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Confused and Paranoid
Wed, 10/21/2015 - 11:22Hi. I am new to the board and desperate for real advice because I am getting conflicting diagnoses from medical professionals. I am currently a 44 yo female who was diagnosed in the 1970s with epilepsy as an infant. My maternal grandfather was diagnosed in his early 20s and I am the only known relative to get diagnosed. From what my parents described my episodes began in infancy and ended in pre-adolescence. I know from stories that I did have some full blown convulsive seizures (remember waking up in the hospital a couple of times) and that I suffered from absence seizures as well as late as the second grade, about 7 years old. I do know I stopped all medications in 1979 or 1980 (I still have the letter from the doctor). Now when I give a medical history for whatever reason, doctors tell me I'm not epileptic, it must have been febrile, including my own PCP. Since I grew up with this piece of medical knowledge in my head I am truly confused. Am I epileptic or not? One of my biggest fears is that I am going to have another seizure and I won't know how to recognize it. I already suffer from migraines, vertigo, and photosensitivity. I'm afraid I would ignore it and make the situation worse.
Can anyone help me make sense of any of this?
In my family no one speaks
Submitted by mer33 on Sat, 2015-10-24 - 11:31
In my family no one speaks about anything that ails them so I tend to worry about it all. Since this was my personal diagnosis and my surviving parent doesn't remember much about that time, I have spent most of my adulthood wondering what would happen if it reoccurred, especially in front of my children (they know I was diagnosed - had to break that cycle). Thank you for this. It does relieve my stress level to know that I may have truly out grown it.