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Driving
Wed, 04/17/2013 - 12:47Hello all,
I am 65 and have had siezures since a teen.Luckily they are infrequent. There have been maybe 30 tonic clonic episodes. I have been diagnosed twice but have refused meds. I instead have long age given up drinking and all other bad habits. I eat healtier than anyone I know, other than my wife who is a nutrition councelor. Here is my question....SHOULD I CONTINUE TO DRIVE??? I limit my driving as much as possible. I do get an Aura but it is only 1 to 2 seconds before I become unconscious. Looking for your opinions as I have become more and more worried about driving....Thanks
Re: Driving
Submitted by Gandalf on Wed, 2013-04-17 - 16:20
Dear Harry T,
Despite the infrequency of your seizures, I don't think that you should do any driving. Any time when you experience a seizure when behind the wheel, you would probably lose control of the car and have an accident. At the very least, this could cause significant damage to both you and to the car. Depending on where you are driving and at your speed, it could kill you, any passengers you have, other people in other cars, and any nearby pedestrians. Whatever happens, you would end up in big trouble with the police and local authorities.
I have had life long epilepsy during all of my 51 years. During my later childhood and adolesence, my treatment of a careful diet hypoglycemia, which had triggered my seizures as a young child, and Dilantin seemed to control them. As a result I was able to stay in school and do very well academically through high school, college, and grad school.
Then, a few years after getting my driver's license, my seizures returned during my freshman year (1980 - '81) in college. Never again controlled for more than a few weeks at a time, they have continued several times per week since then. I have taken a wide variety of meds, had a temporal lobectomy, and used the VNS, none of which have stopped the seizures.
During this period of roughly 30 years, I have never been seizure free long enough to qualify for a license here in Massachusetts. Thus, I have never driven during that period, never endangering myself or anyone else by driving. Try to keep safe, and good luck,
Gandalf
Dear Harry T,
Despite the infrequency of your seizures, I don't think that you should do any driving. Any time when you experience a seizure when behind the wheel, you would probably lose control of the car and have an accident. At the very least, this could cause significant damage to both you and to the car. Depending on where you are driving and at your speed, it could kill you, any passengers you have, other people in other cars, and any nearby pedestrians. Whatever happens, you would end up in big trouble with the police and local authorities.
I have had life long epilepsy during all of my 51 years. During my later childhood and adolesence, my treatment of a careful diet hypoglycemia, which had triggered my seizures as a young child, and Dilantin seemed to control them. As a result I was able to stay in school and do very well academically through high school, college, and grad school.
Then, a few years after getting my driver's license, my seizures returned during my freshman year (1980 - '81) in college. Never again controlled for more than a few weeks at a time, they have continued several times per week since then. I have taken a wide variety of meds, had a temporal lobectomy, and used the VNS, none of which have stopped the seizures.
During this period of roughly 30 years, I have never been seizure free long enough to qualify for a license here in Massachusetts. Thus, I have never driven during that period, never endangering myself or anyone else by driving. Try to keep safe, and good luck,
Gandalf