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Clusters years apart
Sun, 05/29/2016 - 19:04Topic: Women With Epilepsy
I am a 55 year old woman who started having petit mal seizures in the 80s. I have seizure clusters that are several years apart and really haven't done anything about them. When I had them the first time, Drs told me they were petit mal seizures and they didn't know the cause. Didn't see anything on MRIs and I didn't pursue it since all anyone talked about was medication, which they would taper off after awhile. When the clusters are years apart anyway, what good would that do? So I have just put up with them. Luckily I usually get some warning, feel weird like I'm going to pass out and can pull over in plenty of time if driving, etc. That's another reason I haven't really pursued anything - don't want to lose my Driver's license! I have wondered if they could be hormone related as my first onset was around the time I had my tubes tied. Reading your stories, I feel lucky that my seizures aren't much worse than they are, but I wonder if I should do anything about them. Most of the medications seem like they are worse than my problems are and it doesn't seem like Drs know much about this...
seizures change over the
Submitted by just_joe on Mon, 2016-05-30 - 12:52
seizures change over the years. I had a few auras when I was firs having seizures but they went away. So who knows if you will have an aura tomorrow.Not wanting to lose your license can also cause you some other problems. Think about what could happen if you didn't have an aura and you had a seizure while driving.There have been many changes since the 80's. Neurologists started specializing. Technology has gotten better. Newer medications with fewer side effects. Oh and a person can get their license back in a lot less time then back then. The seizures I had back in the 80's lasted 5-8 minutes and my recovery time was another 15-45 minutes. With todays medications those same seizures are 5-8 seconds and recovery time is 2-5 seconds. I think I'll take a seizure that no one will know about over the ones that I generally went home after having. Especially since I could have one while talking to you and you would know nothing about it.The neurologists started specializing about the mid 80's so yes today they do know more and can help control your seizures