What’s the diagnostic process for temporal lobe seizures with a smell aura?

[Alexander79]

I’ve been experiencing these strange, brief episodes where I suddenly smell something burning for a few seconds, and then it’s gone. My neurologist mentioned it could be a type of focal aware seizure originating in the temporal lobe. I’m just trying to understand if anyone else has had this specific sensory disturbance and what the diagnostic process was like for them.

[William44]

I’ve had that a couple of times a few years back. A quick burning smell, then it faded and I was left wondering what just happened. It didn’t feel like a real scent, more like a tiny memory tug. My neurologist said it could be a focal aware seizure, and we did several EEG sessions and some MRIs to look for a clue. It was unnerving because it would pop up out of the blue and vanish just as fast.

[AdamBJ]

My sister went through something similar. The burning odor would spike for a few seconds and then disappear. Doctors did MRI scans and hospital-based EEGs to try to catch an event on camera. They eventually found a small seizure focus and adjusted meds, which helped reduce the episodes over months, though it wasn’t an instant fix.

[StevenP]

I started keeping a little diary of when it happened, what I’d eaten, how tired I felt, and what else was going on. It helped a bit to see there wasn’t a simple pattern, and I kept wondering if it was migraines, a nose thing, or a kind of brain thing. The search for a clear answer felt endless and frustrating, with tests that came back inconclusive for a long while.

[Savannah.T]

It’s odd, but a lot of people report these fleeting smells as part of focal seizures. The usual route in clinic is MRI plus long or inpatient video EEG to try to capture an event and localize a spot in the brain. If they catch something, doctors can talk about treatment options and what to watch for, but it can be a slow, uncertain process and some patients end up trialing meds for a while before any change.