Epilepsy and Illegal drugs - experiences

Good to read about other people's experiences. I don't have epilepsy, but my boyfriend, whom I live with, does. I'll do a quick summary of what triggers his tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures and then go into more detail after. Probable triggers in certain conditions: 1. COCAINE 2. GHB 3. Ecstasy, when mixed with other things 4. Alcohol, when mixed with the above things 5. Marijuana, when eaten Seem to be safe (for him): caffeine psychedelics (mushrooms, LSD, etc) tryptamines (uncommon chemicals like 2-CB, foxy, etc) ketamine nitrous tobacco salvia Never tried: speed heroin Um yeah, so our obscene drug use aside, my main point in posting this is to warn people about cocaine and GHB. There isn't any forthright medical information about drug use and epilepsy, and this is the first time I've even seen the issue discussed on a forum. My boyfriend, we'll call him "John", had his first tonic-clonic seizure about 6 years ago in his mid-twenties while driving over a huge city span bridge in commute traffic. Amazingly enough, he survived with no injuries, although his vehicle was not so lucky. He had been up very late working on a project and smoking pot (was a big stoner at the time). However, he wasn't diagnosed until a couple weeks later when he had another one. Went on meds and was fine for 2+ years. In this time and prior to this time he partook in recreational drugs and drinking, primarily ecstasy and psychedelics. Fast forward to 3 years ago. We had been dating for a month and were up partying all night drinking alcohol and doing a moderate amount of cocaine. On sunday morning he got up, took a shower, and was getting dressed when he started having a tonic clonic seizure. He had briefly mentioned his condition to me, but at the time I had no idea what was going on and thought he was dying. He turned bright blue and it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life. I called an ambulance immediately, but soon learned that was an easy way to waste $1000. In the next year he had several tonic-clonic seizures and they almost all shared similar qualities: - all within an hour of waking up - usually on tuesdays, several days after partying - if not partying, forgetting to take meds on time Unfortunately they also shared another similar characteristic... they happened on the way to work. After having major seizures on public trains, on a bike, and two separate incidents in a car he finally lost his license. As you can imagine I was/am constantly in fear of him dying. I am also struggling to get him to realize the severity of this situation, as he tends to try and ignore it and pretend his condition doesn't exist. next time I should film it happening so he can see what I have to see. For whatever reason, John was seizure free for almost a year and a half up until April. We made a more concerted effort to avoid coke, get more sleep, and take meds at the same time every day. I also make sure he is awake for 45 mins before leaving for work so that he will have his seizure at home instead of in transit. This has been an effective buffer on 3 occasions but it doesn't exactly make me feel at ease. When we are at parties I am constantly struggling to keep him away from triggers and keep an eye on him. It makes me tired and I hate having to change my own behaviors just so he will take care of himself. This month John had two tonic-clonic seizures. The first was not drug related, but may have been related to a bike accident he had a couple days prior when he was hit by a car and got a concussion. The second was definitely drug related as it happened while he was still sleeping after being up all night drinking, doing coke, and ecstasy. In the last 6 months he has had 5-6 seizures and obviously he needs to change some things. Unfortunately he doesn't always listen to my advice (no cocaine, duh). I also wonder if his situation would be improved if he had a higher dosage of meds. Currently he takes only 80mg or Lamictal a day. He refuses to go to the doctor and change his situation because he knows his doctor has to report to the DMV that he's had a seizure and he'll lose his license again. I don't let him drive in the morning which is the only time he is historically at risk (not that the idea of him having more bike and public transportation episodes makes me feel any better...). Anyway. I guess I lost my point in this post but I needed to get it out there. Putting it all into words really makes me realize that 1. I have gone through a lot of shit in dealing with his condition and 2. the severity of his condition is totally out of control and mostly preventable. I've strongly suggested he start taking a higher dose of lamictal, stop cocaine all together (Hey now that 30 TONS of it have been confiscated in Mexico it won't be around as much. That would be GREAT.) and try a natural remedy such as melatonin, since the sleep interruption seems to play a part in all this. any other thoughts would be appreciated. About GHB: We tried GHB once and the next tues he had a seizure. Luckily GHB is rare and we will never do it again. We were definitely surprised that the downer/sleep aid caused a seizure though. About Marijuana: Besides the first incidence we are only able to really tie marijuana to one other seizure. Many hours after eating a very strong pot brownie John became confused and absent-minded for about 2 mins (not just stoned). I am assuming this is a partial seizure, though it is the only time I have seen him be that way. He was still conscious and not shaking. About ecstasy: Taking ecstasy alone has never caused seizures in him, but mixing it with even small amounts of cocaine or even alcohol has been problematic.

my boyfriend has had seizures in the past and was diagnosed with epilepsy and believes that he does not have epilepsy anymore. From what he has told me he had a phase where he had many siezures but he doesn't have them anymore and doesn't take medicine for epilepsy. Our history goes something like this- Before we were together he used pot at night to help him sleep but other than that he didn't smoke other than on occasion. Since we have been together we smoke pretty much everyday. We dated for about a month then he had to go away for about a month. During that month he smoked once then i came to visit him for about a week and we smoked like we normally did when he was home. After i left and he wasn't smoking he told me that he had had a seizure in his sleep. Since then he has come back home (its been about 6 months) and he has not had any siezures. He knows what triggers him and what it feels like before a siezure is going to come on. On one occasion i let him try a small amount of shrooms, he somewhat felt the effect of them but i was so nervous about what the effects could be that i wouldn't let him get his hands on any more. There was no problems. We recently started drinking on some weekends and he has not had any problems from that either. I myself have experimented with many drugs in the past and now have left them behind, other than maryjane. One our really close friends and i have done LSD in the past and have described it to my boyfriend. He wants to try the drug but i'm too scared of what would happen if he were to go into a seizure while on his 'trip'. I am not very knowledgable about his condition. I have read all the posts pertaining to the first comment made here and have looked at many websites. Does anyone know what would happen if he did slip into a siezure on LSD? Is it better to just not let him try it worry about him doing it with someone else down the road who has no experience with these sort of drugs or let him do it with me and his best friend and know that he is safe with us? Everyone seems to be very helpful and some even very experienced here. I know that everyone is different i just want some feedback