Focal awareness seizures or auras?

Posted by kelspal @kelspal, Apr 13 9:43pm

My daughter has her neurologist thinks are awareness focal seizures. They are very short (5-10 seconds) and happen during stressful situations, when experiencing anxiety, and during and around her menstruation. Her doctor put her in keppra 250 twice a day and it didn't change much. Then it was increased to 500, then 750 and then 1000 mg twice a day. She still has an occasional aura feeling but not sure if its epilepsy. She is having side effects from meds; tired, crabby, etc and does not want to take drugs she may not need. She was going to ask to slowly wean to 750 twice a day and see if there are any changes. Has anyone had a similar situation?

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I may have epilepsy even though an EEG did not show it. I have fully aware bilateral facial spasms for 6 mos., preceded by nausea 1-3x day for 2-5 mins. Sometimes my tongue protrudes at the end, then retracts quickly. My nausea stops shortly after these episodes.
I am told that since it starts on left side of face and goes to right down from my eyes to lips and chin, with muscle clenching, that I would typically be unconscious but I am always totally aware and video these events often.
I am waiting to see an epilepsy specialist but has anyone else experienced something similar? Other possibility is Meige syndrome. I an a 66 year old female. The neurologists I’ve seen so far are stumped. Brain MRI and MRA are normal. Thanks.

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Profile picture for jafar @jafar

I may have epilepsy even though an EEG did not show it. I have fully aware bilateral facial spasms for 6 mos., preceded by nausea 1-3x day for 2-5 mins. Sometimes my tongue protrudes at the end, then retracts quickly. My nausea stops shortly after these episodes.
I am told that since it starts on left side of face and goes to right down from my eyes to lips and chin, with muscle clenching, that I would typically be unconscious but I am always totally aware and video these events often.
I am waiting to see an epilepsy specialist but has anyone else experienced something similar? Other possibility is Meige syndrome. I an a 66 year old female. The neurologists I’ve seen so far are stumped. Brain MRI and MRA are normal. Thanks.

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Hi, @jafar - since you'd mentioned a possible focal aware epilepsy diagnosis, I moved your post here to this larger, existing discussion on focal awareness seizures so you could meet Mayo Clinic Connect members talking about this topic such as @kelspal @santosha @mollie1022 @lzbthtyler and others. They can let you know if they recognize or relate to the symptoms you are describing and share anything they may know about Meige syndrome.

Are you videoing these events yourself, or do you have a friend or family member who does that for you? When will you get to see the epilepsy specialist you mentioned?

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Thank you, Lisa. I am videoing these events myself using my phone propped on my legs.
I have an appointment on 10/31 with the epilepsy specialist.

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