Complex Partial Seizures

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Hello I am starting this Discussion about Complex Partial Seizures because I don't see a lot of information about them or see many people discussing this type of seizure. I have them. I do not go totally unconscious but I am not aware of what I am doing. For example, if I am walking across the street and I have a seizure, I could continue to walk across the street unaware that a car was coming and I was in danger despite people were yelling at me. They only last a few seconds to a minute. Sometimes I will just stop whatever I am doing and just freeze for a few seconds. Usually afterwards, I am sleepy and will sleep 30 minutes. Does anyone else have complex partial seizures? How have they handled them? It has been very difficult for me. I used to be very active before these began but now it is hard for me to leave the house without someone with me. I have harmed myself twice having these. I have burned myself so badly I had to have a skin graft. I have tried just about every type of medication but nothing has totally controlled them. I would be interested in knowing how others cope with these types of seizures.

Comments

You used to be very active...

Submitted by just_joe on Fri, 2017-12-15 - 16:43

You used to be very active.... Did the doctors tell you not to be active? Or did you stop being active yourself? There is a reason for those questions. If YOU stopped being active then you decided to not go out and do things. If that is the case then YOU are letting your epilepsy control you rather then YOU controlling your epilepsy.you harmed yourself twice and had to have a skin graft... I have burned myself many times. I was frying pork chops and when I laid the pork chop in the skillet I had a seizure while placing it in the oil. It was in my hand and fingers in the oil for a while. So I do know about that one time. Oh and I was to have been in my brothers wedding and I was cooking lasagna sauce in an electric pan and my hand laid in it and slip the pan off the counter. It was going to be great sauce but that slide slipped it off the counter and I now have scars that go down my right thigh. The ER people cut my NEW jeans off after I had put them on in order to dressed. I was wearing swim trunks when I was making the sauce. My right hand was laid against the skillet on another occasion. I was riding a ten speed bike when I had a seizure. The wheel hit the curb and I hit the curb with my head right at the eyebrow that took about 4 stiches. Did it stop me from doing what I liked or loved doing?? NO and I had many other times I had seizures. I made the decision that I wasn't going to let epilepsy control what I did or where I went.You have tried just about every type of medication and nothing has TOTALLY controlled them... Let me think.... Well I have taken over 10 different medications and another 10 combinations of medications and all kinds of dosages. I haven't tried them all since there are about 60 different medications themselves. The word CONTROL is what you need to research. Doctors want to control all seizures. They do try to do that with ONE medication. However there are going to be people that will never have their seizures TOTALLY controlled with medications. I happen to be one of them. I still have a seizure now and then but they last a few seconds and the people I am around do not know I am in one even if we are talking to each other drinking a cup of coffee,You see it takes working with your neurologist and ASKING questions to get the best control one can get. Doc and I reduced the number of seizures I was having and the type of seizures down. What kind of seizures did I have one might ask. Well Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy was the diagnosis. Absence seizures are petite mal. Toni clonic and Grand mal. Focal seizures can land in many areas They can look like an absence seizure or look like a tonic clonic. But generally they are any of the partial seizures. What I have today are basically simple partial seizures that affect my right hand making my fingers feel numb or weird. Now when I was a lot younger if my hand felt that way and then my arm started rising then I was in a focal seizure that generalized and if my arm got shoulder high I went into a convulsion.Work with your neurologist. Ask them questions. One of the main questions to ask them now is Will I ever be completely seizure free? Are there any other medications or procedures that can help control my seizures better?You see How you deal with your epilepsy and whether you control it or let it control you is up to you.I did what I wanted and rarely did I not do something. I went out with the guys. I climed mountains. I swam. I worked in many fields of work. I never drove. That was not my decision but the states. I made the decision that I was not going to let epilepsy control what I did.I hope this helpsJoe

