Hi Diane,
I have had one EEG which lasted for 24 hours. They did not increase my meds
for this. It seems strange to me that they would do that for yours. With
mine, they took me off all meds to induce seizure activity, so they could
pinpoint where in the brain it was originating. I think it was a bit drastic
that they took me off ALL my meds, where simply REDUCING them would have
sufficed.

It sounds like you haven't previously had an EEG......??
I have had about two dozen EEG's over the last 30 years. They're not a big
deal. Just a bit uncomfortable. They are nothing to be afraid of. They
simply put a whole lot of electrodes, glued to your scalp all over your head
(not as scary as it sounds) and these have wires attached which run to a
machine which records the electrical activity in your brain. Because they
have them all over your head, they can tell which part of your brain the
activity is coming from.

Is your doctor considering the possibility of surgery as an option for you?
It seems strange that he won't tell you what it is for. You have a right to
know what it's for, so if I were you I'd be demanding to know.

Please keep us informed as to how you get on with this. We're all in the
same boat as far as this goes and we are here to help in any way we can.

All the best.

Darryl.

--

-------------------------------------------
To email, change daryl to darryl in address.
-------------------------------------------

  Without knowing for sure what they plan, they're **probably boosting the
dose for now, and plan to Remove it once you're in the Hospital and all
wired up...  Someone else described the wires etc. and there's a portable
thing you can carry around while you're in there (since if nothing happens
right away it'll get really boring -- take some books or magazines).
   On another thread we discussed that even in some cases where a person is
still taking medications, Some electrical activity related to a seizure (and
its location), can be measured even if a person doesn't necessarily sense
them or stop taking the medications.   But the **quickest way to get the
tracings they're looking for is to Reduce or Remove the medications
altogether, and that's best done where they can monitor you to make sure
everything goes O.K.
   There might be some information on what the EEG is looking for at
http://efa.org  the U.S. Ep. Foundation of America general site...  There
are 3 or 4? prime electrical waves that our brains put out during normal
operation, but when a seizure starts some of the waves become really erratic
(a little like a Heart ECG when the Heart is in Fibrillation),  and the
waves produce distinctive patterns depending on which of the waves is most
erratic.
   Then the Technicians and Doctor interpret the waves to see what types of
seizures they are dealing with, and how severe they are.    Based on that,
they can decide what treatments or medications would be most effective for
the particular type of seizure.
   Except for the 'glue' they use to attach the various wires (I forget how
many, mine was a long time ago), there's nothing Gross like needles etc.
that some other tests might involve.  Since you'll be there for 3-4 days,
you're under the best supervision while they do the test and they'll be
there to monitor and protect you.       G.R.

Diane wrote:

Wow, I never knew the did one that long.  I thought the longest was
48-hr and I have had two of those done.  The worst part of the test is
that they glue (its like super/crazy glue) the electrodes to your head
and you have to carry a heavy pack around your waist.  The electrodes
lead to the monitor in the bag.  One more warning, don't plan on getting
a lot of sleep.  The whole deal is fairly uncomfortable.

With a 24 hour and shorter EEGs (I don't have experience with longer
EEGs), they just glue (yes, glue) a bunch of electrodes to different
parts of your head and upper forehead.  Some places use caps with
electrodes already in place so they don't have to glue them on.  I think
they also had me wired to a chest electrode on some EEGs to record
heartbeats.  Each electrode has a long wire attached to it that runs to
the data collection device.  With some EEG's I've had, there were maybe
a dozen or two electrodes attached, but when I was in a university study
(was hospitalized for that but could leave the building), there were
well over 100 electrodes (in that case they had to keep my hair wet).
There's no pain involved except if the technician accidentally pulls
your hair.  Your hair will look terrible, of course.  If you're on a
portable EEG, you have to be careful not to disturb the wires and you
will be carrying a recorder device on a belt. I felt it was time
consuming to get all those electrodes attached.  Your hair is also going
to look terrible after they take the electrodes off later.

With the portable EEG, they told me to press a button on the recording
device every time I thought a seizure was going to happen.

The EEG is supposed to help in diagnosing what type of seizure disorder
you have, where they are originating from (that would be important to
know when prescribing medications), when you are having them (especially
the ones you have during sleep and don't know about), how often, etc,
and to rule out other things.

The web site at http://my.webmd.com/hw/epilepsy/aa22249.asp shows the
four types of brain waves:

    *  Alpha waves have a frequency of 8 to 12 cycles per second. These
waves are normal and tend to be more prominent when you are relaxed with
your eyes open.
    * Beta waves have a frequency of 13 to 30 cycles per second. These
waves are normally found when you are alert or have taken high doses of
certain medications, such as benzodiazipine or seizure medications
(anticonvulsants)
    * Delta waves have a frequency of less than 3 cycles per second.
These waves are normally found only in people who are sleeping and in
young children.
    * Theta waves have a frequency of 4 to 8 cycles per second. These
waves are normally found only in children or during sleep.

 Is it

There are other conditions or factors that can alter the tracings. Some
of these factors include sleep disorders, medical conditions (strokes,
tumors, infections, injuries, etc.), some medications (including
caffeing-containing products!), some metabolic disorders, and so on.
Actually, after doing a little research on this, it is suprising how
many things can effect an EEG (I learn something new every day!).

During the time I was in the hospital, they had to take a blood sample,
but they didn't do that with the other EEGs.  I just found the whole
process boring and time consuming for all the EEGs.

Barb

Diane,

72 Hours will likely pass rather slowly. Sleeping is a real pain.
Literally. I had a week-long external EEG a year prior to my surgery
and a 72 hour internal EEG the three days prior to my surgery, and
neither of the spans of time passed quickly.

What makes no sense to me is the fact that you are being placed on an
EEG with your medicinal levels heightened. This makes very little
sense, unless they are attempting to see if higher levels will lead to
complete stability in your brain. In both of my scenarios I was taken
off my anti-convulsants entirely so that I would put on a good show.

The EEG does entail you to wear a very uncomfortable head strap that
reminds me of the head gaurds rugby players wear for scrimmages. If
you could get a haircut, I would. My hair wasn't too long for the
week-long EEG and still I wish it could have been shorter.

EEGs are used to trace the seizures as the acronym is for
electroencephelogram which means measurement of electrical activity
between neurons. When unexplained activity begins, this is a sign of
scar tissue.

One last thing: I can remember that for fun, you will discover many
ways to get the EEG lines moving; ie. clenching you teeth, sneezing,
coughing.

Don't have too much fun,

Nate