Engineering and epilepsy

Hi,Thank you for posting. Treatment and how the body may react to certain medications and supplements varies for each individual. The goal of treatment with medicines should be –No Seizures and No Side Effects.However, we know that some individuals may experience too many side effects,that are very bothersome or cause other health problems. We cannot determine what is causing your issues with memory, which may be related be related to several things from seizures, epilepsy, or a separate issue. Cognitive problems - problems with thinking, remembering, paying attention or concentrating, or other symptoms –can be due to side effects of some seizure medicines. For additional information about the effects of epilepsy and seizure medicines on cognition, visit:  https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/challenges-epilepsy . It's important that you are continuing to follow-up with your healthcare team to address these challenges as well as, any changes in seizure types/frequency, symptoms, moods & behaviors.  Be open and honest about how you all are feeling, and how this is affecting your health and daily life. Ask your doctor if you can schedule a time to talk via phone/ other telehealth resources you can utilize to discuss this further, or if they can make any additional recommendations. It may be helpful to keep a journal or a diary to help keep track or your seizures and document how you’re feeling. My Seizure Diary can be used to organize your health issues, manage medications, record side effects, other therapies or personal experiences and more, which can be shared with members of your healthcare team. https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/epilepsy-foundation-my-seizure-diary . We are glad to hear that your professors have been willing to work with you and have allowed for extra time on your exams. You may want to consider seeing a vocational rehabilitation counselor to help you navigate your career. https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/diagnosis/you-and-your-healthcare-team/vocational-rehabilitation-counselors. In many communities the local Epilepsy Foundation: https://www.epilepsy.com/affiliates offers programs and resources to help connect you with vocational counselor, and the employment section of our website, to help manage the impact of epilepsy on your work: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/independent-living/employment-help-what-you-need-know . Additionally, you may always contact our 24/7 Helpline, where trained information specialists are available to answer your questions, offer help, hope, support, guidance, and access to national and local resources. 1-800-332-1000, contactus@efa.org . epilepsy.com/helpline  

Hi. I’m a licensed clinical social worker and certified rehabilitation counselor as well as a person with epilepsy. An undergraduate degree in psychology does very little to get you a job. Even a masters in psychology (if it’s counseling psychology) is going to be hard to get a job because licensure varies state to state so much and you can’t even be independently licensed until a minimum of two years after graduation. I have a cognitive impairment, which is why I stayed in the field that I did because I’m still trying to work with my doctors on trying ADHD medication for me because my epilepsy started as a result of medical negligence that caused damage to my brain and my neuropsychological testing shows problems with attention, processing speed, memory and other areas. I chose social work because their license at the masters level transfers better state to state and they tend to get paid better (almost twice as much in some cases) and it had more variety in the type of work I could do, but I only figured that out after I got my first masters in counseling psychology. My advice to you is to communicate your concerns with your doctor about the cognitive issues that you are experiencing and see if they can order a neuropsychological testing. You didn’t mention what AEDs (medications) you are taking, but some medications have those cognitive side effects and others don’t. Also, you didn’t mention what type of epilepsy that you have, so if you are not already connected to an epilepsy center with an epilepsy specialist that has a neuropsychologist that they work closely with, I would recommend that you get a referral to one of you call the number that ConnectHelp recommended or from your neurologist. The reason is because not all neuropsychologists understand epilepsy and how the cognitive patterns come from one side of the brain, for example, are consistent with the EEG patterns. If this is your first time going to an epilepsy center, be sure to gather all of your medical records, especially EEG reports and if available the actual EEGs in digital format. The reality is that some people are successful in the field of psychology, but it’s only if they have a Ph.D. and are really good at marketing, work for someone else or use insurance (compromising the privacy and integrity of your clients treatment). I’d hate for you to give up on this or something else just to fall back on what you think is easier in school because the amount of documentation you need to do in managed care is overwhelming and can make you lose your job too because clients are needy and you don’t get to have the same boundaries when you work for an agency or when you are still in training. There’s some evidence that changes in the seizure medication used or even adding ADHD medication can help. But, some doctors are reluctant to add ADHD medication because of the FDA insert that states there is a risk if seizures even though there is an abundance of research that states otherwise and lots of people with epilepsy are on both AEDs and ADHD medication. That’s why even my epilepsy specialist said that while there is a risk, he agrees that’s it’s worth the experiment in my case if we can find a general neurologist or psychiatrist to work in collaboration with him on it because he only treats seizures.