You used to be very active.... Did the doctors tell you not to be active? Or did you stop being active yourself? There is a reason for those questions. If YOU stopped being active then you decided to not go out and do things. If that is the case then YOU are letting your epilepsy control you rather then YOU controlling your epilepsy.you harmed yourself twice and had to have a skin graft... I have burned myself many times. I was frying pork chops and when I laid the pork chop in the skillet I had a seizure while placing it in the oil. It was in my hand and fingers in the oil for a while. So I do know about that one time. Oh and I was to have been in my brothers wedding and I was cooking lasagna sauce in an electric pan and my hand laid in it and slip the pan off the counter. It was going to be great sauce but that slide slipped it off the counter and I now have scars that go down my right thigh. The ER people cut my NEW jeans off after I had put them on in order to dressed. I was wearing swim trunks when I was making the sauce. My right hand was laid against the skillet on another occasion. I was riding a ten speed bike when I had a seizure. The wheel hit the curb and I hit the curb with my head right at the eyebrow that took about 4 stiches. Did it stop me from doing what I liked or loved doing?? NO and I had many other times I had seizures. I made the decision that I wasn't going to let epilepsy control what I did or where I went.You have tried just about every type of medication and nothing has TOTALLY controlled them... Let me think.... Well I have taken over 10 different medications and another 10 combinations of medications and all kinds of dosages. I haven't tried them all since there are about 60 different medications themselves. The word CONTROL is what you need to research. Doctors want to control all seizures. They do try to do that with ONE medication. However there are going to be people that will never have their seizures TOTALLY controlled with medications. I happen to be one of them. I still have a seizure now and then but they last a few seconds and the people I am around do not know I am in one even if we are talking to each other drinking a cup of coffee,You see it takes working with your neurologist and ASKING questions to get the best control one can get. Doc and I reduced the number of seizures I was having and the type of seizures down. What kind of seizures did I have one might ask. Well Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy was the diagnosis. Absence seizures are petite mal. Toni clonic and Grand mal. Focal seizures can land in many areas They can look like an absence seizure or look like a tonic clonic. But generally they are any of the partial seizures. What I have today are basically simple partial seizures that affect my right hand making my fingers feel numb or weird.  Now when I was a lot younger if my hand felt that way and then my arm started rising then I was in a focal seizure that generalized and if my arm got shoulder high I went into a convulsion.Work with your neurologist. Ask them questions. One of the main questions to ask them now is Will I ever be completely seizure free? Are there any other medications or procedures that can help control my seizures better?You see How you deal with your epilepsy and whether you control it or let it control you is up to you.I did what I wanted and rarely did I not do something. I went out with the guys. I climed mountains. I swam. I worked in many fields of work. I never drove. That was not my decision but the states. I made the decision that I was not going to let epilepsy control what I did.I hope this helpsJoe

You used to be very active.... Did the doctors tell you not to be active? Or did you stop being active yourself? There is a reason for those questions. If YOU stopped being active then you decided to not go out and do things. If that is the case then YOU are letting your epilepsy control you rather then YOU controlling your epilepsy.you harmed yourself twice and had to have a skin graft... I have burned myself many times. I was frying pork chops and when I laid the pork chop in the skillet I had a seizure while placing it in the oil. It was in my hand and fingers in the oil for a while. So I do know about that one time. Oh and I was to have been in my brothers wedding and I was cooking lasagna sauce in an electric pan and my hand laid in it and slip the pan off the counter. It was going to be great sauce but that slide slipped it off the counter and I now have scars that go down my right thigh. The ER people cut my NEW jeans off after I had put them on in order to dressed. I was wearing swim trunks when I was making the sauce. My right hand was laid against the skillet on another occasion. I was riding a ten speed bike when I had a seizure. The wheel hit the curb and I hit the curb with my head right at the eyebrow that took about 4 stiches. Did it stop me from doing what I liked or loved doing?? NO and I had many other times I had seizures. I made the decision that I wasn't going to let epilepsy control what I did or where I went.You have tried just about every type of medication and nothing has TOTALLY controlled them... Let me think.... Well I have taken over 10 different medications and another 10 combinations of medications and all kinds of dosages. I haven't tried them all since there are about 60 different medications themselves. The word CONTROL is what you need to research. Doctors want to control all seizures. They do try to do that with ONE medication. However there are going to be people that will never have their seizures TOTALLY controlled with medications. I happen to be one of them. I still have a seizure now and then but they last a few seconds and the people I am around do not know I am in one even if we are talking to each other drinking a cup of coffee,You see it takes working with your neurologist and ASKING questions to get the best control one can get. Doc and I reduced the number of seizures I was having and the type of seizures down. What kind of seizures did I have one might ask. Well Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy was the diagnosis. Absence seizures are petite mal. Toni clonic and Grand mal. Focal seizures can land in many areas They can look like an absence seizure or look like a tonic clonic. But generally they are any of the partial seizures. What I have today are basically simple partial seizures that affect my right hand making my fingers feel numb or weird. Now when I was a lot younger if my hand felt that way and then my arm started rising then I was in a focal seizure that generalized and if my arm got shoulder high I went into a convulsion.Work with your neurologist. Ask them questions. One of the main questions to ask them now is Will I ever be completely seizure free? Are there any other medications or procedures that can help control my seizures better?You see How you deal with your epilepsy and whether you control it or let it control you is up to you.I did what I wanted and rarely did I not do something. I went out with the guys. I climed mountains. I swam. I worked in many fields of work. I never drove. That was not my decision but the states. I made the decision that I was not going to let epilepsy control what I did.I hope this helpsJoe

