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Advise Sort
Sun, 05/30/2004 - 05:27Topic: Family & Friends
Hi, I was first taken in a seizure 30-Jan-00 but never knew what it was, no doc has diagnozed me as having epilepsy. Yet I started taking my medicine 02-Sept-03 (Carbamazipine & Phernobabitone) I have recorded great success nonethelesss. Nowadays it all starts with things like stress at work and I would become uncontrollable and easily irritable. I rarely convulse. I may need advise from members on how best I can have my situation addressed. Expert medical attention still far away from being a reality in my third country ZAMBIA
Comments
RE: Advise Sort
Submitted by e_nuffofthis on Thu, 2004-04-08 - 22:28
Were you started on both drugs at the same time? Or was one working a little and then another added? How do you do as far as vitamins and minerals? How old are you and why do they think you are having seizures? Did you have a head injury or not sure? Did you have an MRI or EEG done?
RE: Advise Sort
Submitted by cmushibwe on Tue, 2004-04-13 - 09:02
Yes, the two drugs started at the same time. The time I fall sick, I was 24 yrs being diagonized as having severe ceberal malaria which the clinician attributed to the seizure I had. I have lead a 'clean' life, I mean I have never taken alcohol, or smoked neither have I had any record of a head injury. You see, I never even heard of an MRI or EEG until I when I was surfing the net checking assistance and help regarding my illness. It is actually presumptous that the medical personnel took my case to be epilepsy as I had indicated no diagnosis has ever been carried out. Whether there is an underlying problem triggering the seizures or not is not yet established. In the past 12 months, I have rarely convulsed but I simply get 'too much' of myself doing things that I ought not and also hallucinated.Chad
RE: Advise Sort
Submitted by tibet2 on Thu, 2004-04-08 - 15:34
hi, africa has so many problems that i think epilepsy is overshadowed. but i have wondered if the person to solve some of africa's problems might be a person with epilepsy.... so epilepsy is an important problem and one that needs to be addressed. there was a recent campaign to bring epilepsy out of the shadows in africa. there are many misconceptions about epilepsy no matter where you live. http://www.who.int/inf-pr-2000/en/pr2000-30.htmlhttp://www.whomsa.org/it/text7/03_epilepsy.htmlthe meds your doctor has you on are older meds and standard treatments for epilepsy. there was a recent article about older meds being as effective as newer (and much more expensive) meds. those are safe drugs. the phenobarbital can really make you tired, so you might talk to your doctor about that. what kind of seizures do you have? has your doc tried monotherapy? (treatment with one med?) you will likely feel better on one med than two and seizure rates are often not that different for monotherapy than polytherapy. even if there is a slight increase in seizure frequency when you convert to monotherpay it is often worth the trade off in term of quality of life. you often feel better on one med than two. the current thinking about seizure control is that monotherapy is best. that's what they refer to as the "gold standard". people often say to avoid stress because it can make seizures worse. as you know, it is sometimes so hard to avoid stress. maybe there is something you can do to make your life a little more relaxing. something small that is important and restful to you.... a walk in the evening, reading, talking with family or friends.... my friend always says he does something to "de-stress" which i think is not even a word in english.... but if you can take a little time to make sure something good happens every day that might go a long way. one of my favorite things is chatting on line like this. i can talk to someone in zambia or new zealand or germany or ...... anywhere .... and i really enjoy that. it brings a smile to my face. and i hope it does to yours. i might not meet you or others in "real" time, but it doesn't matter. this message comes to you from sunny san francisco! and i would love to hear about zambia. good luck and i hope we hear from your again.