hii

i have read a lot of views in this discussion.in most of the cases i have noticed that people who have consumed alcohol and pot together have reported a seizure.i personally believe that alcohol is more problematic that pot while talking of seizure.i take alcohol very rarely and smoke pot regularly and never had any problems with epilepsy.75% of my seizures including the first four occurred when i use to onsume alcohol and just to notify that i never smoked any pot till this time.my first stroke occurred when i was 19 and i started smoking pot when i was 21.during this period i had 4 strokes all of which occurred in the immediate morning after i drank.later on i noticed that my other seizures occurred within 24 hours of consuming alcohol.if you ask a normal person also he will confirm that after drinking alcohol people feel tired and feel headache which leads to exersion:another big reason for seizure.however in case of smoking pot i have a lot of interesting stories to share where i have done certain physical things that would exhaust a normal person.just to notify a couple of incidents,i have travelled on my bike covering a distance of 1350 kms and 870 kms in two different journeys.i was alone both of the times and was smoking pot at regular intervals.i never felt any stroke during my journey.so that is the power pot brings to me.

Moreover having epilepsy for more than 9 years i still dont know its kind. all i know is that if i am gonna have a major stroke then i will definetely have a baby stroke 2-3 minutes in advance.that is sufficient time for me to roll a joint and smoke it.and honestly telling you i always managed to postpone that major stroke.my all the later seizures occurred when due to any reason i was unable to smoke pot.but the best thing i like about the pot is that it saves the embarrassment which i have to face after a stroke.i am so much convinced with marijuana that i even carry a small amount of it during my flights.being an indian i know that if i get caught with marijuana i might have to pay 10000 bucks to bail myself out but atleast it will save me from situations like SUDEP. also doctor advise me to stay away from water,high buildings,motor vechicles and other stuff which other normal people are allowed to do.i know that it is not my fault if i am having this disease and nothing can stop me from living normally.i dont care whether i will have to smoke marijuana my entire life to live normally.i just want my life back and i will keep smoking this stuff.i have said no to alcohol and i never drink it even its for free but when it comes to marijuana i will spendany amount to take a puff of that stuff.

so from my personal experience i will prefer marijuana over pills with no alcohol at all.these are my personal views and are not meant to offend anyone

 All recreational drugs, pills you swallow, substances that you snort or burn, things that you 'huff', drugs injected, are potentially fatal if you have epilepsy. This includes legal drugs such as alcohol and caffeine.

Marijuana is a different matter. Marijuana has been used to treat epilepsy for 5000 years, people argue. It dosn't matter if they had used it 5,000 years. Years ago they believe that all illness was caused by evil demons. Today we have medications that can be prescribed. Many of them work, some work well, some some don't work well, and others have nasty problems. Medical marijuana is not street marijuana (or home grown marijuana). Marijuana does work for some people as a medication. It is not a perfect drug. There is no perfect drug. For some people, marijuana may be the only drug that exists. Most of the Marijuana sold (or self grown)  today is intended to make people high. The foremost psychoactive component is 9 delta THC. There are many metabolites in Marijuana (60 known). One of them is 8 delta THC. It has little or no effect. There is CBG (it lowers blood pressure, but is destroyed when burnt). Marijuana is supposed to be 'cured' (aged). When Marijuana is aged, the THC decomposes in to CBN.  Any remaining CBD is lost in aging. CBN with THC makes people higher still. (which is why Marijuana is 'cured'. CBD, on the other hand mitigates any high that THC/CBN causes. Marijuana has been breed and cross bred to have higher levels of THC, and low levels of CBD. Some recreational Marijuana strains of Marijuana have THC levels as high as 22 percent. This is dangerous, at this level THC can become hallucinogenic. (40 percent THC is hallucinogenic). High levels of THC also cause tachycardia (speeds up the heat) leading to bradycardia (irregular heart). Both cause abortions.

Marijuana is highly prone to fungus. This mold kills the plant. Growers spray their plants with fungicides. They also spray their plants with insecticides. These are highly toxic compounds when eaten or smoked. Insects, insect parts, insect larvae contain  pathogens. Marijuana which is grown outdoors is subject to bird feces.

