Epilepsy Talk
Domestic violence — when love goes wrong
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Carol found herself in a cycle of violence from the time she was a child. By adulthood, she had already experienced multiple beatings and hospitalizations.
In the most recent attack, her husband beat her with a board, leaving her with permanent brain damage and a life-long disability.
As a result of her injury, she now has frequent seizures, difficulty with balance, and is terrified to leave her home for fear of having a seizure or falling.
Dating disasters…
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When I was a teen I fell down, walked into walls, bumped into virtually everything in my path, and almost drowned in the shower.
So, you can imagine what a disaster dating was.
Which of these is the cause of your epilepsy?
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In some 6 out of 10 cases, epilepsy is idiopathic — meaning the cause is unknown. In other cases, epilepsy can be traced to an abnormality of the structure or function of the brain.
These abnormalities can arise from traumatic brain injuries, strokes and other vascular problems, infections of the nervous system (meningitis or encephalitis), congenital malformations, brain tumors or metabolic abnormalities.
Seizures can literally begin at any time for any number of reasons.
Here are just a few of them.
Which pertain to you?
Food or medications — which would you choose?
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It’s heartbreaking, but all too common…
A patient calls their doctor after repeated seizures.
He had missed his medication for about a week. He had recently been laid off and lost insurance coverage.
He couldn’t afford to refill his eslicarbazepine acetate (Aptiom) prescription.
Epilepsy and Diabetes — Confusion or Common Cure?
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A seizure can be quite serious and can be a scary experience for not just the person experiencing it but for the people around them.
While seizures are caused due to many reasons, one of the prime reasons for a seizure to occur is when people have epilepsy.
Among those types of seizures are diabetic seizures, which can sometimes turn into an emergency quite quickly.
Tags: blood sugar, coma, diabetes, emergency, Epilepsy, Glucophage, seizures
What most offends YOU about how people treat epilepsy?
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I call epilepsy the “stealth condition,” because most people don’t actually witness a seizure.
Which results in an abundance of ignorance…misinformation..and to be frank, discrimination and slurs.
Tags: achievement, advocate, behavior, discrimination, Epilepsy, ignorance, misinformation, pariah, seizures, stigma
A menu of epilepsy auras…
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One of the good thing about auras, is that if you’re aware of them, they’re effective (if unpleasant) warning signals of an oncoming seizure.
I didn’t learn to identify mine (mouth filling up with saliva and disgusting metallic taste) until I was well into my 20’s.
Tags: auditory changes, auras, physical changes, psychological changes, seizures, visual changes, warning signs
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
The Trouble with AEDs…
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At the very best, finding the right anti-epilepsy drug is a crap shoot. There’s always the hope that this one will do it.
Or maybe adjunct therapy will work. Or, sigh, the side-effects derail you and you’re on to the next.
Is asking for seizure control too much to ask?
Tags: AEDS, anti-epilepsy drugs, benefits, dangers, seizures, side-effects
Other Voices…Other Lives…
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“There were times I asked myself,
‘Is life really worth living?’
Suicide, now there’s a thought,
But would God be forgiving?”
Ed L.
Tags: damaged goods, friends, memory, opportunities, relationships, seclusion, seizures, succeed, suicide
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Epilepsy Talk 