I have recently stopped going

Submitted by sf202 on Fri, 2017-12-15 - 19:24

I have recently stopped going out because while you say you have partial seizures and the people around you don't know, I have complex partial seizures which are very different. People do know as I do rather strange things. Like I said in my earlier post, I can walk in front of a car and not be aware that it is coming. I would just keep walking or I just stop and freeze where I am until the seizure is over. If people try to speak to me during the seizure, sometimes I will say things I don't remember saying. I have found myself in the men's bathroom (I'm a female) and not known how I got there. That happened because I was walking down the hall and had a seizure and kept walking until I woke up in the men's restroom. It is rather scary. I want to be active again and find ways to cope. That is why I am reaching out and trying to find others who have these types of seizures to get advice on how they cope and what they do to stay independent. I am looking for some strategies. I have to spend a lot of time alone. I don't have family members and friends who can be with me all of the time. Besides, before I was diagnosed with this, I was very independent.

I can have almost any and all

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2017-12-17 - 14:45

I can have almost any and all the different seizures listed. The list can become long. My diagnosis was made before they started specializing and came up with the different types of seizures and epilepsy they have today. Research Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy. Petite mal seizures are absence seizures, Grand mal seizures are tonic clonic. Focal seizures are any of the partial seizures, generalized seizures and yes even seizures that look like a grand mal but in them I was conscious. So try and figure out what kind of seizures I was having and tell me if I controlled where I went and what I did even tho I MIGHT have a seizure. Do It took many years to get to where I am today. I have been dealing with epilepsy and seizures for 50+ years. Back when I was in my 20+30's I still did what I wanted to. I had partial. simple partial and yes complex partial seizures back then. I went to clubs and enjoyed myself. Back then I was having seizures more often and they sure as hell weren't a few seconds long. I didn't let my seizures determine what I was going to do. I had friends that were told what to do if I had them . I was the one that told them what to do. Remember back then there was no 911. There were no computers. You learned from research in libraries and your neurologist.. You told the people around you what to do to help you. I was alone a lot of the time. I have been independent. I had my own apartment. I worked. I walked to and from work. I made the decisions. The friends I had were around me some of the time but not always. Mom was the only family member that was close and it took time to go to her house. OH and just so you'll know it I stopped walking while in a seizure the cars coming toward me stopped. I was given a ticket for jay walking. The cops didn't know I had the seizure while crossing the street. So you decided to stop doing things because you MAY HAVE a seizure. People can be walking across the street and not have a seizure and still get hit by a car. People can still get burned bad without having a seizure, People can still slip and injure themselves without having a seizure. What should they have stopped doing so they wouldn't have had those things happen. You see it is YOU that are keeping yourself from doing what you want. Epilepsy is the crutch you are using because you think if you stop doing this or that you won't have a seizure and hurt yourself. Which equates to you letting EPILEPSY CONTROL YOU.Do people that have a heart condition stop doing things because they don't want another heart attack or a-fib? NO they go on with their lives. I have epilepsy. I also have a-fib with intermittent A flutter. I take meds for both of them. It is ME that determined whether I was going to set around and not be active. It was me asking my doctors questions in order to find the right medications to control my seizures and heart beat. It took over 30 years to find the combination of meds to control my seizures and be able to have some and people around me wouldn't know I had them. How long have you been working with your doctors trying to control your seizures? How long has it been since you discussed your seizures and medications with your doctor? Have you discussed procedures that might help control your seizures? Have you checked to see if your diet might help control your seizures?Try and do what you want and use some COMMON SENSE. Yes people need to be cautious. But being overly cautious can be an issue in itself.