Medical Marijuana is grown indoors, in clean, controlled environments. It is grown without chemicals, free from insects, free from bird droppings. It is not grown in dirt. Dirt contains heavy metals, such as lead, which the plant readily updates. People who have compromised immune systems use medical Marijuana. Mold is potentially deadly to anyone with a compromised immune system. Mold control is vital when growing medical Marijuana. The medication is inspected and any possible mold is discarded. All medical Marijuana is put in a special oven @ 150 F for 2 hours to insure that any remaining mold has been killed. Not all mold is killed when of the spores  rise up in the heat and enter the patients lungs.  Medical Marijuana is not aged, CBN is harmful. In treating epilepsy high THC levels TRIGGER seizures. Anyone using medical Marijuana who has seizures is using a harmful dose of they feel high Medical Marijuana contains either a slightly higher ratio of THC / CBD a one, to one ratio of THC/CBD, or a higher ratio of CBD/THC. Medical marijuana contains little or no CBN. Medical Marijuana is NOT intended to make you high. It is medication, intended to treat your medical condition and allow you to function normally. Stoned is not a drug. Different medical grade strains of Marijuana, with different metabolite mixes are used for different medical problems. Some strains do contain high THC (those used to treat cancer, and a few other conditions). When these high THC strains are used they also contain higher CBD. THC has been found to shrink certain cancer cells.

i really didnt read the all of the stuff above tho i wanna point out that sum major cannabinoids (compounds that exist in cannabis) like THC, THCA, CBD have serious anticonvulsant properties (ISBN 3764370556 "cannabinoids as therapeutics") comparable to carbamazepine. i have no intention of encouraging ppl to toke up just wanted to point out a scientific fact so dont get me wrong. also keep in mind that there are a lot of other materials exist in cannabis beside anticonvulsant cannabinoids and its known that toking up lowers the seizure threshold. when i think of cannabis-based medications theres only one med pop in my mind that mite be useful to prevent seizures: sativex, its basic cannabis extract used in MS and now there are ongoing researches with this med for its anticonvulsant effects (other synthetic cannabinoids like nabilone (cesamet) or dronabinol (marinol) shown no or very poor anticonvulsant profile) though still if id have epilepsy id avoid any kind of cannabis product and ethanol of course.

cheers

First off if you use cannabis as a medicine and not for recreation it helps I know for a fact. I take dilantin about 15 minutes later im pacing the floor cant sit still. But if i smoke after taking my dilantin guess what no pacing no anxiety hmmm strange. Dont listen to the years of false drug propaganda. Cannabis is not that bad I agree I shouldnt smoke thats bad I should consume it another way but unfortunately I dont live in a medical friendly state. Its not for everyone but just remember it could help you so why turn your back to it. I look at it like this if your willing to shove all these pills in your mouth that you see on tv with a new lawsuit against them everyday. Then what is so bad about cannabis. Its natural and been used for centuries how long has any of the pharmaceuticals of today been around. Just remember everything in moderation and youll be fine.

drinking is ok in moderation with epilepsy.. it's only ever affected me through binges (several nights in a row of heavy drinking) along with severe lack of sleep..  also i have found that liqour is pretty much out of the question. for me i know that LIQUOR + NO SLEEP = grand mal and a trip to the ER

i know what it's like to go to a party, feel like you're the only person there that can't do just about everything there that people go there to do but that's the life you have to live now.i got epilepsy when i was 13 and i'll be 21 in a few days so it's not like i've had it since i was a child and it's easy or something, when you start taking meds like you're on, antiseiz meds, you can't drink all that.i'm not going to sit here and lecture you because i've smoked pot AND i've drank alcohol myself.pot doesn't affect me and you can drink a little but you can't get drunk like that.it affects the levels of medication in your body.i had my FIRST drink not 2wks after i was told i was diagnosed with epilepsy.i didn't even know what epil. was.i took my antiseiz meds whenever i remembered.i had two full glasses of vodka and cranberry (mostly vodka).i had a HORRIBLE seizure the next morning in front of two of my friends that ended up leaving because i had to go to the hospital:\ in all fairness, you didn't really treat yourself like you had epilepsy either so why should they?at that moment in time you kind of were a college girl experimenting so that's how they see you:\ good luck and BE CAREFUL!!!i know it's rough.i'm in college and my mom has to drive me everyday:(

Ashley

No alcohol is a must. My brother and I are both epileptics and all the people I know who are epileptic have never won with alcohol. There is no way to escape that the morning after recovery is like starting again and you lose days of feeling out of sorts. Marijuana on the other hand is one of the most shameless of all the governments lies to its people. How it continues is a crime in itself. Google Harvard's studies on the benefits and remember that all news is not the truth. Science speaks not as an instrument of government or special interest but because there are truths, such as we have receptors at birth for THC and this chemical stops some seizures before they grow.

