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starting with phenobarbital

Mon, 12/24/2018 - 13:39
I'm quite new with epilepsy.. i have myclonic seizures so i started taking phenobarbital 8 months ago and i have been seizure free for 4 months now.recently i found that phenobarbital is no longer prescribed to humans because of its negative effects and withdrawing this medicine is almost impossible (very low successful withdrawing rates) i realized later on that it doesn't even prevent from seizures its just masking them ! i got into very deep depression.. my mind won't accept the idea that i'm going to take such medicine for the rest of my life. i lost my own personality and my feelings are almost dead. my doctor tried to switch me to lamictal but stopping phenobarbital is so hard I couldn't resist it. the new medicine increased the frequency of my seizures too so we went back to phenobarbital .my family are far from understanding my case they think i'm just too lazy and boring. i know this is quite long but i feel down. any sipmle opinions or experiences with this medicine can help me deal with all this. thank you 3

Comments

Hi.  While I'm experienced

Submitted by RNichelle on Wed, 2019-01-30 - 20:04
Hi.  While I'm experienced with epilepsy, I have been fortunate to avoid a prescription of phenobarbital.  I received my diagnosis 16 years ago in June of 2003 after I had two tonic clonic seizures. Currently, I take Keppra and Lamictol. This combination of anti-convulsants has allowed me to be seizure-free for ten months.  When my parents told our extended family, I learned that the disorder comes from my father's side. My cousin was forced to take phenobarbital from age four to age 13.  He was unable to play outside on hot days unless he stayed in a swimming pool,  As an adult, he has a normal life.  Now, he works as a User Experience Leader for Kroger.  He is also a husband and father to three children.  I can empathize with you.

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