How to Diagnose Epilepsy

Epilepsy is very commonly mistaken for other diseases, so its diagnosis is extremely important before moving forward with treatment or attempts to determine its cause. A variety of tests are often necessary to diagnose epilepsy. Read on to learn more about how to diagnose epilepsy.

Instructions

1. Discuss your medical history in detail with your doctor. You will be asked about your health and lifestyle to help determine the causes of your seizure, as drug use, head trauma and bodily infections are other possibilities besides epilepsy. Your doctor will also want to know if you or anyone in your family has had seizures in the past.

2. Bring a person who witnessed your seizure with you to the appointment if possible, as you may have difficulty remembering the moments leading up to your seizure and how it appeared. If the seizure happened outside of your home at work or school, ask a close friend or coworker to either come with you to the appointment or describe the seizure to you in advance in a way you can relay to your doctor.

3. Prepare for your doctor to perform several tests to diagnose your condition. The most common method used to diagnose epilepsy is an EEG test, or electroencephalograph, which tests your brain's wave patterns for unusual activity through electrodes that your doctor attaches to your scalp.

4. Plan for your EEG test to be performed in an outpatient clinic or at your doctor's office. The test generally is about 60 minutes long, though your doctor may require a significantly longer amount of time to read the results. Your doctor may also suggest running the test while you are sleeping, as brain wave activity is sometimes easier to measure during sleep, or he may provide you with portable EEG testing equipment to monitor you throughout the day.

5. Be aware that in about 50 percent of cases, epilepsy patients do not show abnormal brain activity by EEG test. In these cases, other tests are needed. Another popular diagnostic test for epilepsy is brain imaging, which is often used with children or for first-time seizures found in adults.

6. Get a blood test to rule out other diseases that involve seizures. Blood tests will generally be recommended by your doctor if necessary. Blood tests are very commonly used for diagnosing epilepsy in children.

7. Undergo diagnostic tests to evaluate your behavior and mood, intellectual abilities, physical coordination and muscle command. These tests are useful in understanding the effect seizures are having on your body and mind and also may help determine the cause for your epilepsy.

Tips & Warnings

• An EEG is generally performed within one day after the seizure occurs, when possible, as the results are most accurate within this timeframe.