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"Absence" seizures.

Sun, 02/28/2010 - 02:53
i was diagnosed with epilepsy 5 months ago, i feel like shit. I can't tell the difference between awake or asleep. I feel like a 90 year old with alzheimers, anyone else feel this way; staring(1-5 minutes), forgetting, feeling like your not there, not being able to concentrate. anyone else feel this way? i think i'm going crazy.

Comments

Re: "Absence" seizures.

Submitted by Denise Wilson on Sun, 2010-02-28 - 09:56

You are NOT crazy!!! I have abscence seizures and Grand mal. The grandmal are under control but the abscence seizures are worse. I am on Lamictal and Zarontin (zarontin for abscence and lamictal for the grandmal) Last night the asbsence was so bad I couldn't hold a full phone conversation with my mother. We eventually hung up with each other. I have been extremely tired lately. If it is not something from the seizures we are dealing with, it's medicine side effects. It sucks but we have to struggle, get up and deal. There is little to no support for us except each other, unlike other illnesses. But, just remember....We have each other, we are not alone although we are spread out all over the place. If you ever, ever ever need a friend or someone who understands do not hesitate to ask. I know how those miserable abscence seizures can really interrupt your life.

I can be reached on facebook  Denise Cole Wilson if you friend request let me know where you are from and seixures mesages should be left to private messages diue to my job, but I will be here. Take care!!

You are NOT crazy!!! I have abscence seizures and Grand mal. The grandmal are under control but the abscence seizures are worse. I am on Lamictal and Zarontin (zarontin for abscence and lamictal for the grandmal) Last night the asbsence was so bad I couldn't hold a full phone conversation with my mother. We eventually hung up with each other. I have been extremely tired lately. If it is not something from the seizures we are dealing with, it's medicine side effects. It sucks but we have to struggle, get up and deal. There is little to no support for us except each other, unlike other illnesses. But, just remember....We have each other, we are not alone although we are spread out all over the place. If you ever, ever ever need a friend or someone who understands do not hesitate to ask. I know how those miserable abscence seizures can really interrupt your life.

I can be reached on facebook  Denise Cole Wilson if you friend request let me know where you are from and seixures mesages should be left to private messages diue to my job, but I will be here. Take care!!

Re: "Absence" seizures.

Submitted by Mrepilepsy on Mon, 2010-03-01 - 14:08

I definetly do, this is HELL. this is such a curse. I literally lost my faith in God, i blamed him for this. Because honestly people think "oh it's just epilepsy, people have cancer. Thats way worse". Nah, "Absence" is horrible. Half of the time i feel like i'm in a dream when i'm awake!!!!. :(     ...... and i don't got a facebook. can't you just message on here :/?

 

and thank you for being cool, if you ever need anyone to talk to it about i can help too :]

I definetly do, this is HELL. this is such a curse. I literally lost my faith in God, i blamed him for this. Because honestly people think "oh it's just epilepsy, people have cancer. Thats way worse". Nah, "Absence" is horrible. Half of the time i feel like i'm in a dream when i'm awake!!!!. :(     ...... and i don't got a facebook. can't you just message on here :/?

 

and thank you for being cool, if you ever need anyone to talk to it about i can help too :]

Re: "Absence" seizures.

Submitted by apo8863 on Mon, 2010-03-01 - 17:23

Ditto from the other comments, you are NOT crazy. I developed absence seizures quite abruptly when I was 19 and am still struggling to get them under control three years later. Just today I missed two classes (not a good thing in law school) because I was "blanking out" so often.

 One coping skill I've worked on and which has helped me some is to pay close attention to whether I can detect an "aura" beforehand. For me these usually take the form of weird smells that aren't actually there, usually burning rubber or lemon zest, weird tastes, usually metallic, or periods of extreme lethargy in which I am so sleepy I can barely move While noticing these doesn't necessarily allow me to prevent the seizure, I do know that it is coming; so, it doesn't catch me off gaurd.

 There are also post-it-note programs for your computer desktop now. I always hated writing notes to myself, but these are incredibly easy, fast, you don't lose them, and they are a little more discrete so that people who come over don't think you're nuts for having 47 post its all over your place. In any case, it helps me to keep lots of them during periods of clarity so that when I come to after a seizure I am only quite lost as opposed to totally lost.

 Not sure that any of this is at all helpful or news to anyone, but thought I'd throw it out there in case. Best wishes to you.

Ditto from the other comments, you are NOT crazy. I developed absence seizures quite abruptly when I was 19 and am still struggling to get them under control three years later. Just today I missed two classes (not a good thing in law school) because I was "blanking out" so often.

 One coping skill I've worked on and which has helped me some is to pay close attention to whether I can detect an "aura" beforehand. For me these usually take the form of weird smells that aren't actually there, usually burning rubber or lemon zest, weird tastes, usually metallic, or periods of extreme lethargy in which I am so sleepy I can barely move While noticing these doesn't necessarily allow me to prevent the seizure, I do know that it is coming; so, it doesn't catch me off gaurd.

 There are also post-it-note programs for your computer desktop now. I always hated writing notes to myself, but these are incredibly easy, fast, you don't lose them, and they are a little more discrete so that people who come over don't think you're nuts for having 47 post its all over your place. In any case, it helps me to keep lots of them during periods of clarity so that when I come to after a seizure I am only quite lost as opposed to totally lost.

 Not sure that any of this is at all helpful or news to anyone, but thought I'd throw it out there in case. Best wishes to you.

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