Hi.
Sorry I didn't see this yesterday! Hope everything turns out OK with the neurologist.
Now, keep in mind that without actually seeing somebody and their tests I can't make an actual diagnosis or discuss specific treatment. So everything that follow should be taken as a discussion of general information, nothing more. That being said, I'd agree with those already posting - you can't answer your question for sure yet. There is a lot of individual variation, and in the end time will tell. However, I sure wouldn't cancel the AH subscription yet!
Not everyone with seizures is sensitive to light stimulation, and those who are affected by it can be affected to varying degrees. In general, strong flashing is going to be more likely to trigger than slowly flickering lights...so for example a dance club's strobe may be out of the question, but a video game with fairly consistent graphics and lighting may be fine. Some people don't have any problems, while some need to avoid games with rapidly changing screens or lighting. Even if a person's seizures ARE easily triggered by flashing lights, medication can calm that down significantly. Hard to predict what will turn out for a given person.
If someone already HAD a seizure related to flashing lights, it's obviously more likely that their episodes may be light sensitive. So it would be good to stay away from potential triggers (like video games) until more is known. The neurologist may be able to say more specifically after the EEG, which should hopefully give an idea of how stable the focus area is. Be aware that even in people who have outright epilepsy, it may take several EEG tests until they show what's happening for sure -- even an initially negative EEG does not rule out epilepsy.
And to clarify some terms: A seizure is a single episode of an abnormal electrical storm in the brain. They usually start from an irritable focus, an area of nerve tissue that is "twitchy" for whatever reason. Once the focus is triggered, the electrical activity spreads from there until the seizure reaches its full stage. Seizures are almost always self limited, fading out on their own after a few minutes. Most significant seizures will be followed by a period of just feeling totally washed out, tired, and stuff like that. (Called the "post-ictal phase.") This happens because the cells that were getting repeatedly triggered to fire by the seizure are exhausted from being overstimulated during the spell.
Epilepsy is a condition that leaves people likely to have seizures repeatedly over time. Some people with epilepsy have tons of seizures, some only a few even if they are off treatment. Predicting how thiings will work out isn't always easy, though if there are abnormal tissue areas visible on MRI (which sees brain structure) or if there are whopping big electrically abnormal areas on EEG (which maps out electrical activity) it's more likely that there will be ongoing problems.
Gotta run - will check back later today.
Simaril
Dave
