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Adult onset Epilepsy

Sun, 06/30/2013 - 21:29

I'm 34 yrs old and had my first seizure two months ago. I had a Gran Mal seizure in my kitchen and don't remember anything until paramedics were standing over me and I was covered in blood from hitting my chin on the tile floor. I'm not sure, but I think I was having seizures before this one.  There have been three times when I thought I must have fallen asleep in my car in a parking lot, but I'm starting to wonder if I was really having seizures.  I would like to know if anyone had experiences like this before their first known seizure? One time I dropped my son off at preschool and drove to the store and the next thing I know someone was knocking on my car window asking if I was ok.  My wife had called several times looking for me and I had no idea that several hours had passed and it was time to pick my son up from school again. There were two other similar instances.  I just thought I must be more tired than I realized.  People think I'm a drug addict because I have done this like three times and I have gotten in trouble at work. 

 I'm currently on accommodation due to driving restrictions following my seizure and was at work.  I got a formal letter of reprimand saying that I had been sleeping while work twice in one day.  I had no idea what they were talking about.  I don't remember falling asleep or waking up all day....I just remember feeling a confused in the morning and another time during the day, I was praying and someone firmly tapped me on the shoulder to ask if I was ok.  I told them that I was fine, just praying.  To me it seemed like it had been seconds, but apparently much more time had passed.  I found out that people took pictures and stuck fingers in my ear and I'm not sure what else they may have done.  Has anyone had any experiences like this?

Comments

Re: Adult onset Epilepsy

Submitted by plutonium on Tue, 2013-07-02 - 23:38
i had my first seizure when i turned 48 i think... and i wrecked me f350 dually in someones yard ... i went to kaiser and they got it under control with tegretol and yes there is no time laspe when you are out. people can do what ever they want and you will not know it..sorry you were around those kind of people... and yes you will feel very weird afterwards maybe for a couple of days or more... just take your meds and stay away from stress..get a good night sleep every day...

Re: Adult onset Epilepsy

Submitted by Silvergoldman on Wed, 2013-07-03 - 14:03
From what you have described you are clearly having seizures and having hallucinations as well. This could be from TLE or a separate medical condition like schizophrenia or bipolar. If you have TLE a seizure med that controls your seizures in theory should eliminate the hallucinations, but you may need an antipsychotic and to see a psychiatrist as well. I've had similar symptoms and found an antipsychotic I could tolerate and my thinking is MUCH clearer now without all the hallucinations. I feel bad for you. I've been fired from two jobs due to seizures. Once because I supposedly had a seizure at work and another time because I was having so many seizures at night I couldn't even do my desk job. Good luck suing, they'll just say you were falling asleep at work and not doing your job. When I tried to take action against the first employer they just said I was a lazy employee and that's why they fired me. They didn't even tell me, the just took me off the schedule. Lots of class!

I began having seizures at 40

Submitted by winifredbeware@gmail.com on Mon, 2014-03-31 - 03:51
I began having seizures at 40. At first spacing out and losing time; people asked me if I were OK. A neurologist said EEGs were fine and told me that I didnt have epilepsy. He sent me to see a psychologist who diagnosed me with disassociate disorder. For two years I continued to space out, with 3 car accidents and two lost jobs. And then, when I had a Grand Mal, at work, they knew they were actually seizures after all. All this was new to me. They placed me on Dilantin and for six months I was seizure free. But the side effects became so bad I demanded to be taken off. The neurologist gave me a hard time but relented. No other meds worked. I found out what a terrible place epilepsy is. I was seizure free after surgery for 5 years and then the seizures returned, now for two years. I may be a candidate for another surgery, if not and if it doesn't make me seizure free again, I will take drastic measures. How can anyone live like this? Last year I fell and when they found me, my kidneys shut down and I was on dialysis for 10 weeks. My family accused me of having seizures on purposes, for attention. No way anyone can live like this. Medications make me impotent, and they don't work anyway. MD told me to take medications for this and antidepressants for depression, next I guess he will recommend some sort of AA support group so I can feel good about myself. What a joke. And the joke is on me.

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