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Seizure recovery time

Sun, 08/24/2008 - 06:12

How long do you take to recover from a seizure? 

I have suffered from epilepsy (grand mal) for 40 years - about 1 seizure a year (lucky me!) But over the last 3 years my wonderful work colleagues have expressed increasing anxiety that I'm coming back to work too early following a seizure. When I was young and sprightly (Ha!), I'd have a 3-minute tonic-clonic seizure, regain full consciousness after half an hour, get taken home, sleep it off, and back to work after 1 day's absence. Again - lucky me.

My work is extremely complex, considerative and quasi-judicial. I work for my government trying to justify to tribunals and criminal courts why a particular decision is justified. The legislation involved is extremely complicated, but although I practice law in a specialised field I am not a qualified lawyer. Without blowing my own trumpet I'm very good at my job - or so I'm told. [I don't like saying so, but I think it may be relevant to the question.]

Two years ago my wife finally convinced me that at least one day off was a must. Nevertheless, my colleagues tell me that "when you have had a fit, for several days after, your sharp brain seems slow in response."

I'd be very grateful to hear the views of fellow sufferers (or those close to them). I know that epilepsy varies from individual to individual, but when do you go back to work? When do you feel fully recovered? Does the recovery period increase with age?

Thanks for reading this.

Iain (aged 53 and a bit - <GRIN>)

Comments

Re: Seizure recovery time

Submitted by Crystal11 on Tue, 2008-12-09 - 03:25

Hello- I have had seizures since i was 6- I am now 25. Whenever i had absence seizures (When i was younger) I would just zone out and come right back and get back to work or whatever. But now that they are complex partials they tend to last longer and take more out of me. Even thought they are not as rough as a grand-mal/TC seizure it takes a lot out of me. Most people say my voice changes some and i just don't "seem" myself for as long as an hour after it. Sometimes when i'd have a seizure in school/college i would ask to rest for 15min and try to get back to working or classwork etc. But i would end up just kinda being half "there" and it wouldn't really help me much to stay in classes. I would go back to the dorm and sleep for more than an hour and then continue my day but still would be off a little bit the whole day sometimes. Now that meds are helping it's easier to get back to myself.  I do remember that whenever i would have a seizure at school or i had to leave school cause of it, everyone would ask me the next day and sometime the next two days if i was okay. I would tell them that I am okay and that its only going to effect me that actual day, not the day after- But i guess people hear "seizure" and think you will be all messed up for a few days. Hehe.

I think that it all depends on each of us. Each of us has different kinds of seizures and need or require differenct lengths of time to recover. I think if you notice that your need more time to recover fom a seizure, i'm sure those around you would understand.

Take care of yourself, be safe.

-Crystal 

 

Hello- I have had seizures since i was 6- I am now 25. Whenever i had absence seizures (When i was younger) I would just zone out and come right back and get back to work or whatever. But now that they are complex partials they tend to last longer and take more out of me. Even thought they are not as rough as a grand-mal/TC seizure it takes a lot out of me. Most people say my voice changes some and i just don't "seem" myself for as long as an hour after it. Sometimes when i'd have a seizure in school/college i would ask to rest for 15min and try to get back to working or classwork etc. But i would end up just kinda being half "there" and it wouldn't really help me much to stay in classes. I would go back to the dorm and sleep for more than an hour and then continue my day but still would be off a little bit the whole day sometimes. Now that meds are helping it's easier to get back to myself.  I do remember that whenever i would have a seizure at school or i had to leave school cause of it, everyone would ask me the next day and sometime the next two days if i was okay. I would tell them that I am okay and that its only going to effect me that actual day, not the day after- But i guess people hear "seizure" and think you will be all messed up for a few days. Hehe.

I think that it all depends on each of us. Each of us has different kinds of seizures and need or require differenct lengths of time to recover. I think if you notice that your need more time to recover fom a seizure, i'm sure those around you would understand.

Take care of yourself, be safe.

-Crystal 

 

Re: Seizure recovery time

Submitted by rikk on Tue, 2008-12-09 - 19:53
i am 51, had seizure since i was 3 years old.  lots and lots daily.  different types. grand mal usually 4-5 a month.  recovery time is dependent on many factors.  the one consistant thing is you.  listen to the people at work, listen to family. and then listen to yourself.  we are the worst judge.(don't pardon the pun) of what is happening post ictal.  go back when you are not post ictal and evaluate the work you did after the seizure.  it will give you a better look at reality.  compare it to the norm.  if there is a change in the work then take a couple of days off and recheck,  see if it works better.  hope it helps.  rikk.

Re: Seizure recovery time

Submitted by tara michelucci on Wed, 2010-02-24 - 18:56
Hi - I see that most of you take about a week to recover...I just had my first tonic clonic seizure in six years about five days ago and still feel out of sorts - so I guess I can take some small comfort in that. I'm feeling very slow mentally, still very very tired, and unusually aggro. For instance, I suddenly have very little patience for my 18 mo old daughter who I am usually delighted with. This makes me very concerned that perhaps I might have hit my head really hard when I fell or something else? No one was here to witness the seizure, so there is no way to know just how long it lasted or what really happened. Have any of you experienced altered moods and emotional states as well as mental function? Thanks for sharing - this is so personal. Tara

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