Not sure how to process any of this....

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I am 22 years old. On February 7th of this year I had my 2nd seizure of my life, the other one when I was a child. When I had one as a child they wrote it off as a side effect of medication I was taking and I never thought about it again. It was kind of always in the back of my mind, I always wondered why I actually had the seizure but didn't think anything would come of it... But my best friends 21st birthday party came around and I was drinking all night long until the morning and then had to go to work. I worked for an hour before I woke up with my coworkers freaking out telling me to get into the ambulance. I had a seizure. I wasn't sure what it meant but I knew it wasn't good.... I was really scared I had a brain tumor or epilepsy or something but everyone tried to convince me it was probably just the alcohol and not to worry too much. Then I got a CT scan and an MRI with and without contrast, and an EEG. Everybody, even my neurologist really thought it was the alcohol and dehydration and sleep deprivation but two weeks later I found out my EEG results were abnormal. So I took another one, this time sleep deprived, and it was again abnormal. Before all of this, I was a healthy, organic/whole foods eating young adult with a promising future. I was going to music festivals all the time and dancing and meditating with psychedelic therapy, and I was having the times of my life. I was looking forward to eventually travelling across the US on an independent journey and have amazing times.... On February 7th my life turned upside down. So now I have epilepsy??? Just like that? Now I feel like a shell of what I once was, because of fear and depression... I'm scared that my life is now guaranteed to be miserable. I have no idea when I will have another seizure, it's been 5 months. Will it be any day? Next month? In ten years? I'm scared to ever meditate on psychedelics again, which I'm devastated about because it changed my life and gave me more insight than anything else. I'm scared to go to festivals because I would hate to fall over and seize while everyone's having a good time... and I doubt I would enjoy the rest of the festival after having a seizure. I'm scared to ever go on that independent road trip across the US... All my friends are in denial about it and keep telling me theres no way you have epilepsy and "if you've only had 2 seizures in 22 years it must not be bad" is that true? Now the neurologist wants me to be on medicine immediately. But is there ANY hope for that?? They have suggested Keppra and Zonegran... it blows my mind, so you're telling me that it ISN'T guaranteed to stop seizures but they ALL have horrible side effects?! What is the point?! Just to take toxic chemicals hoping it kills my brain enough to calm the brainwaves down?? I am so tempted to say no and refuse any meds. I've never had an absence seizure or a focal seizure or any weird shit other than this PROVOKED seizure and the childhood seizure. I already have depression and mood issues and it seems these meds would increase that 10 fold. Now I'm living in fear that I will fall over and seize at any moment... I'm about to get to the 6 month mark meaning I get driving privileges again. But I'm terrified to even do that. Please I need some hopeful words because right now I feel like my life is going to go downhill and I will soon be drugged up on toxic meds that will destroy my happiness.... and not even guarantee to stop seizures.

