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Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
What is the difference between a seizure disorder and epilepsy? I had a bad wreck almost four years ago now and for the longest time the dr.s kept calling my seizures, actually the diagnosis was, seizure disorder. Now after the later video eeg they are diagnosing it as epilepsy. I don't understand what the difference is.
Could someone please help me understand this? =D
Comments
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by wichitarick1 on Wed, 2009-03-25 - 20:15
peace R.C.
HI ...I will make a comment here .
I have had szs. for over 14 yrs and have almost never used the term EPILEPSY
Do not really know why? at first maybe because I did not know better and lol truth fully until just a few yrs ago is the ONLY topic that involved me, that I did not OVER DO, OVER LEARN lol to a fault adhd style ,????do not know why? possibly because I just was afraid to know???
I posted also and have said this before to others . When talking to others ,co workers ,friends, even family using the term EPILEPSY it seems to scare people like the terms cancers or mental illnesses, scare folks , I have found telling someone you have a SZ. disorder does not set them back near as fast as saying yeah I have EPILEPSY and for folks having these problems at work etc . just simply switch the words and go on lol. no big deal . and for folks having to face facts that they may live with this forever , go volunteer at a hospital or a V.A. hospital or go to a nursing home etc. it will make you feel so much better , I have had 3 gmals this week and feel very sick, bad ,???emotional. etc. but 2 people on electric wheelchairs came by my home today and my daughter took them cupcakes lol I feel oh so much better "WALKING" out there with her.
I may ramble a bit but I WILL get my I.Q. back in a few days "I hope" lol. Rick
peace R.C.
HI ...I will make a comment here .
I have had szs. for over 14 yrs and have almost never used the term EPILEPSY
Do not really know why? at first maybe because I did not know better and lol truth fully until just a few yrs ago is the ONLY topic that involved me, that I did not OVER DO, OVER LEARN lol to a fault adhd style ,????do not know why? possibly because I just was afraid to know???
I posted also and have said this before to others . When talking to others ,co workers ,friends, even family using the term EPILEPSY it seems to scare people like the terms cancers or mental illnesses, scare folks , I have found telling someone you have a SZ. disorder does not set them back near as fast as saying yeah I have EPILEPSY and for folks having these problems at work etc . just simply switch the words and go on lol. no big deal . and for folks having to face facts that they may live with this forever , go volunteer at a hospital or a V.A. hospital or go to a nursing home etc. it will make you feel so much better , I have had 3 gmals this week and feel very sick, bad ,???emotional. etc. but 2 people on electric wheelchairs came by my home today and my daughter took them cupcakes lol I feel oh so much better "WALKING" out there with her.
I may ramble a bit but I WILL get my I.Q. back in a few days "I hope" lol. Rick
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by Nerak95 on Thu, 2009-03-26 - 00:31
I can relate to what you've said about not using the word epilepsy.
Years ago in my first semester of college, this guy told me that he had epilepsy. That freaked me out. All I could think of was leprosy. I was afraid to be near him and avoided him as much as I could. Who would have known that years later my daughter would develop epilepsy when she was only two days old. She's now 24 and to this day I am so ashamed of my behavior and have such remorse on treating that young gentleman like he had the plague.
People fear what they don't understand. I was one of those people. Now I do as much as I can to educate people so that they weren't clueless like I was when I was 18.
~Karen
I can relate to what you've said about not using the word epilepsy.
Years ago in my first semester of college, this guy told me that he had epilepsy. That freaked me out. All I could think of was leprosy. I was afraid to be near him and avoided him as much as I could. Who would have known that years later my daughter would develop epilepsy when she was only two days old. She's now 24 and to this day I am so ashamed of my behavior and have such remorse on treating that young gentleman like he had the plague.
People fear what they don't understand. I was one of those people. Now I do as much as I can to educate people so that they weren't clueless like I was when I was 18.
~Karen
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by rgch on Thu, 2009-03-26 - 17:21
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by Nerak95 on Thu, 2009-03-26 - 20:19
rgch,
My post was not meant to offend you but merely to acknowledge that people fear what they do not understand. I was trying to show my personal example of how I did not understand epilepsy whatsoever and that I now feel bad about it. Yes, it was my loss for being afraid to be closer to this person. I was very naive. However, 35 years ago there wasn't a strong advocacy to educate people about conditions such as epilepsy or to teach people that those with developmental disabilities are just like you and me.
It was the brain damage my daughter sustained as a baby that taught me the values of people regardless of their intellectual or physical ability. Same as the way your pastor showed you.
Again, I apologize for conveying a message that was meant to be positive rather than negative.
