Hello. I can totally sympathize with you. I had my first seizure (a Grand Mal) right after I turned 24 in August 2005. Unlike you I never had seizues before this. Like you , mine are comming from my Left Temporal Lobe. I  was told all about the side effects concerning pregnacy. I have been experiencing major depression and mood swings and am constantly worried about when I am going to have another one to have not had any grand mals since November, but i  seen to  get the Comples Partial Seizuures about every month right around my periods. Before that, I used to go into convulsions about every 3 months. After several EEGS, an MRI, and a PET Scan, my neurologist and his attendings  decided to have surgery to stop my seizures. I am currently taking 500mg Phenytoin, 500mg Lamictal, and 2000mg Keppra. So far I have been toing pretty well  with the Keppra, which is desighned for women's bodies, particularly with your hormones.  I wish you the best of luck and feel free to commet back

SEIZURES PROGRESS AND CHANGE. IT ALSO TAKES TIME TO ADJUST TO MEDS, ONCE YOUR BODY IS USE TO IT, YOU WILL BE FEELING BETTER. ALL MEDS NO MATTER WHAT ITS FOR, CAN EFFECT YOUR LIVER AND OTHER INTERNAL ORGANS, INCLUDING TYLENOL.  IF WE READ ALL THE WARNING ON ALL THE MEDS, WE WOULDNT TAKE ANYTHING.

I HAVE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH SIEZURES(ABSCENCE) AT 6. BEFORE THAT, THEY JUST THOUGHT I DAYDREAMED A LOT. I WAS TAKEN OFF OF MEDS AT 12. WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER I STARTED HAVING ALL SORTS OF WEIRD EPASODES THAT I DIDNT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE BUT TNEVER SAID ANYTHING TO MY PARENTS. KNOW I KNOW THEY WERE ABSCENCE, SIMPLE AND COMPLEX SEIZURES. THEY JUST SLOWLY BUILT UP AND AND CHANGED AS I GOT OLDER. WHEN I WAS 25, I HAD MY 1ST TONIC CLONIC IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. MY HUBBY THOUGHT I WAS HAVING A STROKE. HE KNEW I HAD EPILEPSY AS A KID BUT IT NEVER CLICKED AS A SEIZURE SINCE I ONLY HAD PETITE MALS AS A KID. I ENDED UP IN THE ER AND SPENT 2 WEEKS IN THE HOSPITAL. THAT WAS 25 YEARS AGO. 5 OR 6 YRS AGO I WENT UNCONTROLABLE.

SO WE NEVER KNOW WHAT OUR SEIZURES ARE GOING TO DO. WE NEED TO RESPECT OUR EPILEPSY. NEVER THINK YOUR PATTERN IS GOING TO STAY THE SAME BECAUSE YOUR BRAIN DOES WHAT IT WANTS TO DO, WHEN IT WANTS TO DO IT. YOUR MEDS IS WHAT KEEPS IT UNDER CONTROL. THERE ARE SOME OF THE NEWER DRUGS THAT THEY HAVE TALKED ABOUT IN THE FORUMS THAT WOMEM HAVE TAKEN WHILE PREGNANT I BELIEVE. CHECK OUT THE WOMAN FORUM. YOU CAN ALSO DICUSS THAT WITH YOUR DOC AND YOUR OB/GYN.

I TYPE IN CAPS FOR THE VISUALY IMPAIRED

GOD BLESS,

BANFFGIRL

LIFE IS FRAGILE, HANDLE WITH CARE.

Since I was little till I was 19 I had deja vu, and jamais vu, and all sorts of experiences that today I know are part of auras. I didn't know what they were, my parent's never really noticed, so I thought it was normal. I did tell people that my deja vu was frequent and lasted for a long time but it just seemed like one of those things. It got worst as I got older but it never disrupted my life and since I was an artist I attributed it to a creative mind that just worked differently than others. Boy, would I find out how. At 19, one night, my right hand started twitching and this spread up my arm, to my head, through my body and they took to the emergency room having what I'd come to know as a pretty violent complex partials. I spent four days in the hospital seizing without stopping. It wasn't status because I was concious, but it was odd. I had at least five large sz a day and the rest of the time my body moved like someone with Parkinsons. Since then it has been close to 5 years and I remain uncontrolled. Moral of the story: You have to understand how sz activity works. It does not conform to one area. The longer you have it, it spreads. Your brain learns to have sz's just as it learns to ride a bike. Each sz makes the next one easier. The electrical misfirings damage that tissue and make it easier for that damage to then occur in neighboring areas when the activity is able to move through your brain even faster than before. If you take meds now, you can take fairly low levels and be good. Don't wait for it to become aggravated and then you really have to deal with the side effects. If I could have started taking low levels of drugs earlier and avoided getting to where I am, I would have I am sure. Beats all the sz's I can have in a month. When I start- I will have at least 5 or six at once.

I think I have the same situation as you. I have been having the deja vu kind of seizures for about 18 years. I didn't know what it was and I never really told anyone. It was 1-2/month, sometimes less, sometimes more depending upon stress, sleep, health, eating, etc.

If this was still the case, I would feel the same as you. Why should I take medication everyday?

I had my last episode with the deja vu about 6 weeks ago and woke up in an ambulance. I was told by the EMT that I had a seizure. I was unconscous for over 40 minutes. I don't remember anything. The neurologist told me that the deja vu was an aura and also a different type of seizure. I have been reading a lot on this and other websites and learning a lot about what has been going on with me for the last 18 years. I have had memory proplems, and other things that I never knew were not "normal" Now, I am really afraid. I am afraid of that deja vu feeling. I have not had it since I started taking the medication. I am afraid that I will have another seizure and something bad will happen to me. I used to always have the deja vu feeling in the bathtub. I could die if I have a full blown seizure in the bathtub.