Seizures after COVID-19 vaccine

2 days after the 2nd Pfizer Covid vaccine I started having absence seizures. I was tested for epilepsy and was told that is not what is causing seizures. I was then immediately told if it’s not epilepsy it’s conversion disorder (pnes). I absolutely don’t agree with that. I was fine before the shot. Now I’m on long term disability and they want to cut my benefits because the doctors are saying pnes and won’t even entertain the idea that the vaccine caused this. I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle and not sure if I will ever be seizure free.

@crysdickson
Welcome to our community at Connect.
I am truly sorry to hear your story.
I imagine you've had an EEG that came back normal. I've had epilepsy since I was a teenager, and all my EEGs were normal too. At that time, I had mostly mild focal seizures with brief absence episodes. I wasn't officially diagnosed until age 48, when my condition evolved. I later learned that a normal EEG doesn't rule out epilepsy.
I'm sharing some earlier discussions from our group related to this:
- Husband's 72-hr EEG results normal but he was having seizures
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/husbands-72-hr-eeg-results-normal-but-he-was-having-seizures/
- First EEG was only 1 hour and was normal-what next?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/first-eeg-was-only-1-hour-and-was-normal-what-next/
- Common? Hard to prove epilepsy to the doctor when the EEG is normal.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/its-hard-to-prove-to-the-doctor/
There has also been a recent discussion on PNES in our group that might interest you:
- Have nonepileptic seizures/psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES)?
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/non-epileptic-seizures-or-pnes/
What kind of doctor gave you this diagnosis? Have you considered getting a second opinion, especially from an epileptologist?
Chris