If you experience a seizure, you might want to find out what caused it. You need to make an appointment with a specialist known as a neurologist. A neurologist is a person with the knowledge and skills to detect and deal with conditions affecting the brain cells and nerves.
If you came here to learn what epilepsy is and how you can get tested for it, you are in the right place.
What Is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a disorder that affects your central nervous system. When you have epilepsy, your brain activity gets distorted so that you will experience some seizures. In some instances, patients will manifest unusual behaviors and loss of awareness.
Despite your gender, race, or age, you can have epilepsy. It is important to note that seizure symptoms can manifest themselves in a range of ways. For example, some patients will stare for some seconds amid the seizure. Some patients will also twitch their legs and arms.
Epilepsy is one of the conditions that are so hard to deal with. That is why it is crucial to begin your medication before it gets severe. Surgery or medications can help control the seizures. However, for some patients, to control seizures, lifelong medication must be used.
If you are a lucky patient, the seizures will go away after some time, and they will never come back. Many cases of children outgrowing epilepsy with age have been reported. But again, if you feel you have epilepsy, you shouldn’t take chances.
How to Get Tested for Epilepsy
Once you see a neurologist, there are things they will do to establish whether you have epilepsy. The first thing is to find out whether you experienced a seizure. From there, they will try to find out the seizure syndrome that best explains what might have happened.
Most of the time, this requires several steps. Your doctor will move carefully to ensure that they don’t leave out anything. For example, they will conduct a thorough medical history, EEG tests, blood tests, and brain image tests, such as MRI and CT scans.
Since all patients are unique, the period for the tests might vary. Brain imaging tests and EEG tests are crucial since they reveal the electrical activities in your brain. They also tell what your brain looks like and the reason you might have experienced a seizure.
Based on the situation, your neurologist might conduct the same test more than once to attain accuracy. Your doctor will note each detail, including how you feel and how the seizure affected your brain.
Your doctor might receive some information at a later date. That way, they will reconsider everything to provide you with accurate information. That is why even after the test, you need to maintain close contact with the healthcare team.
Suppose they begin treatment and the symptoms only keep getting worse, you might need to consider other treatments.
Why You Must See a Doctor
If you encountered a seizure, you should make contact with a certified medical practitioner. Even if your seizure was a negligible one, you should make an appointment with a neurologist. That includes if, the people around you say that at some point, you were not aware of what you were doing.
Once you see a doctor, they will use their skills and advanced tools like an EEG monitoring device to find out whether you had a seizure. Note that diabetes can also cause seizures, but you won’t know unless your doctor tells you.
But again, even if a medical condition caused your seizure, you still need treatment for that particular complication. If your medical practitioner finds that you have epilepsy, they will provide the best medication to protect you from having seizures in the future.
Remember, in the initial stages of epilepsy, the seizures might rarely happen, like once a month or two. If you keep ignoring them, the problem will only get severe, and handling it will take a lot of effort and money.
Closing Thoughts
Now that you know everything about epilepsy and how to get tested for it, don’t leave anything to chance. If you feel that you have a problem, get in touch with your doctor immediately.
