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New Diagnosis at 25, Scared!! Need Support and Info!
Tue, 01/13/2004 - 17:06I have been having ongoing sezuires for over two months, just got my insurance back, and have been hospitalized for 4 days while they tried to figure out what was going on. I have history of depression and was on xanax and valium for a number of years to control what they thought were horrible migraines & anxiety attacks, no tests were run at that time. I was blacking out back then. I went through a period where I was abusing speed and coke in my early 20s and supplementing it with my large RX of Benzos, so when I went for treatment I had withdrawal seizures. It has been 2 years sober and now I am having all of these strange hallucinations and twitches and go ito a trance like state. My face will hang like I had a stroke. All tests came out normal except the EEG showed some "Sharp stuff" and they said it has nothing to do with my substance abuse. I went recently for a 24 hr eeg. But know they are saying I am suffering post traumatic poststress disorfer and that I have bipolar.. I continue to have Complex Partial and Tonic Clonic.. I am on ever increasing dosages of Topamax, Dilantin, Klonopin, and Zoloft.. And I just want to scream!!! Is it possible that I am making this up and that I am going nuts?
You're not going nuts. There
Submitted by tcameron on Sat, 2014-04-12 - 15:39
You're not going nuts. There are epileptic and non-epileptic seizures. They're both seizures. Some people have both conditions and not even realize it. Several antiseizure medications are also used for bipolar disorder and several other conditions, such as nonepileptic seizures. If your neurologist can't help you, it might be time to see an epileptologist. (A neurologist that specializes in Epilepsy). You could have some brain damage from your prior drug abuse, which might be causing your seizures. Every brain is different. I have some brain damage from several falls from hitting my head during different drop seizures. This is making my Epilepsy more severe, but it is still treatable. I take four different AEDs, but I still continue to have seizures every month. My sister-in-law takes one of my AEDs, Lamictal, for her bipolar disorder. She's not crazy. She has her masters degree and she works full-time at a high-paying job.