Learn about Epilepsy diagnosis at Consumer Reports Health.

Epilepsy

How do doctors diagnose epilepsy?

If you have a seizure, it doesn't mean you have epilepsy. Many people have a seizure at some point in their lives and never have another.

Most of the time, doctors will only say a person has epilepsy only after they've had at least two seizures.

Source:
Benbadis SR, Tatum WO.
Advances in the treatment of epilepsy.
American Family Physician. 2001; 64: 91-98.

¹ But before making this diagnosis, your doctor will ask lots of questions and run some tests.

Questions your doctor may ask

Your doctor may ask the following types of questions.

Questions about the seizures: Your doctor may ask how the seizures felt, how long they lasted and if anything might have triggered them. Your doctor may also ask anyone who saw a seizure to describe what happened.
Questions about other conditions: Your doctor may ask questions and run tests to rule out other conditions that can cause seizures.

Source:
Browne TR, Holmes GL.
Epilepsy.
New England Journal of Medicine. 2001; 344: 1145-1151.

² You may be asked about your mental health to make sure you don't have problems such as panic attacks (for more information, see our Panic attacks articles). You may also be asked questions about how well you, or your child, can learn new things (this is called learning development).
Questions about your family history: Your doctor may ask if anyone in your family has had epilepsy. If someone has, this increases your chance of getting the condition.

Source:
Browne TR, Holmes GL.
Epilepsy.
New England Journal of Medicine. 2001; 344: 1145-1151.

²

Tests your doctor may suggest

Your doctor will probably recommend scans and other tests to learn more about the seizures and what might be causing them. To learn about the tests you or your child might have, see Tests for epilepsy.

Finding answers

Your doctor will use all this information to answer the following questions.

Source:
Browne TR, Holmes GL.
Epilepsy.
New England Journal of Medicine. 2001; 344: 1145-1151.

Source:
Lowenstein DH.
Seizures and epilepsy.
In: Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 15th edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, U.S.A.; 2001.

Are you or your child definitely having seizures? Sometimes other conditions, such as severe

migraine headaches
These are severe headaches that last four to 72 hours. They often cause other symptoms such as queasiness (nausea) or being extra-sensitive to sound or light.

migraines and

mini-stroke
When the supply of blood to a part of your brain is blocked off for a short time, but not long enough to cause permanent damage, it's called a mini-stroke. Doctors call this a transient ischemic attack (or TIA for short). A mini-stroke can make you lose control of one side of your body, or you may lose the sight in one eye. But these problems go away within 24 hours.

mini-strokes, can cause symptoms that look like seizures.
Is epilepsy causing the seizures? You or your child may have seizures that are not caused by epilepsy. To learn more, see Non-epileptic seizures. Also, some illnesses, diseases and injuries can cause seizures that stop when the condition gets better.
Do you or your child have a specific type of epilepsy? The seizure pattern (the type of seizure and how often they happen) and your family history may help your doctor decide what type of epilepsy you or your child has. To learn more, see Epilepsy syndromes.
What type (or types) of seizures are you or your child having? There are many different types of seizures related to epilepsy, each with a different set of symptoms. Knowing the type of seizure will help you and your doctor decide on the best treatment. To learn more, see What are the symptoms of epilepsy?

Sources for the information on this page:

Benbadis SR, Tatum WO.Advances in the treatment of epilepsy.American Family Physician. 2001; 64: 91-98.

Browne TR, Holmes GL.Epilepsy.New England Journal of Medicine. 2001; 344: 1145-1151.

Lowenstein DH.Seizures and epilepsy.In: Braunwald E, Hauser SL, Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 15th edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, U.S.A.; 2001.

This information was last updated on Dec 04, 2008

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
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