Ive had seizures since I was 13, and Im 23 now. I have tried every seizure drug out there it feels like. I started with Trileptal, then to Keppra, Dilantin, Phenobarbital, and Depakote. After it hasn't worked I tried smoking weed. My dad thinks that I would find any thing that would justify my pot smoking. But I haven't had a seizure while I have been high. Has anybody?

I am 25 years old and was diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy back in April of 2009 when I was 23. A tonic-clonic seizure came without warning and could not be explained by the doctors. I had not had any previous serious medical conditions and have been very healthy my whole life. At this time I was still in my "college" stage and had been a moderate-heavy drinker since I was 18.

I was placed on a low dosage of Keppra to begin but I had another seizure 5 months after in September of 2009. I was plagued by two more in December 2009, one in February 2010, one in April 2010, and one in July 2010. After July I made the decision to quit drinking. During 2010 I was on various dosages of Keppra and then Depakote until October 2010. The decision was made to remove me from Depakote due to the liver damage it was causing. I am currently on 3000mg Keppra and 200mg of Lamictal per day.

Around the time I was placed on the Lamictal (four months ago), I also began using Medical Marijuana. I live in Massachusetts where there are no laws regarding the subject so I guess you can say I "self-prescribed" it. That being said, for the past four months I have been smoking Marijuana on a daily basis (about 1/8 of an ounce per week). That amounts to about $250 per month... and it's worth every penny to me. I have not had a single seizure since July 2010. I believe that quitting drinking in July, changing medications, and regularly using Marijuana are all contributing factors to my incredibly stable condition.

Despite how many people come forward and say how much it helps their particular health condition, the federal government refuses to recognize the health benefits. As a result, the general public buys into the Stigma behind it. There have been numerous researchers, biologists, medical professionals, etc. who have said that Marijuana is quite possibly the most therapeutically active substance on the planet.

I like to look at it this way: if we had never discovered Marijuana and all of a sudden we had botanists find it in the amazon jungle and discover its therapeutic effects... it would be considered a Godsend! But because of the previous and unfounded stigma coming from the the 1930s, it continues to be a taboo subject and illegal substance.

I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 16 and have been taking medication for it ever since, it took me forever to adjust to it and the effects, but now i've noticed the past year -two years that during the day the twitches and muscle spasms have increased and I don't want to tell my doctor because I know he is just going to increase my dosage and I only take my meds at night, which is really nice I don't want to be put on something else during the day. I'm wondering if medical marijuana would help calm the muscle spasms... anyone know if it helps?

 I have had seizures since I was 16 years old & I am 55 now. I too have been put on several different combinations of medications for E with some HORRIBLE, LONG-LASTING side-effects. I just had a seizure last week where I did not remember anything for the whole week, (I was taking Depakote/Keppra & Lamictal at the time) I didn't take my medication needless to say that week, I locked myself out of my house with my Service Dog inside, went to work (I volunteer) and then left right after arriving there without warning, didn't take my medication for the week I was able to tell becuase I put my medication in a pill box on top of the table so that I  can tell if I took them or not, left my shower running for several days (my neighbors told me this). Once I started to function partially again I contacted my Dr. and told him bout when I had the seizure and he asked me to come in for additional tests. I went in and they did a blood level test again and again my blood levels were at 0 (every time I have a seizure my blood levels fall to 0 saying I have NEVER taken ANY medication). I was started on Topamax again (I took it a couple of years ago) I was taken off it because it didn't control my seizures and my side-effects were so bad. I am leary of starting the Topamax again for the same reasons.

 I have not talked to my Dr. about the use of Canibus for my seizures (because I am afraid he will think I just want to get high or something like that)  I am thinking about  alsking my Dr. about it since I am hoping that it willl reduce my seizures from once a day to maybe once a month. I know that when I have smoked in the past I was put in a state of complete calmness and actually slept soundly, now that may sound kind of strange to someone who has no sleeping problems but after the Dr.s trying EVERY different E medication on the market (that's legal) sleeping is practially a joke to me anymore (it just doesn't happen) I am also not a candidate for the surgery since I have several different types of E.

