Seizures

[zignzagn]

Hi, I was put on Dilantin to prevent seizures after being admitted to the hospital for what doctors thought was a brain tumor. As it turned out the "brain tumor" was actually a cavernous angioma. Many people have them but they only cause problems for a very small minority. Mine had bled into the surrounding brain tissue in the area of the left temporal lobe. The great news was that it was NOT a malignant brain tumor, the less than great news was that a bleed like that in the temporal lobe can lead to seizures The Cavernoma no longer shows in the MRI ..as of 1 year following the bleed. And as of now it has been 2 years since the first diagnosis. The thing that can lead to seizures as far as I know are the iron deposits the blood leaves after the blood is reabsorbed back into the brain tissue.

After a few months taking Dilantin I knew that I needed to change medications...I had a very difficult time getting up in the morning, exhausted, headaches, depression confusion, incoordination....and other complaints too numerous to list..so the doctor transitioned me to lamictal. The lamictal was fine for a while but now I am having memory and focus problems which are getting consistently worse. I am experiencing blurred vision, dry mouth and low sex drive as well. I am hoping to either find the medication I can best live with OR get off medication completely. I have never had a seizure that I know of. However, from time to time my head snaps back and to the side...not enough that anyone else even notices but it involves a weird and slightly painful feeling in my neck on that side as well as just the shock of having this out of my control.

I have heard that seizure risk is extremely high after bleeding in or injury to this part of the brain, it is in the cortex in the area of the left temporal lobe. I have also heard that some people are simply not susceptible to seizures (of course I liked hearing of this!)...SO I am curious if anyone knows the difference between a recurrent spasm and a seizure, or if there is one. Also wondering what kind of doctor would perform an EEG to determine if I do have seizures or what kind they are. The doctor I am currently seeing is a neurologist but seems to not have many answers to my seizure questions. I am taking medication to PREVENT seizures...and wondering where to go and who to ask if the medication is necesary and what type of seizures I am having. Is it an EEG that is done to monitor brain activity and determine what kind of seizures a person is having and how often they occur? It bothers me to be putting all the medicine in my body, not to mention dropping $380 monthly for it!, when I'm not really sure IF it is needed, or exactly WHY it's needed at any rate.

I am sorry that this is so long, but hope it is understandable. Any information that might give insight into this and ideas of what type of doctor to see would be very much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this post.