Epilepsy Talk
Seniors — Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy or Seizures?
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The question of whether a person has epilepsy or Alzheimer’s can be a tough one.
Take those “senior moments” — memory lapses, zoning out and other temporary confusion. These seemingly harmless incidents may actually be a sign of epilepsy. Roughly 1-2 percent of seniors develop epilepsy — and that rate is rising.
But experts at the U.S. National Council on Aging warn that often epilepsy goes undetected in seniors.
Tags: "senior moments", Alzheimer's, drugs, Epilepsy, medications, misdiagnosed, Research, seizures, undetected
Combined Meds — What They Are Doing to Your Body
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For many of us, monotherapy just doesn’t work.
However adjunct therapy has its dangers.
For example, some seizure medicines can lower or raise the levels of other types of medicines in your blood.
Some combinations cause the levels of both medications to fall.
Some cause one level to fall and one level to rise.
And some cause unpredictable side-effects.
So I hunkered down to discover the unhappy marriages between anti-seizure meds.
MS or Epilepsy?
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Recently a woman wrote to me telling about the awful diagnostic disaster that she had been through.
In her words: “It took 3 years, 3 primary doctors, and 7 neurologists to diagnose me.
I told everyone that ‘it feels like my brain is shaking in my head.”
If they had listened to me the first time and had done a simple EEG, it would’ve saved us and the insurance company a lot of money!”
Tags: autoimmune, Epilepsy, misdiagnosis, MS, neuroimaging, research sparse
Epilepsy Glossary — 100+ Terms Defined
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Even if you do have epilepsy, it doesn’t necessarily mean you know all the lingo. (I didn’t!) So here are some definitions of medical terms related to epilepsy…
Top Seizure Apps For Smartphones…
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Smart phone apps for epilepsy have been studied with the results published in the International Journal of Epilepsy
Led by Dr. Lakshmi Narasimhan Ranganathan from the Institute of Neurology, Madras Medical College (Madras, India), researchers surveyed the mobile applications available for the everyday care of epilepsy patients.
Those apps include seizure diaries as well as medication trackers with reminders to take the next pill.
Apps are available to answer any question patients with epilepsy might have and to remind doctors about drug interactions to watch out for.
Most of them are free of charge.
What was your first seizure like?
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I can remember being in the shower, washing my very long hair.
It was one of those old-fashioned showers with a heavy plate-glass door and a stainless steel handle that you had to turn to get in and get out.
There were 4 water jets…three coming from the side wall…and a shower head in the ceiling.
All of a sudden, it felt like my blood was rushing out of my toes.
As all of my energy drained out of me, I thought: “I’m going to drown.”
How Creative Are YOU?
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I was born a writer. Just like I was born with brown eyes. In 5th grade when we were assigned to write a poem with an illustration, everyone wrote about the spring, flowers, stars, the city, the country. I wrote about racism. My illustration was a black silhouette pasted against white paper. My teacher promptly sent me home with a note for my parents, accusing me of plagiarism.
Tags: electrical storms, enhance creativity, Epilepsy, inspiration, latent artist, spark inspiration
Sleep apnea — it’s not just what you think it is
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It’s not just snoring. It’s much more dangerous than that. Even deadly.
The estimated prevalence in North America is approximately 15 to 30 percent in males and 10 to 15 percent in females, But, as much as 40 percent of epilepsy patients suffer with undiagnosed sleep apnea. Especially those with refractory epilepsy.
Tags: breathing, CPAP, dangerous, Epilepsy, oxygen, seizures, sleep apnea, sleep quality, snoring
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Epilepsy Talk 