 I would appreciate some feedback on this matter as I go and see him again in December. Oh I am a Epileptic/Diabetic so I do have to watch out for the medications to make sure that they will not interact with each other.

Littleone

I am hoping to get professional medical opinions because we cannot see the neurologist for a month. My son will be six next week and has partial seizures. Usually about 1 or 2 per year for the last 4 years. They believe it is caused by a strenuos hypoxic birth. We have tried 2 different medications twice and we tried easing him into them both times, and he had severe allergic reactions to both before we ever reached the reccommended doses. The welts they caused 2 years ago can still be seen as scars on his back. I do not want my son to begin smoking marijuana. He is a young boy and I want him to grow up with a sense of normalcy, but we do live in a Medical Marijuana state and Epilepsy is an approved condition. I have been introduced to marijuana in oil form for patients who do not wish to or cannot smoke. Would this be a responsible thing to try? I am scared that traditional medication is too severe for his body, but he just had another seizure this morning and I am not sure that the doctor's advise of waiting for anohter one (this would be the one) before trying another pharmesutical is okay because of how strong his reaction against the medication has been. Are there any medical professionals who can give me their two-cents about what to do from here? Is it okay to get him a card and try it out. Or is there a risk of doing more harm than good?

My name is kenny i have had epilepsy since i was 16, doctors said it was due to excess alcohol and a lack of sleep, first i was pu on depakote, it was a joke tremors all the time it got to where i would rather deal with it on my own ( non medication). after an unexpected seizure that i was able to stay concious and fight through they put me on kepra it had such horrible side effects on me on a 500mg dose such as extreme drosiness, effects on my speech and facial expressions that where not noticeable to me but yet everyone else. I then was put on lamictal but yet it has caused many rage and anger issues that i cant control. I have been an avid user on cannibis for a while now to a point where doctors described it as a self medication. So what i would like to know is how do i get medical marijuana, a much debated and argued subject, in the state of north carolina not only does it help with my epilepsy, but also my depression, and bipolar disorders, in other words it just mellows me out and relax's me legal or not like many other users ill do what i have to to treat and control these disorders i know its not been legalized yet but what can i do to help with the legalization progress? I just want to be able to use the substance in a legal form, it works better than all the other medications where they just seemed to make the problems worse.

ok so i have seizures too. i have 3 types gran-mal   petti-mal and fever related seizures. i have had all 3 since i was 2 years old. since i was baby i have been on many types of meds and did not like any of them them made it it hard for me to function on a daily basis i couldnt concentrate in school and made extreamly agressive and if i was late with a dose or missed it all together i would have break through gran-mals. my mom used to have to fight me and hold me down for me to take my meds, she stopped when i was 10 with no meds at all i had fewer seizures but still had them. i started smoking pot when i was 11 and for years seizures was rarity. i would still have 1 on occaisin but not offten. due to a job i had to stop smoking when i was 18 and again i was put on meds that made me aggressive, this in part sent me to jail for a year and got 5 years of monthly drug testing. up until 4-16-09 i had not smoked in 6 years! i was still having seizures but for the most part i handled as best i could. i have now been smoking on a regular basis since 4-16 and have not had a single seizure since then. i wish pot was leagal! has any one heard of some one getting a medical marijuanna card for seizures?

i have same diagnose with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy since i was 15.since then i used many medications and none helped me fully. now i'm 29 and i'm on keppra, lamictal & depakine. very depressive and psychotic shit. everything can make me cry, i feel very lonely and have a feeling that today is last day of my life. I like smoking pot, and that is one of the two things that makes me smile. still have seizures, living in this kind of world... but that kind of depression... i'm very affraid... love u all