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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffYou're likely to start by first seeing your family doctor or a general practitioner. However, you'll probably be referred to a doctor who specializes in nervous system disorders (neurologist).
Because appointments can be brief, and there's often a lot of ground to cover, it's a good idea to be well prepared for your appointment. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and what to expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Write down any symptoms you or your child has experienced, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
- Make a list of all medications, as well as any vitamins or supplements, that you're taking, and the dosages used. Also, write down the reasons you stopped taking any medications, whether this was because of side effects or lack of effectiveness.
- Ask a family member to come with you to the doctor, because it's not always easy to remember everything you've been told during your appointment. Also, since memory loss can happen during seizures, many times an observer is able to better describe the seizure than is the person who's had the seizure.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor.
Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions ahead of time will help you make the most of your time. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For grand mal seizure, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- Is the diagnosis epilepsy?
- Will more seizures occur?
- What kinds of tests are needed? Do these tests require any special preparation?
- What treatments are available, and which do you recommend?
- What types of side effects can I expect from treatment?
- Are there any alternatives to the primary approach that you're suggesting?
- Are there any activity restrictions that need to be followed?
- Is there a generic alternative to the medicine you're prescribing?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What Web sites do you recommend?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to spend more time on. Your doctor may ask:
- When did you or your child first begin experiencing symptoms?
- How many seizures have you or your child had?
- How often do the seizures occur?
- Can you describe a typical seizure?
- How long do the seizures last?
- Do the seizures occur in clusters?
- Do they all look the same, or are there different seizure behaviors you or others have noticed?
- What medications have you or your child tried? What doses were used?
- Have you tried combinations of medications?
- Have you noticed any seizure triggers, such as sleep deprivation or illness?
- Ropper AH, et al. Epilepsy and other seizure disorders. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical Pub. Division; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3632229. Accessed April 22, 2009.
- Seizures and epilepsy: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/detail_epilepsy.htm?css=print. Accessed April 24, 2009.
- Seizure disorders. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec16/ch214/ch214a.html. Accessed April 26, 2009.
- Stafstrom CE, et al. Pathophysiology of seizures and epilepsy. http://www.uptodate.com/index/home.html. Accessed April 17, 2009.
- Sheth RD. Epilepsy in infancy and childhood. In: Rakel RE, et al. Rakel & Bope: Conn's Current Therapy 2008. 60th ed. Philadelphia, Penn.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/134947244-2/834264406/1621/460.html?printi. Accessed April 26, 2009.
- Elger CE. Modern management of epilepsy: A practical approach. Epilepsy and Behavior. 2008;12:501.
- Practice parameter update: Management issues for women with epilepsy - Focus on pregnancy (an evidence based review): Teratogenesis and perinatal outcomes. St. Paul, Minn.: American Academy of Neurology. http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/WNL.0b013e3181a6b312v1. Accessed April 27, 2009.
- Britton JW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 14, 2009.
