Juvenile Myclonic Epilepsy Diagnosis

 First off, this is my first post here. Im a  38 year old male. Last week I was diagnosed with JME after seeing a neurologist for a few months. My MRI showed up normal, but my EEG showed seizure activity. My results, along with my symptoms matched up pretty well. For about 5 years (started getting them when I was under extreme stress at work) i 've had episodes which began with a sudden pressure in my head followed by a strong head jerk, and loss of vision. I called these blackouts. These episodes usually lasted in the 5-10 second range and ended with symptoms of lack of concentration, headache, dizziness and so on. These symptoms could last between 5 minutes, to a few days after. I've also not passed out during any of these, but almost always felt like I was about to. They were an annoyance and did affect me at work, but still resisted getting checked out due to lack of funds, and insurance. I've also had issues of feeling like I had ran a marathon despite getting 7-9 hours of sleep. Something that has become more frequent with me as of late.

Things took a turn for the worst in June when I not only had my blackout episode, but my upper body, and arms began flailing all over the place during one. This one also seemed to last longer then normal as well. Needless to say this one actually scared me. My next new episode came in August when I started seeing streaks of light about 8 hours before another blackout. Over the past few months these have been more common but now I see flashes, and blobs of light. Next up a few weeks ago I started getting twitches in the top of my head followed by rapid eye blinking. I also had another episode about a month back where I got a similar twitch on the side of my head and dropped straight down. I didn't pass out and thankfully managed to brace myself onto a bathroom sink. I've become quite good over the years reacting to brace myself the split second I feel anything odd.

Anyway, after coming here and reading the stories of others I found out my JME went far deeper then I knew. Ever since I can remember i've had little muscle spasms, and twitches. These usually happen when im laying in bed trying to sleep. I never knew it was related to seizures and always thought it was normal. My mom used to tell me it was just nerves and I never thought anything other. I also found out about how this condition affects emotions and that has explained a lot about me and issues i've had in the past. Although having JME sucks, learning about these things has taken a weight off of me in an odd sort of way.

Im getting put on 1500mg a day of Depekote. I need to wait a few weeks for the clinic to get it in though. Any positive, or negative experiences with this stuff? I've read about the weight gain and so on, but any other major issues? Because of my issues I cannot drive and its really affecting me as far as work  goes so im really hoping this stuff works without issue. Thankfully my parents have been helping me out so im at least not homeless. They still don't understand my condition and how it affects me, nor do they seem to care too learn. My father esp seems to think I take the magic pill from the doctor and suddenly my condition goes away.

Sorry if this post seems scattered or just plain poorly written. I've been going through a lot lately. Its been like an overload for me. Im relieved that im finally getting help for everything, but I still have so much more to learn. This diagnosis is changing my life. In the past all I ever knew (or thought I knew) about seizures, was that people passed out and went into convulsions on the floor. Anyone else with similar symptoms to me and so on. How has it affected you? Have you faced a lot of discrimination at jobs? They know of my condition at work, but I dare not tell them the extent of it and the difficulties i've had there. The nuerologist said I could have had this all my life and not realized it until now. I find that odd, although I haven't yet told him about the jerks, and spasm since I never related it and only found out after my last visit.

Scott