Epileptic seizures: what to do if you suspect a disease

Determine if a person is sick with epilepsy and what kind of disease, only a psychiatrist or neurologist can. Do not try to put yourself or your loved ones on your own. This is too serious. There are many more innocuous violations that an inexperienced person can confuse with epilepsy. Therefore, differential diagnosis is the first thing that the attending physician thinks about. What are epileptic seizures and the disease as a whole? What do you need to know the relatives of the afflicted person?

It is difficult to "catch" an attack

Epileptic seizures rarely occur in the doctor's office. Therefore, "testimony" will help the psychiatrist understand the situation and put a correct diagnosis. So if you have seen an epileptic seizure from a relative, be sure to tell the doctor everything in detail. Your observation can greatly help the patient.

Not epilepsy, but diabetes?

Any person who has experienced an attack or something similar to him should seek help. If others say that you have been unconscious for a while or have lost control, you can not ignore their opinion. Perhaps you are not sick and epileptic seizures - it's not about you. For example, there are episodes of loss of consciousness in diabetics.

With support group

Do not go to the doctor alone. Even if you remember everything about your condition, there is always the possibility that close people will see more and they will be able to give specific information to the doctor. Perhaps they will remember what happened before the seizure and what followed. The person himself can not always remember all these features, and they are very important.

Doctor's questions

A seizure similar to an epileptic attack can be triggered by a lack of sleep, alcohol or drugs. And it will not be an epileptic syndrome, but a completely different condition. Also, the doctor will ask you under what circumstances the seizure occurred, how long it lasted, whether it began immediately after the person got up from his sitting position, whether it was once in his life, whether the patient was treated by other specialists and what medicines he took. Did I feel exhausted or confused after the attack? All these details are very significant.

Objective research

The brain should be examined with the help of an MRI device , this will exclude such phenomena as a tumor or an infectious disease of the nervous system. Because in these cases, antiepileptic medicines will be useless. Do also an encephalogram, which shows if there are disturbances of brain activity, thus reveal a tendency to seizures.

What are the seizures?

Epileptic seizures are convulsions with or without loss of consciousness. In this case, before the beginning there is a confusion of consciousness, called aura. During it, a person can experience all sorts of deceptions of feelings. With a serious attack, a coma can develop, a person pales, a little later the skin may even turn blue. Does not react to others. After an attack, amnesia often develops, which is why only a person from outside can help in the diagnosis.

Epilepsy is a formidable diagnosis. But for many people with adequate treatment, the seizure happens only once. The patient enjoys life and is not afraid of the future.