Ah, get ready for a RANT!!!
(See the "Complain, complain...! ;-) thread,
above for just a bit of what I went through.)
I do not understand what bit of education
of neurologists is responsible for making
them bad psychiatrists, and deathly afraid
of being accused of having treated a "mental"
condition as if it had been a physical one.
They will do ANYTHING to avoid this,
including treating the patient badly, or not at
all, if ANYTHING does not fit neatly into
their rigid "lexicon" of neurological ailments!
This is disgusting - and it commonly causes
delays in the diagnoses of some serious
disorders and diseases that are not easily
categorized. This is lazy and irresponsible
medicine at its worst! Worse, though, is that
once you have a diagnosis of "head case",
it is very hard to get past this whether or
not it was true, if you then need the help
of a neurologist! I pity you, or me, if we
develop MS, Parkinson's, or whatever
else that is hard to identify at first - these
are often dismissed too long as "in your
head" even without the absurd diagnostic
background. Something needs to change!
The description for the disorder known as
"pseudo/hysterical/dissociative/conversion"
(they never can settle on a name for this
disreputable "ailment") is remarkably
illogical and inconsistent among the many
recognized neurological ailments (among
which this one is the "poor in-your-head
relative" at best...), but even so, it is
considered RARE, with a very SPECIFIC
set of standards for application (poor as
they are), but this diagnosis is used often,
and therefore (by definition) it must often
be used inappropriately.

As for you (from what I've learned), do
not offer any info on previous "mental"
diagnoses. If it is in the records he has
(funny how *nothing else* ever gets
forwarded...;-), say that you saw the
shrink for seven years, and he says its
not mental, but physical, which is why you
are visiting him (and give the history of the
physical part, including the success with
medications). Avoid being sent for referrals
to doctors known to him in any way! (I
learned that one the hard way...!) Insist
on a FULL neurological exam (about an
hour, not the four "quickie" 5-minute ones
I got...), and if the neuro insists that the
short EEG *will* show results between
seizures, call him the quack that he is,
and leave...;-) Take all useful records with
you - *especially* the ones that show EEG
irregularities, etc.! (These are the ones the
neurologist *will not* have copies of
when you visit! ;-) Do not accept an
absurd diagnosis!

For me, if I had not had the help of a
childhood friend who became a neurologist,
I would be sinking ever further from
*physical* causes. Pre-natal brain damage
set me up for minor seizures as a kid and
for sensitivity to problems from oxygen
deprivation later from severe sleep apnea,
plus restricted oxygen during and after
a heart arrhythmia (when I developed a
variety of seizure types that were hard
to define easily). After only a 20-minute
visit (ever! he was new to me), my GP
referred me to a local neurologist for
"pseudoseizures". I learned recently that his
sealed my fate for the nine months of  poor
treatment that followed. It was only through
my own research and the help of my friend
that we identified the underlying condition,
the process, and the treatments that were
consistent with (and affected) the symptoms.
In the end, it was no known disease or
syndrome I had, but a bad set of
coincidences/occurrences that got me into
trouble - the sort of thing that neurologists
are not very good at figuring out (and, as
my friend says, "Conversion Disorder
is the last refuge of the diagnostically
bankrupt!" ;-). When my friend writes up
his report from his thorough neurological
exam, the 4-day EEG results, his
interpretation of my MRIs, and the results
from consulting with his neuropsychiatrist
associate (who also saw me), copies will
be forwarded to the various neurologists
here that I've seen, plus to my GP. This
report will point out the many things that
were missed or overlooked - and the
inappropriateness of their diagnosis.
And, I will have some things to add! ;-)
--DR

I did a search on the efa.org site and found an explanation of
nonepileptic seizures.  One of the paragraphs stresses the importance of
recognizing that the person who has this type of event is not faking, and
that it is important to have this diagnosed so the patient can be properly
treated.
The paragraph reads as follows:

Do you mean that people having psychogenic nonepileptic seizures are
faking?

No. It is very important to recognize that these seizures are real events,
although they are different from epileptic seizures. In the past, they
were sometimes called "pseudoseizures" or "hysterical seizures" and people
having them were thought to be making them up or trying to get attention.
We now know there is nothing false or insincere about these seizures, and
it is important to diagnose them correctly so that people who have
nonepileptic seizures can get appropriate treatment.

Nonepileptic Seizures
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/Medical/seizures/types/nonepilepti
c/weinonepilepsy.cfm

Take care,
Julie Walton, Volunteer Webmaster
Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho
http://www.epilepsyidaho.org