A recent commercial to quit smoking said it blocks receptors for nicotine, but there are none. Epileptics are all different but for those who can never stop perseverate thought, calm and quiet is possible and finding something that gives you that is why so many continue to smoke. We are a land of the free but we are not as free as we would be if the government looked at how much it would save in dollars, lives, dignity, by just doing what it correct. Drug companies want to dirty it and make it unsafe in a pill form. Heroin found a home and it has become very popular in pill form. Vicodin the drug of the self-rightous legal drug users. Except this drug is addictive and does not make you nicer.

im not a doctor, however I think a lot of things that contribute to the possibility of having a seizure is lack of sleep. for instance, in Alaska, epileptics qualify for medical marijuana. Though alcohol is obviously completely different. Some people, however, I think can make the mistake of thinking that marijuana and alcohol cause a seizure, whereas it's really the environment. Think about it, people stay up late in party situations, where they usually can forget to take their meds, have lack of sleep, and generally exhaust their bodies. Don't mix up substances with not taking care of your body. Sometimes they can be completely different. Though, everyone is in fact different, so I'm thinking initially 5 beers did you in, plus the weed which is a risky thing to mix. [known from experience]. I think it's best to not inform people these things unless you know the type of epilepsy everyone has, and their body type, etc. no offense intended, just maybe re-evaluate what you're saying.

Lauren - Thank you for Sharing your Story. I Agree with you. Its not okay to Consume alcohol if you have Epilepsy.

Something Similar Happened to Me. I had a Brain Injury in 1997. After that I was having Simple Partial seizures undiagnosed. Then one night in 2002, I decided that I could get off my meds for the night and go out drinking with my Friend. So I went drinking with her.. and 3 days later, I had my First Tonic Clonic since my Car accident. After that time my SP turned into Complex Partials.. and I had Grand Mals about 1 time a year when they changed my Meds because I was resistant to medication. in 2008 I had a Right Temporal Lobectomy. And so I do not think its okay to consume alcohol because most people are on medications.. and medications do not mix with the alcohol. its not safe for the epilepsy. I read somewhere once that Alcohol can stay in your Body for 3 days and you can still have a seizure after that.

Leah

Just putting in my two cents for a balanced discussion.

This article, http://my.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/newsletter/jul09_AEDs , by Robert S. Fisher, M.D., Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief of Epilepsy.com, cites that siezures caused by alcohol come as a result of withdrawal from the drug, not the intoxication itself. This means that seizures are most likely to come when the alcohol begins to leave the body, probably late that night or the day after a night of heavy drinking. Alcohol can be dangerous for epileptics because it leaves the body more quickly than other drugs.

I only have grand mals, and no way could I have maintained a level of consciousness where I could remember what my body was doing. In my opinion, if this were tonic-clonic, you wouldn't "remember" having to urinate yourself as you would just lose control, I'm surprised you remember how your hands looked, or anything for that matter. I can't even remember my name for about 10 minutes following the seizure. Maybe mine are just extreme, but this account seems pretty tame compared to what I have considered a Grand-Mal.

Many people with epilepsy have found that marijuana acts a a fast-acting measure to prevent siezures. Also, people that are taking anti-seizure meds and still don't have them under control, myself included, have found that they have never had a siezure after responsibly using marijuana. It worries me that people may read your story and discount marijuana as a treatment option. It's improved the seizure thresholds of many sufferers. You can find three scientific studies at this URL, http://ripatients.org/medical/epilepsy/. Check out " Chronic administration of cannabidiol to healthy volunteers and epileptic patients. Pharmacology. 1980;21(3):175-85. Cunha JM, Carlini EA, Pereira AE, Ramos OL, Pimentel C, Gagliardi R, Sanvito WL, Lander N, Mechoulam R."

Maybe the meds you're on, combined with the alcohol and marijuana gave you a terrible and unusual case of "the spins" (the anxious, uncomfortable, nauseous feeling some people get when mixing specifically marijuana and alcohol. Ask any college kid.)

I appreciate your sharing of your experience. Hope this helps, and Lauren, I hope your well.

Lauren thanks for your story. The person who attacked you has no business being on this website and should be turned in for being mean abusive and hateful.I have had grand mal seizures for 40 years and I would never attack another person in this forum. This sight should be for support and sharing of experiences. God bless everybody who has to live with this awful disease.