Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
VNS questions
Sat, 04/27/2019 - 21:02Topic: Surgery and Devices
Hi I'm almost 21 and have been living with epilepsy since I was 9. I've been an extremely active human being ever since I can remember, I had a VNS (vagus nerve stimulator) put in when I was 15. If you know anything about VNS's they stimulate a nerve near where you would breathe, sometimes making your voice weaken as well as making any physical activity very hard to breathe (creates wheezing, asthma like symptoms). Many know that you can turn the VNS off by holding the magnet device to the stimulator to turn it off for short periods of time. I do Crossfit (a high intensity workout methodology) while doing workouts I use medical tape to tape my magnet over my VNS turning the stimulator off. While this works, I have been doing this for 6 years now and am tired of bugging people to tape it around my body for me and then having it sometimes fall off during workouts as well as leaving chafing marks on my body, not to mention tape isn't cheap. Does anyone know of a re usable strap or anything re usable to substitute for taping it on that I could buy or find online?
Thank you so much!