I can have almost any and all the different seizures listed. The list can become long. My diagnosis was made before they started specializing and came up with the different types of seizures and epilepsy they have today. Research Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy. Petite mal seizures are absence seizures, Grand mal seizures are tonic clonic. Focal seizures  are any of the partial seizures, generalized seizures and yes even seizures that look like a grand mal but in them I was conscious. So try and figure out what kind of seizures I was having and tell me if I controlled where I went and what I did even tho I MIGHT have a seizure. Do It took many years to get to where I am today. I have been dealing with epilepsy and seizures for 50+ years. Back when I was in my 20+30's I still did what I wanted to. I had partial. simple partial and yes complex partial seizures back then. I went to clubs and enjoyed myself. Back then I was having seizures more often and they sure as hell weren't a few seconds long. I didn't let my seizures determine what I was going to do. I had friends that were told what to do if I had them . I was the one that told them what to do. Remember back then there was no 911. There were no computers. You learned from research in libraries and your neurologist.. You told the people around you what to do to help you. I was alone a lot of the time. I have been independent. I had my own apartment. I worked. I walked to and from work. I made the decisions. The friends I had were around me some of the time but not always.  Mom was the only family member that was close and it took time to go to her house. OH and just so you'll know it I stopped walking while in a seizure the cars coming toward me stopped. I was given a ticket for jay walking. The cops didn't know I had the seizure while crossing the street. So you decided to stop doing things because you MAY HAVE a seizure. People can be walking across the street and not have a seizure and still get hit by a car. People can still get burned bad without having a seizure, People can still slip and injure themselves without having a seizure. What should they have stopped doing so they wouldn't have had those things happen. You see it is YOU that are keeping yourself from doing what you want. Epilepsy is the crutch you are using because you think if you stop doing this or that you won't have a seizure and hurt yourself. Which equates to you letting EPILEPSY CONTROL YOU.Do people that have a heart condition stop doing things because they don't want another heart attack or a-fib? NO they go on with their lives.  I have epilepsy. I also have a-fib with intermittent A flutter. I take meds for both of them. It is ME that determined whether I was going to set around and not be active. It was me asking my doctors questions in order to find the right medications to control my seizures and heart beat. It took over 30 years to find the combination of meds to control my seizures and be able to have some and people around me wouldn't know I had them. How long have you been working with your doctors trying to control your seizures? How long has it been since you discussed your seizures and medications with your doctor? Have you discussed procedures that might help control your seizures? Have you checked to see if your diet might help control your seizures?Try and do what you want and use some COMMON SENSE. Yes people need to be cautious. But being overly cautious can be an issue in itself.

I can have almost any and all the different seizures listed. The list can become long. My diagnosis was made before they started specializing and came up with the different types of seizures and epilepsy they have today. Research Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy. Petite mal seizures are absence seizures, Grand mal seizures are tonic clonic. Focal seizures are any of the partial seizures, generalized seizures and yes even seizures that look like a grand mal but in them I was conscious. So try and figure out what kind of seizures I was having and tell me if I controlled where I went and what I did even tho I MIGHT have a seizure. Do It took many years to get to where I am today. I have been dealing with epilepsy and seizures for 50+ years. Back when I was in my 20+30's I still did what I wanted to. I had partial. simple partial and yes complex partial seizures back then. I went to clubs and enjoyed myself. Back then I was having seizures more often and they sure as hell weren't a few seconds long. I didn't let my seizures determine what I was going to do. I had friends that were told what to do if I had them . I was the one that told them what to do. Remember back then there was no 911. There were no computers. You learned from research in libraries and your neurologist.. You told the people around you what to do to help you. I was alone a lot of the time. I have been independent. I had my own apartment. I worked. I walked to and from work. I made the decisions. The friends I had were around me some of the time but not always. Mom was the only family member that was close and it took time to go to her house. OH and just so you'll know it I stopped walking while in a seizure the cars coming toward me stopped. I was given a ticket for jay walking. The cops didn't know I had the seizure while crossing the street. So you decided to stop doing things because you MAY HAVE a seizure. People can be walking across the street and not have a seizure and still get hit by a car. People can still get burned bad without having a seizure, People can still slip and injure themselves without having a seizure. What should they have stopped doing so they wouldn't have had those things happen. You see it is YOU that are keeping yourself from doing what you want. Epilepsy is the crutch you are using because you think if you stop doing this or that you won't have a seizure and hurt yourself. Which equates to you letting EPILEPSY CONTROL YOU.Do people that have a heart condition stop doing things because they don't want another heart attack or a-fib? NO they go on with their lives. I have epilepsy. I also have a-fib with intermittent A flutter. I take meds for both of them. It is ME that determined whether I was going to set around and not be active. It was me asking my doctors questions in order to find the right medications to control my seizures and heart beat. It took over 30 years to find the combination of meds to control my seizures and be able to have some and people around me wouldn't know I had them. How long have you been working with your doctors trying to control your seizures? How long has it been since you discussed your seizures and medications with your doctor? Have you discussed procedures that might help control your seizures? Have you checked to see if your diet might help control your seizures?Try and do what you want and use some COMMON SENSE. Yes people need to be cautious. But being overly cautious can be an issue in itself.