Diagnostic Tests and Costs for Epilepsy

Chortle

Hello
I am Irish, living overseas and was diagnosed last year with epilepsy through an MRI and EEG following a grand mal seizure. The MRI revealed a tiny lesion in the brain which seems to be causing these glitches in electrical signalling. I am taking 600 Trileptal per day. I haven't had any more grand mals but have had lots of auras and episodes. My seizures are related to sensation and perception and leave me feeling foggy and disorientated afterwards.

I am thinking of coming home for additional tests and to get a second confirmation. I am trying to find out what diagnostic tests are available and how much I might expect to pay for say an MRI, 24 hour EEG and consultants visits. As I am not living in Ireland I will have to go the private route. As I don't have health insurance I know it will be expensive but I just wanted to look into the options of having more tests done there or here. I would be very interested to hear any feedback concerning the diagnosis of epilepsy in Ireland and the experiences in general with the medical profession in this area.

Many thanks indeed. Hope everyone has a fantabulous day :-)

pimpmyace

sorry I don't have any info on costs,

I do know there are operations now which can stop epileptic fits, albeit they can be very high risk,

but I just wanted to wish you good luck with your search and I hope you get the info you require.

Birdsong

Hi,
I go to Dr. McCabe a consultant Nurologist (excuse spelling) in Tallaght hospital & find him very good, he was €350 for the inital appointment & €175 after that, I did have an MRI but can't remember exact cost, possible €400. There is also a Clininical Epilepsy Nurse Specialist in Tallaght, and I found her to be fantastic, she was more aware of the practical side of living with epilepsy, easier to talk.

Beaumount has a big Nurology unit also.

Brainwave is the organisation & I found them great for any queries.

Hope that helps.

KiLLeR CoUCh

Hi Chortle, hope this helps

€250 for initial consultation with Dr. Ruttledge in the Hermitage Medical Clinic
€150 for all other appointments
€280 for an EEG in blackrock clinic (though this wasn't 24 hour, the whole thing took about 2 hours)

I also had an MRI scan done in Charter medical but that was paid for entirely by VHI and I can't find the claim form that says how much it actually cost. It was in the range of a couple of hundred euro though, maybe another poster can clarify.

yogy

ALL epileptic meds inc. some non epileptic meds to treat other things caused by the epilepsy are covered under the LTi scheme.

If you live abroad you should ask the pharmacist for 6 months at a time or get someone to pick them up and post to you,

Maureen Foster

I would appreaciate if someone coluld tell me why after having mri scan it is to be followed up by eeg. iwas in A&E sent by my doctor. now i have bheen told eeg has waiting list of 6 to 9 months.
Mo.

emzolita

Maureen Foster wrote: »

I would appreaciate if someone coluld tell me why after having mri scan it is to be followed up by eeg. iwas in A&E sent by my doctor. now i have bheen told eeg has waiting list of 6 to 9 months.
Mo.

an MRI can only show if there is a physical problem with the brain, where as the EEG will show the electronic workings of the brain , so an MRI to rule out lesions etc, and EEG to diagnose seizure activity

Pumpkinseeds

I had my EEG 16 months ago, still haven't had any appointment date for the MRI scan that the Neurologist asked for 2 years ago

cassid

Would to talk to a gp about increasing the Trileptal first ?

I use it on children so don't know what the adult dose would be? so forgive me if that sound stupid.