~Karen
rgch,
My post was not meant to offend you but merely to acknowledge that people fear what they do not understand. I was trying to show my personal example of how I did not understand epilepsy whatsoever and that I now feel bad about it. Yes, it was my loss for being afraid to be closer to this person. I was very naive. However, 35 years ago there wasn't a strong advocacy to educate people about conditions such as epilepsy or to teach people that those with developmental disabilities are just like you and me.
It was the brain damage my daughter sustained as a baby that taught me the values of people regardless of their intellectual or physical ability. Same as the way your pastor showed you.
Again, I apologize for conveying a message that was meant to be positive rather than negative.
~Karen
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by tonialpha on Thu, 2009-03-26 - 21:22
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by daniesbrwneyes on Thu, 2009-03-12 - 02:19
I think some doctors put it in that perspective till they find the cause.
I think some doctors put it in that perspective till they find the cause.
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by tonialpha on Thu, 2009-03-12 - 13:16
Ditto! The older term is Epilepsy the newer term is seizure disorder. Some patients feel better hearing that they have a disorder than something that sounds like a disease. There are a lot of language and verse used in medicine meaning the same thing.
THEY BOTH MEAN THE SAME THING!
Ditto! The older term is Epilepsy the newer term is seizure disorder. Some patients feel better hearing that they have a disorder than something that sounds like a disease. There are a lot of language and verse used in medicine meaning the same thing.
THEY BOTH MEAN THE SAME THING!
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by desert_rose73 on Thu, 2009-04-23 - 13:32
It just depends who you are talking to. Som docs don;'t like to use the term epilepsy wiht people becuase it may scare them. But those word are the same thing, they are just interchagable.
nancy
It just depends who you are talking to. Som docs don;'t like to use the term epilepsy wiht people becuase it may scare them. But those word are the same thing, they are just interchagable.
nancy
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by daniesbrwneyes on Thu, 2009-04-30 - 00:41
Like I have epilepsy because the scar tissue on my brain. As to some have seizure disorder because it is not epilepsy being the cause behind it .
Like if i was in wreck and had seizure it does not mean I have epilepsy it could be cause because of something like head on clonlision accident. An I never had another seizure agian in my life.
Then there ones that have seizures everyday as in people like me my cause is scar tissue on my brain.
There fever seizures.
I think they do it that way till they find a cause for the seizure to see if it is truely epilepsy or just seizure from cause accident.
Like I have epilepsy because the scar tissue on my brain. As to some have seizure disorder because it is not epilepsy being the cause behind it .
Like if i was in wreck and had seizure it does not mean I have epilepsy it could be cause because of something like head on clonlision accident. An I never had another seizure agian in my life.
Then there ones that have seizures everyday as in people like me my cause is scar tissue on my brain.
There fever seizures.
I think they do it that way till they find a cause for the seizure to see if it is truely epilepsy or just seizure from cause accident.
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by srchtt3 on Tue, 2009-05-05 - 02:50
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by Seruzies on Thu, 2009-04-30 - 02:05
I once had a Neuro tell me that "seizure disorder" and "Epilepsy" are the same thing. He told me "Seizure disorder" is just a softer, easier way of saying "Epilepsy" and not to kid myself. In my case, I'd had more than one seizure, and did not have a strategy in place to prevent the next one. That's when I was started on meds and have been on them since in one or a combination of different drugs and I still have seizures. The better I take care of myself, eat right, exercise, and get plenty of rest, the fewer seizures I have.
I once had a Neuro tell me that "seizure disorder" and "Epilepsy" are the same thing. He told me "Seizure disorder" is just a softer, easier way of saying "Epilepsy" and not to kid myself. In my case, I'd had more than one seizure, and did not have a strategy in place to prevent the next one. That's when I was started on meds and have been on them since in one or a combination of different drugs and I still have seizures. The better I take care of myself, eat right, exercise, and get plenty of rest, the fewer seizures I have.
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by 2BNormal on Wed, 2009-05-27 - 23:04
---Rambling can be due to our meds ;)........My experience is it depends on who you are talking to--various doctors say a "Seizure Disorder" is just one episode, but if more than one it is "Epilepsy" --however, most of the doctors I see use the term "Seizure Disorder" on my chart/diagnosis paperwork----I have been having complex partial seizures since I was about 14--Unfortunately, I was seeing very ignorant doctors at the time and was misdiagnosed for years with everthing of being "borderline diabetic" to "there is nothing wrong with you"---it freaked me out to the point that I came to the conclusion I was loosing my mind and did not tell any more doctors about those "episodes" and just endured it when I would have "one of those really freaky feelings" (as I termed it then) Finally, in 1984 when I was about 27 I had several hours of back-to-back gran mal /tonic clonic seizures one morning - the paramedics were called and I woke up the next night in the hospital..Doctor told me I had a "Seizure Disorder"---- WOW, It was actually great to find out I was not loosing my mind because I had thought I was psychotic due to the uninformed physicians I had been seeing!
