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Why have my seizures gotten worse?

Wed, 01/28/2004 - 00:48
I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was almost 5 years old, in other words, early 1988. My epilepsy was kept under control for so many years. My epilepsy was kept under control until 2003. So that is what? That is fifteen years. I still don't know why my seizures have been gradually, yet steadily getting worse within the past 13 or 14 months. All I can say is that it is frustrating to not be able to work very much. I am unable to work enough to support myself. My situation right now is really difficult sometimes. There is a good possibility that I will loose my health insurance since I'm not able to work very much, and I get my insurance through where I work. Plus, the co-pays of my epilepsy medication is expensive. I also have anxiety attacks at night. There is a very good possibility that I will need surgery, but surprisingly, that is the least of my worries. My medications have been changed so much over the past 4-6 months, it gets to be pretty rediculous. If anyone could post something anything, I need all the support that I can get. I feel like I am fighting this battle alone even though my family, friends, and other loved ones have been absolutely wonderful. They have supported me thus far, and I know they always will. I just feel all alone despite the fact that I have a wonderful support system. I will leave it at that. Thank you for reading this.

Comments

RE: medications I have been on

Submitted by tibet2 on Mon, 2004-01-26 - 19:08
hi renee, some of the manifestations of seizures from the occipital lobe and the temporal lobe overlap. sometimes a seizure spreads from one lobe to another (it isn't as though there are seizure proof barriers between the lobes) so while a seizure might start in your occiptal lobe it could spread to involve the parietal and/or temporal lobe(s). sometimes a seizure propagates along functional pathways... but in any case - there are no lobe specific medications.... my concern with your medication situation has been how quickly you have changed meds... it seems very fast in my experience with med changes. i understand that sometimes people need to do a fast wean in emergency situations.... but when i have changed my meds it has been done slowly - glacially ;-))

RE: medications I have been on

Submitted by poetrywriter2004 on Mon, 2004-01-26 - 20:19
I thought for many years that the brain damage that I was born with was a portion of my temporal lobe hadn't formed and the area around it is malformed. My mom told me that it is not my temporal lobe that has the malformation. My temporal lobe was normal back in 1988 when I was diagnosed with epilepsy after an EEG and MRI was done. I know that seizures do affect the entire brain, but the neurologists told my mom that I was having seizures in only on place in my brain. That is why I had the MRI done, so they would know why I was having seizures in only one part of my brain. The Occipital Lobe is the lobe where a portion of my brain never formed, and the area right next to it is malformed. And with the EEG's that I have had, I know that is still the only area that is affected, otherwise they would have definitely told my mom and I about it.

RE: medications I have been on

Submitted by e_nuffofthis on Mon, 2004-01-26 - 22:07
Well, we have so much in common. They are saying my son has a malformation of the right occipital lobe. So, we can stay in touch. We are going for monitoring sometime in February or March, I don't have a date yet. One question I have for you is if you think you may have a loss of a field of vision (left peripheral), the outer most corner of your left eye. Have you ever been to an opthamologist and have that checked? It is possible that you could have been missing that vision all along and just never realized it since you were born like that. Something else that interests me is that you are saying that some of the area is missing? One thing I would just question is if it is possible that you could have had a stroke or hemmorage in utero. That was the first thing that they had told me, but my son does not have any missing areas or 'holes', which would indicate such a thing. With hemmorage, usually the blood is reabsorbed and tissue remains missing in that area. They say it is more common in babies than we think. I have to go over your writings again and respond again, gtg right now.

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