Why a sleep deprived EEG??

Tracy,
I've had many sleep deprived EEGs to try to diagnose me. Basically all my sleep deprived EEGs have been me staying up until going into the doctor's @ 8am to have them put electrodes on me, then they have you look at flashing lights and then you get to sleep with the electrodes on, then around 11:30 you get to go home. Yeah, it's fun times, well not really. I wouldn't recommend watching any really stupid movies, I almost fell asleep once, that wasn't good! I've had a ton of these sleep deprived EEGs, of course they've all be normal but that's just another story... Hope that helps a bit!
~Jessica

NO way. I am getting some sleep. My plan is to fall asleep around 2 am and get up at 6 am. I told her that I was not going to stay up all night. They said the procedure is about an hour. So I have to lay there for an hour. And I will be really pissed if they put the lights in my face. Is that a definate? WEll I will give it a try but I am not killing myself over it. I already have my positive EEG from the summer so I am not going to "loose any sleep" over it! LOL.. but really I am suprised at how much his assistant says he wants me to have this test. He really wasn't too interested in office. WEll thanks for the advice. I wonder what he thinks he will see on this test. Thanks Tracy

Thanks ginny. I just hate the idea of provoking a Tonic Clonic. An SP I can deal with but not another TC. It is just too hard on me. Hopefully the light sequense will not be too long. I hope my plan will work and I will get about 4 hours sleep. I feel bad for my ride (I think my dad) he is gonna miss the beginning of work and have to sit there for about two hours. Boring. Hopefully everything will go well. I am nervous, as I always am for new tests. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. Tracy

Jessica, thanks alot for the ideas about staying awake. It will be an EXTREME challenge for me. Seeing as though after working all day, I go home to watch TV and I can't usually stay up late enough for american idol believe it or not. Well thanks alot. THe baking idea is a great one. I love to cook. THanks Tracy

Thanks Sonya!! I took Friday off cause I knew I would be really tired after being up all night. My one friend said she can stay up with me till about one a.m. so that will help alot. I am sorry I haven't emailed you lately stuff with work and home is going wild. I have to and will very soon probably in length tomorrow night :) Thanks so much

Thanks everyone else for their speedy replies :)

Thank you Jessica, that is really nice. I am trying to think of things that won't make too much noise if I am cooking. Maybe a pudding pie or something like that. It is gonna be a challenge. I am nervous for the whole flashing light process. But I know it is important. I am just very scared of the TC's. Thanks for the encouragement and will definately post afterwards. :)Tracy

Yeah I can't stay awake for anything. When I was 17 would and could stay out and up all night long no problem. I hit 21 and became a tired girl. LOL.
Sleep deprived EEG went well. I was up for a few hours afterwards. I was disappointed in the results but at least they have my 24 hour eeg that helped diagnose me back in september. Take care, Tracy

Hi Jessica. The experience was okay. I basically stayed awake cause my friend and I went to the diner and stayed out late. About an hour after I got home I just passed out. My meds make me tired. Keppra knocks me out when I am tired, how about you?... So I am happy to have the one AEEG with abnormalities. That and my TC diagnosed me and then they put me on the Keppra. I have alot of doubts if my health will allow me to pursue nursing. I have an awful immune system. take care, Tracy

Tracy, don't give up! I'm going through the same thing- epilepsy and trying to become a nurse. It's a struggle I'm not going to argue there but you shouldn't give up on your dream, if it's really what you want to do. My immune system isn't the best, so I try to stay away from the sick which is hard when right now everyone at my college is sick it seems and i work at a nursing home where all the residents are sick it seems too. I find that if i let myself get enough sleep, eat healthy, and exercise, my immune system does a lot better. The keppra doesn't make me tired, actually I haven't had any side affects so far and I've been on it since August. I am on some other meds for another condition that make me a bit sleepy though so I know how you feel- being drained and still thinking about school. Like right now for me- I have a huge anatomy and physiology exam on this friday so I'm studying hardcore but at the same time I know I need to get sleep so I don't have a TC. It's a struggle but if you've got supportive people around you and it's what you want to do- you can make it! don't give up tracy! if you ever just want to vent, you can e-mail me too! ~Jessica

Yes, he ordered a Sleep-deprived EEG, because the brain waves are considerably different and even act different while you are sleeping, then when you are awake.

If they only allow you to get 4-5 hours of sleep the night before the test, then usually because you haven't slept you will be able to sleep for 30 minutes during the test, and they can see things on the EEG that don't show up normally. Epileptiform discharges show up readily, and if someone has a "hidden" seizure disorder, that they haven't caught with regular EEGs, then this would catch it, and allow for further investigation.

I had 4 of them, and all of them were abnormal with spikes and slow waves in the L-TL region, and some generalized activity, as well.

I had come to Phoenix with suspected seizure activity so, they put me on Tegretol XR when I was living in Louisiana and I took it for about 3 years. The first neuro after running the tests (physical, neurological, EEGs, MRIs, CTs, and PETs) added Neurontin to the Tegretol XR, and sent me to my now current epileptologist, who ran more tests, another EEG (again it was abnormal), and added Topamax to the other two, and waited for some kind of improvement and nothing, so they admitted me to the EMU, and they found things like a continous intermittent spiking pattern 24/7, sometimes I had CSWDS (Continuous Spike-and-Wave activity During Sleep--it occurs with certain seizures, but can occur for no reason at all, like mine). It isn't like that during the day, but at night when I am sleeping it comes alive.

Results vary from person to person. Just because someone has chaotic activity running on their tracing, doesn't mean they have epilepsy. People with out epilepsy (who have NEVER had a seizure in their life) can have very abnormal patterns that mimic the discharges of real seizures.

People with epilepsy, on the other hand, can have very normal looking EEGs, and can be having seizures daily, and it won't be caught until the sleep-deprived test is done.

If that doesn't do it, then they move onto the VEEG, and monitor you and your brain waves at the same time. This one is the most reliable source.

Certain temporal lobe seizures show up with greater chaos with out sleep. Also if a person is suspected as having epilepsy at all, the neurologist will order one or more, and do a series every 4-6 weeks. I had mine done every 5 weeks. It was a pain, they made me stop taking my meds 48 hours before the first few tests, so there was a better chance of the discharges acting up, but mine were so strong, that they let me keep my meds, because they broke through them.


Does this help any?

Nancy