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Epilepsy and Drinking
Wed, 07/04/2018 - 18:35Topic: Young Adults
I had my very first seizure in October 2017 (9ish months ago), I was sitting in my college dorm studying for my chem exam and I had one.
Long story short, my neurologist diagnosed me with epilepsy.
I have not had another seizure since my first one. Do I actually have epilepsy then, I don't know. I am on Zonisamide 200mg.
All my friends are friends are drinking. Am I allowed to join them?
I want to be drinking with my friends but not sure if my meds will allow me to.
If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks so much
I would not mix
Submitted by RTLEmum on Tue, 2018-08-14 - 11:38
I would not mix anticonvulsants with alcohol. Also staying out late and drinking lower the seizure threshold, so you are sort of tempting fate. Usually one seizure does not equal epilepsy, but it can be hard to spot other seizures that are subtle: make sure you know all the seizure types so you can recognize if you have a complex partial seizure. Your neurologist must have thought you had epilepsy to treat you after one seizure. You could get a 2nd opinion at a Level 4 epilepsy center by an epileptologist. I think it would be worth looking into things a bit more... If your friends are truly friends, you should be able to go out with them and drink less or not drink and leave early. If you are really concerned, they have non-alcoholic beer that looks like beer--no one would know you are not actually drinking alcohol--bartenders could probably also make you a fake drink, if you are really concerned. But again, if these people are truly friends... Stay healthy.