and it's diagnosis by a neurologist is usually accurate. Second opinions are always nice if there's a question about ANY diagnosis.
Evidently, we have several types of epilepsy, and it seems to be tied to the parts of the brain affected or the type of behavior that triggers it. I saw a short bit on TV just this afternoon about a young lady who has a type of epilepsy that has been shown to be triggered by music. I've heard of other forms in which strobe lights can trigger seizures and I've been around others that don't seem to have real triggers, but come on at odd times. Also, epilepsy can be mild or severe. Your niece seems to have what I would consider a mild form of it. I would consider the severe form to be a type that would lead to what they call grand mall (sp?), which is the form we usually think of with the epileptic person writhing and shaking uncontrollably on the floor.
Actually, her blank outs are a kind of seizure. Not all seizures result in convulsions. Her kind are called absence seizures. Convulsion seizures are called tonic-clonic.
Yes, there is. What you are explaining is what is called an 'absence seizure'. She blacks out because there is seizure activity in the area of her brain that controls that particular function. They are not completely aware of what is going on, some people lose conciousness, some don't, some know exactly what's going on but cannot communicate to other people during the duration of their seizures. It all depends on where the activity is in their brain.
Just because she doesn't flop around does not mean she isn't having a seizure, because in fact, that's exactly what those episodes are.