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Emotional Side Effects
Wed, 05/12/2010 - 17:18Hey, I'm a 14 year old girl who was just diganosed with epilepsy in December of '09. Anyways i was wondering if there was any one out there who has just crazy ups and downs. Today in class i basically just burst into tears for no reason, i was just compeletly depressed (still am). This isn't the first time, this happened just a few months ago in class, i'm not sure why this is happening. I will have crazy ups and downs where I'll be in tears one moment and laughing a joking the next. It's like i'm bi-polar, alot of my medications have the side effect of depression and thoughts of suicude, i was even taken off keppra because of extreme mood changes and it wasn't really doing much for me. I mentioned this to my doctor when i saw him last (which was not to long ago) he asked me how extreme i felt it was and if i had thought of suicude and i said yes, he then asked if i had thought out any plans for it (which i have) but i didn't want to say in front of my mother (come on really? it was to awkward for me). So is there anyone who has these same feelings? Any suggestions for me? Please and thank you.
-AllieC
Comments
Re: Emotional Side Effects
Submitted by baff on Fri, 2011-11-18 - 16:56
Re: Emotional Side Effects
Submitted by jade on Sat, 2011-11-19 - 06:20
The main thing that i identified with that you said, was the comment about the Dr asking for details on suicidal thoughts while your mother was there. A similar thing happened to me, i had a drug induced seizure and was admitted to hospital. Ide taken a friends medication, quite a high dose to experience the affects. It was the 3rd of this kind but not all were drug related, they were about once a yr all through out high school. All tests were suspicious of epilepsy but no certain diagnosis. In the hospital bed the next day, after a very serious seizure, the Dr. starts to survey me, my parents were on either side of the bed, he asked, did you take any drugs. Looked at each of them, then replied no. Some things you just dont want to say in front of your parents. Some details like that are potentially essential in detecting why it occured.
The main thing that i identified with that you said, was the comment about the Dr asking for details on suicidal thoughts while your mother was there. A similar thing happened to me, i had a drug induced seizure and was admitted to hospital. Ide taken a friends medication, quite a high dose to experience the affects. It was the 3rd of this kind but not all were drug related, they were about once a yr all through out high school. All tests were suspicious of epilepsy but no certain diagnosis. In the hospital bed the next day, after a very serious seizure, the Dr. starts to survey me, my parents were on either side of the bed, he asked, did you take any drugs. Looked at each of them, then replied no. Some things you just dont want to say in front of your parents. Some details like that are potentially essential in detecting why it occured.
Re: Emotional Side Effects
Submitted by Eternal_Howl on Sat, 2010-07-03 - 03:37
Hey Allie,
What medication are you currently taking, and what medication have you tried in the past?
You got hit with Epilepsy at the wrong time. There's never a right time, but 14 is generally an age where you don't want to be too different from others. The teenage years are quite turbulent times for emotions. Unfortunately, thoughts of suicide are more common in teens and especially in teens with epilepsy than you think.
Between the medication, your diagnosis and the time of change in your life that you're in (finding yourself, body growing and changing, hormonal and other influences), this is hard. As a 14-year-old, you may not really think much about the hormonal changes and how they affect behavior, mood etc - but then again you may. The point is, you have a lot going on, some of the down times will be normal, but others magnified by the effects of medication and other possible factors. Can you talk to a counselor at your school? Someone not related to you. How well can you talk to your mother? You seem to me to be feeling very alone in this and you shouldn't be. I do understand through experience - I'm not being textbook. By the way, the diagnosis alone is enough to cause many people to get depressed. It may not seem like much now, but as teens, we think more in the moment and less about the future. When things feel real bad, we can't possibly think they will get better - but they do. When you are feeling down, try and remember that - there is a future beyond today and your diagnosis does not mean you are a freak or handicapped.
Try to think about all the functions that the brain commands, without you having to work at it. And then think about the times where the brain fires too much (seizure). Is it NORMALLY running right, or normally not? The brain is an amazing, fascinating and complicated muscle and for all it's annoyances, even in many of us that have epilepsy, it's still pretty remarkable.
I used to find a little comfort in the concept that I had epilepsy and not something else like asthma. I'd hate to have to struggle for breath. Find something else you would hate to be diagnosed with and have to live with and try and look at the upside. Most people will experience some kind of illness or condition in their life. For some, it's long-term and for others it's short term. There is a possibility that you could grow out of your seizures. I'm not offering you hope here, I'm just looking at the reality. It's not a promise though, but some people do grow out of them and stop having them.
Hey Allie,
What medication are you currently taking, and what medication have you tried in the past?
You got hit with Epilepsy at the wrong time. There's never a right time, but 14 is generally an age where you don't want to be too different from others. The teenage years are quite turbulent times for emotions. Unfortunately, thoughts of suicide are more common in teens and especially in teens with epilepsy than you think.
Between the medication, your diagnosis and the time of change in your life that you're in (finding yourself, body growing and changing, hormonal and other influences), this is hard. As a 14-year-old, you may not really think much about the hormonal changes and how they affect behavior, mood etc - but then again you may. The point is, you have a lot going on, some of the down times will be normal, but others magnified by the effects of medication and other possible factors. Can you talk to a counselor at your school? Someone not related to you. How well can you talk to your mother? You seem to me to be feeling very alone in this and you shouldn't be. I do understand through experience - I'm not being textbook. By the way, the diagnosis alone is enough to cause many people to get depressed. It may not seem like much now, but as teens, we think more in the moment and less about the future. When things feel real bad, we can't possibly think they will get better - but they do. When you are feeling down, try and remember that - there is a future beyond today and your diagnosis does not mean you are a freak or handicapped.
Try to think about all the functions that the brain commands, without you having to work at it. And then think about the times where the brain fires too much (seizure). Is it NORMALLY running right, or normally not? The brain is an amazing, fascinating and complicated muscle and for all it's annoyances, even in many of us that have epilepsy, it's still pretty remarkable.
I used to find a little comfort in the concept that I had epilepsy and not something else like asthma. I'd hate to have to struggle for breath. Find something else you would hate to be diagnosed with and have to live with and try and look at the upside. Most people will experience some kind of illness or condition in their life. For some, it's long-term and for others it's short term. There is a possibility that you could grow out of your seizures. I'm not offering you hope here, I'm just looking at the reality. It's not a promise though, but some people do grow out of them and stop having them.