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1039200 tn?1314912008

Epilepsy or migraine?

Can anyone tell me how to tell the difference between an ocular migraine and temporal lobe epilepsy? I have been diagnosed with both. Before tegretol medication I had frequent one sided headaches which were not relieved by other migraine headache medication however I'm confused whether the visuals/experiences are due to one or the other....
Visuals being - zig-zag with blind spot/s, geometric patterns, items getting bigger/smaller, seeing double, blurred vision, ...and usually but not always accompanied by some intense emotion then slurred words or difficulty putting sentences together, and the need for sleep.
Oh yeah and there is no pain / headache after the visuals. I also have (separately) auditory hallucinations but assume they must be due to the TLE as I've never heard of auditory migraine?? Unless I can stand corrected! Thanks in advance x
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Avatar universal
TLE and migraines can be distinguished by their characteristics signs and symptoms.
Ocular migraine involves vision loss in one eye, sometimes with a headache, and sometimes with nausea and light sensitivity.
TLE involves a wide range of symptoms, from auditory or visual hallucinations to sudden and strong emotions (often very negative), as well as GI discomfort and other somatic experiences.
Your visual experiences could be from either. Check with your treating physician to work out the details.
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1039200 tn?1314912008
I also have black spots in my field of vision and other coloured flashing visuals which usually last a few minutes then disappear. I forgot to mention I also have bipolar disorder which is currently well controlled.
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