Yes!!

Good question.  I tried to look up information about what would not show up on
an MRI and found out a few things, but not a lot.  The MRI is looking at the
anatomy, the structure of the soft tissue.  The MRI can't see everything like
what's going on at the cellular level and it can't see electrical activity and
things like that.  My impression is that if there is something caused by
hormones, chemical imbalances, etc., the MRI won't know that unless it produces
some kind of resulting visible change in the brain.  If there is a tumor, the
MRI can't tell if it is a malignant or benign (that seems kind of strange to
me).  The other interesting thing came from a site that talked about MRI being
used to detect breast cancer and apparently there is a distadvantage to MRI over
conventional mammography because the MRI can't "see" calcium deposits, which are
an indicator of breast cancer, while the mammogram can "see" the calcium
deposits.  When a functional MRI is done, it can see what is happening in the
brain during activity.  I don't know if they use functional MRI's in epilepsy
diagnosis.

On a personal note, my MRIs have been normal although my EEG was abnormal.  The
EEG is used to test for electrical activity in the brain and that test, the EEG,
is very common in diagnosing epilepsy.

I'd be curious too.  Heck, it's your body and you have the right to know what is
going on with it.

Barb

From what I understand also, they have related causes.

You should see a neurologist.

I agree with Barb there. Your doctors should always be given full information
and I would also request a referral to a neurologist. A psychiatrist is not the
right kind of doctor to be treating that condition.

Perhaps it is a CT-Scan that you are thinking of? I would want all of that to be
done under the supervision of a neurologist.

The purpose of those scans, MRI & CT-Scan is to detect any tumors or scarring,
i.e. physical damage to the brain. They won't actually show either seizures nor
the type of seizures.

Good luck!

Bob

I theory it should be a good idea to see a consultant in an area as near
to one's problems as possible. However, I had been seeing neurologists for
years, began to have psychiatric problems with my menopause, read a web
page recommended in this newsgroup which referred to symptoms similar to
schizophrenia due to taking too much medicine for epilepsy.

       I was suffering from depression to sufficient depth to feel
suicidal and was referred to a consultant psychiatrist. He was too afraid
to risk increasing the number of fits I have to prescribe anti-
depressants.   This went on for years until I saw a new neurologist and I
asked her to talk to the psychiatrist. They still offered no help until I
had attempted suicide 3 times.

       Then the psychiatrist prescribed citolapram which made me relax
quite a bit. I had been going up and down for weeks at a time. I was very
disturbed before Christmas 2002 and was taken into hospital for a few
days. At the beginning of 2003, I was well enough to leading an active
life but began to get more and more anxious until the end of May.

       I was frightened to let my husband go out in case I injured
myself. He called a doctor who came in and without asking any questions
said @you've had another tiff; there's nothing we can do about your
anxiety, depression or eilepsy so, if you want to commit suicide, go ahead
and do it. I was desperate for help and shook him, so he said he could
accuse me of assault but he wouldn't bother and left.

       I went up to bed and took an overdose of anti-convulsant drugs. A
few weeks later my husband said he would retire if I promised to try and
get better. I didn't feel I could do all that was necessary to please him
so I tried to commit suicide again. This was very serious by being in the
garage, taking drugs and alcohol, with tape over my mouth and nose and
skewers to electrocute myself. I didn't succeed because the drugs and
alcohol made me keep falling down so when my husband came home, read my
note and called the police, they found me needing 2 stitches in my scalp.

       We then asked the psychiatrist to prescribe for bipolar disorder,
read a lot about it and asked for carbamazepine which is also an
anti-convulsant. When I saw the neurologist in September and told her
about the GP having said 'go ahead and commit suicide' she couldn't hide
her amusement and I took another overdose later that week.

       The next few days in a psychiatrist ward was horrible because
another patient was being allowed to wander round and move our possessions
round the ward. No help is offered and there is little chance to do
anything but worry and that will not reduce the amount of work needed to
be done at home.

       The psychiatrist referred me to an Occupational Therapist who was
more help than any of the doctors and helped me relax and act positively
until Christmas last year. Since then I sank until I had a bad fit a
couple of weeks ago.
When I see the psychaitrist this afternoon, I shall ask again for him to
suggest to the neurologist that my anti-convulsant dose is reduced. I am
still waiting for an appointment with a different neurologist than the one
who showed no sympathy.

I'll let you know if I manage to get any real help.

Chris L.