Comments

OK here goes.The start of a

Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2016-06-15 - 23:37

OK here goes.The start of a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain. The chain reaction that follows is the seizure itself.It looke like you researched some on different seizures. But with absence seizures a person can have them and not know it. They last a few seconds and may look like the person is daydreaming. Focal seizures look like that too. I know I had been written up for daydreaming in class. After my diagnosis was given those daydreams were absence and partial seizures.There are one time seizures so yes someone can drink alot nad have one. But the EEG showed what the neurologists want to see. Abnormalities are spikes or waves aka seizure activity which are those electrical impulses hitting wrong.So now you have epilepsy. You think your life is over. Think again. There are people with epilepsy that have lives just like everybody else does. Lets look at this in another way. Would it be different if you had a a heart ailment? A person that has a-fib can live like the person next door. I know I have a-fib too..Without treatment my heart rate could be 110 bpm at one doctors office and 30 minutes later at my PC it would be 85 bpm. The heart too is checked with an ECG or EKG Both epilepsy and a-fib are treated with medicationsOne maintains the heart rate to beat about 85 bpm. The medications for epilepsy are to keep those electrical impulses from hitting wrong.Stay healthy with your organic/whole food eating. The future is promissing. Go to your music festivals, dance ans do meditate. Now if the psycodelic therapy is drugs watch that but if lights and music thats fine. I likes psycodelic music years ago. As for traveling across the country on a journey feel free to do it. Many have and returned with wonders they had seen.Your friends can be taught and yo ucan ease yourself by rading and researching on this site about the different types of seizures and what should be done if you have one. Believe me I know, I researched what I had long before they had computers.When you first start medications you may have a side effecct or another. But they do go away after your body gets usedto them. Medications you were prescribed are not like aspirpn where once taken it is gone after a few hours. The neurologists has prescribed the medications and the RX builds up a therapeutic level in your body so if medications are taken late or even missed once in a while there is enough medication to keep a breakthur seizure from happening. 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get a side effect. Which means those posts you have read were posted by those 5-8%. Do people that have no problems come in here to post they have no issues? The 92-95% of the people taking it are not having problems and they are living their lives like everyone else. Out with friends dancing and listening to music. Believe me I was out with friends at bars and clubs doing just that. I did watch the drinking since I knew that too much alcokol will affect my medication. I had 1 drink with alcohol and everything after that was non alcohol. There were 2-3 people that knew that but most people did not know it. the bartender knew since they mixed my drinks. They made mine to look like everybody elses.As gor getting 6 months seizure free.... great. My cousin had epilepsy and was seizure free for years. She still took meds but drove,had a career in the medical field, a husband. Just like the lady next door.You are the one that helps determine if your road is going downhill. You are the one that needs to control your epilepsy If you don't you are letting epilepsy control what you do.As for gauranteeing something... There is no gaurantee that that in your walk across the street that you will not get hit by a car.This is a big old world and you take what it gives you. You learn how to live and deal with it and ask the neurologist questions. I hope you take this as I intended it to beJoeOh and try going to the National parks since in one of my plans w had a trip across the country hitting 6-8 different parks. You would be surprised to see just what this country has to see. Oh and a rodeside camping ground does have places for campfires.

OK here goes.The start of a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain. The chain reaction that follows is the seizure itself.It looke like you researched some on different seizures. But with absence seizures a person can have them and not know it. They last a few seconds and may look like the person is daydreaming. Focal seizures look like that too. I know I had been written up for daydreaming in class. After my diagnosis was given those daydreams were absence and partial seizures.There are one time seizures so yes someone can drink alot nad have one. But the EEG showed what the neurologists want to see. Abnormalities are spikes or waves aka seizure activity which are those electrical impulses hitting wrong.So now you have epilepsy. You think your life is over. Think again. There are people with epilepsy that have lives just like everybody else does. Lets look at this in another way. Would it be different if you had a a heart ailment? A person that has a-fib can live like the person next door. I know I have a-fib too..Without treatment my heart rate could be 110 bpm at one doctors office and 30 minutes later at my PC it would be 85 bpm. The heart too is checked with an ECG or EKG  Both epilepsy and a-fib are treated with medicationsOne maintains the heart rate to beat about 85 bpm. The medications for epilepsy are to keep those electrical impulses from hitting wrong.Stay healthy with your organic/whole food eating. The future is promissing. Go to your music festivals, dance ans do meditate. Now if the psycodelic therapy is drugs watch that but if lights and music thats fine. I likes psycodelic music years ago. As for traveling across the country on a journey feel free to do it. Many have and returned with wonders they had seen.Your friends can be taught and yo ucan ease yourself by rading and researching on this site about the different types of seizures and what should be done if you have one. Believe me I know, I researched what I had long before they had computers.When you first start medications you may have a side effecct or another. But they do go away after your body gets usedto them. Medications you were prescribed are not like aspirpn where once taken it is gone after a few hours. The neurologists has prescribed the medications and the RX builds up a therapeutic level in your body so if medications are taken late or even missed once in a while there is enough medication to keep a breakthur seizure from happening. 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get a side effect. Which means those posts you have read were posted by those 5-8%. Do people that have no problems come in here to post they have no issues? The  92-95% of the people taking it are not having problems and they are living their lives like everyone else. Out with friends dancing and listening to music. Believe me I was out with friends at bars and clubs doing just that. I did watch the drinking since I knew that too much alcokol will affect my medication. I had 1 drink with alcohol and everything after that was non alcohol. There were 2-3 people that knew that but most people did not know it. the bartender knew since they mixed my drinks. They made mine to look like everybody elses.As gor getting 6 months seizure free.... great. My cousin had epilepsy and was seizure free for years. She still took meds but drove,had a career in the medical field, a husband. Just like the lady next door.You are the one that helps determine if your road is going downhill. You are the one that needs to control your epilepsy If you don't you are letting epilepsy control what you do.As for gauranteeing something... There is no gaurantee that that in your walk across the street that you will not get hit by a car.This is a big old world and you take what it gives you. You learn how to live and deal with it and ask the neurologist questions. I hope you take this as I intended it to beJoeOh and try going to the National parks since in one of my plans w had a trip across the country hitting 6-8 different parks. You would be surprised to see just what this country has to see. Oh and a rodeside camping ground does have places for campfires.