I can totally understand where some of you are coming from because prior to me finding out that I had a "Seizure Disorder / Epilepsy", I felt the same way about people who told me they had "Epilepsy" I was somwhat afraid of being around them. Unfortunately, the majority of society is ignorant and uninformed about "our condition" (someone mentioned fear of the unknown) now, when I tell people I have a "Seizure Disorder", I sometimes get responses such as "your an EPILEPTIC --you mean you could have a fit???" --So, I bite my tongue and so "NOOOOO, I am not DOG--I will not have FIT.....I have S-E-I-Z-U-R-E-S!"....and of course, if they continue with their idiotic respnses, I have to tell them that "I understand their ignorance, but it is a medical condition that A Lot of people have"--------I actually was let go from a job when I went in late one day after having a gran mal/tonic clonic in the early morning---in my stupor I had wandered into the bathroom, got in the bathrub and busted my face open on the faucets when I fell in the tub---after I got together, I went to work and told one of the girls in the office what happened because my face was all cut up, swolen and brusing---later in the day, I was told by manmagement they were cutting back on staff and that would be my last day---- GO FIGURE and thank you!! (----kicker is, it was a law firm!)
Good luck to all of you who endure this or who have loved ones who do-----hopefully, one day they will develop a cure === until then, I just let the ignorance roll off---if people are too stupid to accept me because of "my condition", I don't really care-----Who Needs Stupid People In Their Life?? LOL :)
Peace
---Rambling can be due to our meds ;)........My experience is it depends on who you are talking to--various doctors say a "Seizure Disorder" is just one episode, but if more than one it is "Epilepsy" --however, most of the doctors I see use the term "Seizure Disorder" on my chart/diagnosis paperwork----I have been having complex partial seizures since I was about 14--Unfortunately, I was seeing very ignorant doctors at the time and was misdiagnosed for years with everthing of being "borderline diabetic" to "there is nothing wrong with you"---it freaked me out to the point that I came to the conclusion I was loosing my mind and did not tell any more doctors about those "episodes" and just endured it when I would have "one of those really freaky feelings" (as I termed it then) Finally, in 1984 when I was about 27 I had several hours of back-to-back gran mal /tonic clonic seizures one morning - the paramedics were called and I woke up the next night in the hospital..Doctor told me I had a "Seizure Disorder"---- WOW, It was actually great to find out I was not loosing my mind because I had thought I was psychotic due to the uninformed physicians I had been seeing!
I can totally understand where some of you are coming from because prior to me finding out that I had a "Seizure Disorder / Epilepsy", I felt the same way about people who told me they had "Epilepsy" I was somwhat afraid of being around them. Unfortunately, the majority of society is ignorant and uninformed about "our condition" (someone mentioned fear of the unknown) now, when I tell people I have a "Seizure Disorder", I sometimes get responses such as "your an EPILEPTIC --you mean you could have a fit???" --So, I bite my tongue and so "NOOOOO, I am not DOG--I will not have FIT.....I have S-E-I-Z-U-R-E-S!"....and of course, if they continue with their idiotic respnses, I have to tell them that "I understand their ignorance, but it is a medical condition that A Lot of people have"--------I actually was let go from a job when I went in late one day after having a gran mal/tonic clonic in the early morning---in my stupor I had wandered into the bathroom, got in the bathrub and busted my face open on the faucets when I fell in the tub---after I got together, I went to work and told one of the girls in the office what happened because my face was all cut up, swolen and brusing---later in the day, I was told by manmagement they were cutting back on staff and that would be my last day---- GO FIGURE and thank you!! (----kicker is, it was a law firm!)
Good luck to all of you who endure this or who have loved ones who do-----hopefully, one day they will develop a cure === until then, I just let the ignorance roll off---if people are too stupid to accept me because of "my condition", I don't really care-----Who Needs Stupid People In Their Life?? LOL :)
Peace
Re: Seizure disorder and epilepsy, what is the difference?
Submitted by Nerak95 on Tue, 2009-03-03 - 02:13
There is no difference. Some people (doctors and patients) use either term.
~Karen
There is no difference. Some people (doctors and patients) use either term.
~Karen