How Many Drive?

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I'm just curious how many people drive? I'm at the point where I am on medication, its been 4 months, and my doctor is okay with my driving again. I am just waiting for DMV's approval. My history is I have had (2) gran mal seizures in the past 3 1/2 years. One 3.5 years ago and one 4 months ago. I am now on Tegretol. I did not have any history of seizures prior to this (at least not known to us but the doctors suspects I might have unknowingly) and I found out it does run in the family. I am 40 years old. I am a super-busy mom. This has been so hard to deal with. I am very lucky because I have a wonderful support system to shuttle us about, but I know everyone must be getting weary although they NEVER complain to me. Public transportation in our city is not only a joke-- it is unsafe. Part of me can't wait to get my license back. The other part of me is scared to death. I have already told my support system even if DMV does give me my license back there will still be days I won't want to drive. There are days the meds really get to me. I can handle the nausea, but there are days I feel "weak". I don't want to risk driving if I don't feel 100%. I would never risk my family-- or anyone else's. How does everyone cope with this? How do you cope with the physical as well as the emotional part? Thanks for any input. ~ Believe

Comments

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Submitted by Emeria on Mon, 2007-10-15 - 15:42

I drive, but I often wish I didn't have to. After my first seizure, my license was suspended for a few months and I had to retake my driving test. Since then, I haven't lost it again, though I have had numerous times that I have had smaller seizures and felt incredibly nervous and uncomfortable about needing to drive somewhere. It is difficult, and I am just grateful that right now I live so close to my work and I rarely have to drive long distances. Public transportation can sometimes feel unsafe, but having to drive somewhere when feeling ill or "off" ... that feels 100 times more unsafe to me.

I don't want to scare

Submitted by solis on Mon, 2007-10-15 - 16:35

I don't want to scare anyone, but those who have uncontrolled seizures and drive, relying on the warning signs of a simple partial, should know that those auras can and do suddenly stop for some people. I am not saying it will happen.. just that the possibility exists. I know this since I'm one who stopped getting auras. As for not driving far from home, distance means nothing. After being perfectly controlled for over 10 years, I had a complex partial while driving .. just one block away from my home.. and crashed into a garage destroying the vehicle. I'm lucky to be alive and that I didn't kill anyone. Since that accident, almost 3 years ago, I had surgery and plan to be be back driving again next year. Had I not had the surgery there is no way I would ever have driven again. I didn't drive for over 25 years due to having uncontrolled epilepsy since childhood. After my accident, I realized that, like most who aquire epilepsy mid-life, it was more of a shock to cope with getting seizures after having been 100% controlled and it was emotionally harder to lose the ability to drive after having had it.

Re: I don't want to scare

Submitted by Christina41586 on Mon, 2007-10-15 - 17:46

What I don't get is how they can tell you NOT to drive, but not offer any alternatives. I live in CT, my license is through NY, both have different rules. In any event it's been a year now of neurology and drug hopping and the STILL don't know what kind of epilepsy or even seizures I have. The activity seems to dominate in the frontal lobes, but it also hits the hypothalamus, and generlaizes both laterally and vertically. Basically, there are pinpoints of activity and then bursts of just randomness. I drive, short distances, but I don't have much of a choice. I'm sure I'll lose my license soon, I'm being sent to Yale for a sleep study and a host of other tests, and I'm fairly certain I'll just admit to them that I'm driving. I try and keep my drives short, no more than 20 minutes. I won't drive if I'm tired or if I'm having simple partials. The thing is, I THINK I get auras before TCs but since I suspect I"m having some in my sleep its hard to say. Saturday was a big shock to me, I was watching tv, felt kind of dizzy, felt kind of auraish, and then it was an hour later. I hadn't destroyed anything, but I had a tiny bump on my head. I didn't think much of it. Later that night my husband and I went to a goodbye party with a few of his friends (we're military and they were going out to sea). Anyways, I hadn't drank in a while, just a half a glass of wine here or there, so I thought I'd be fine. I had a few glasses, and after an hour or two somethign was seriously wrong. I remember the aura, barely being able to speak, and then the next thing I know I"m coming to on the back porch. Apparently I'd asked my husband to take me outside where I promptly collapsed and had a TC. Anyways what this has to do with driving is this...I did NOT drive at all the next day, I felt to tired and scared. I had to drive to class today, but when I came home I ended up napping and shortly after waking up I had to drive back to lab. Unfortuneatly within five minutes of being in the car I knew I wasn't okay to drive, I pulled over, gathered myself, got back home, and that's that. It's just that there is virtually no public transportation here, and I'm trying to finish school. I can't work because the stress of work and school detracts from sleep leading to more seizures, and I also have severe PTSD, which sucks too. They have a bus that comes around for those who have been qualified as disabled and takes you to school work etc, but I don't qualify because they still don't know exactly WHAT is wrong with me :0(