OK here goes.The start of a seizure is an electrical impulse hitting wrong in the brain. The chain reaction that follows is the seizure itself.It looke like you researched some on different seizures. But with absence seizures a person can have them and not know it. They last a few seconds and may look like the person is daydreaming. Focal seizures look like that too. I know I had been written up for daydreaming in class. After my diagnosis was given those daydreams were absence and partial seizures.There are one time seizures so yes someone can drink alot nad have one. But the EEG showed what the neurologists want to see. Abnormalities are spikes or waves aka seizure activity which are those electrical impulses hitting wrong.So now you have epilepsy. You think your life is over. Think again. There are people with epilepsy that have lives just like everybody else does. Lets look at this in another way. Would it be different if you had a a heart ailment? A person that has a-fib can live like the person next door. I know I have a-fib too..Without treatment my heart rate could be 110 bpm at one doctors office and 30 minutes later at my PC it would be 85 bpm. The heart too is checked with an ECG or EKG Both epilepsy and a-fib are treated with medicationsOne maintains the heart rate to beat about 85 bpm. The medications for epilepsy are to keep those electrical impulses from hitting wrong.Stay healthy with your organic/whole food eating. The future is promissing. Go to your music festivals, dance ans do meditate. Now if the psycodelic therapy is drugs watch that but if lights and music thats fine. I likes psycodelic music years ago. As for traveling across the country on a journey feel free to do it. Many have and returned with wonders they had seen.Your friends can be taught and yo ucan ease yourself by rading and researching on this site about the different types of seizures and what should be done if you have one. Believe me I know, I researched what I had long before they had computers.When you first start medications you may have a side effecct or another. But they do go away after your body gets usedto them. Medications you were prescribed are not like aspirpn where once taken it is gone after a few hours. The neurologists has prescribed the medications and the RX builds up a therapeutic level in your body so if medications are taken late or even missed once in a while there is enough medication to keep a breakthur seizure from happening. 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get a side effect. Which means those posts you have read were posted by those 5-8%. Do people that have no problems come in here to post they have no issues? The 92-95% of the people taking it are not having problems and they are living their lives like everyone else. Out with friends dancing and listening to music. Believe me I was out with friends at bars and clubs doing just that. I did watch the drinking since I knew that too much alcokol will affect my medication. I had 1 drink with alcohol and everything after that was non alcohol. There were 2-3 people that knew that but most people did not know it. the bartender knew since they mixed my drinks. They made mine to look like everybody elses.As gor getting 6 months seizure free.... great. My cousin had epilepsy and was seizure free for years. She still took meds but drove,had a career in the medical field, a husband. Just like the lady next door.You are the one that helps determine if your road is going downhill. You are the one that needs to control your epilepsy If you don't you are letting epilepsy control what you do.As for gauranteeing something... There is no gaurantee that that in your walk across the street that you will not get hit by a car.This is a big old world and you take what it gives you. You learn how to live and deal with it and ask the neurologist questions. I hope you take this as I intended it to beJoeOh and try going to the National parks since in one of my plans w had a trip across the country hitting 6-8 different parks. You would be surprised to see just what this country has to see. Oh and a rodeside camping ground does have places for campfires.

Not sure how to process any of this....

Comments

OK here goes.The start of a

Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2016-06-15 - 23:37

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