Epileptic Philosophy major

[shoestringilness]

Hi! My name is Rachel. I am 19 years old. Although I am new to the forum I am no newcomer to epilepsy. This is the first time, however, I am experiencing it in my adult life. ok, so, a little bit of background. I started having seizures when i was nine years old but they were so mild that i wouldn't go unconscious and the doctors would think i was having panic attacks. but then when i was 12 i had a grand mal seizure in the middle of science class and so i was put on a high dosage of lamictal until i was 17. the doctor told me that since i hadn't had a seizure since i was 12 i could be weened off of it but that i couldn't drive for 6 months. well, i had just gotten my lisence and i wasn't giving it up so i decided to weene myself off of the medication and was fine until about four weeks ago. I am now taking a drug called topamax. I was wondering if there were any other epileptics in this forum who are in college and what you do about schoolwork because i am finding memory and reading difficult. My screen name is shoestringilness just IM me anytime!

[shomann]

I am college too. I had a grand mal in Feb. so I was lucky enough to be able to drop two of my classes and take them this summer. But I know how you feel. It is really bad on my bad days. I have to just get up and walk away when I am doing homework. I am going to be a nurse so luckly for me I don't have alot of in class classes right now. Most of mine are online. I am on Keppra right now. I wish you the best of luck in college.

[Birdbomb]

Welcome Rachel

Make yourself at home!

[RobinN]

Hi Rachel, Welcome to CWE.
Sounds like your seizures could have begun around the time your hormones kicked in.
This happened with my daughter too. I know from her experience that it is darn hard to keep up with your school work. She has memory issues as well, processing information, and recently I found the book that they were reading in English, on CD. So she downloaded it to her ipod. She says it made quite a positive change in her comprehension.

[Bernard]

Hi Rachel, welcome to the forum. I am so glad Stacy (my wife) is finally done with college. I'm still not sure how she managed to get her Master's degree at a time when she was really struggling with cognitive issues.

[alivenwell]

I made it through two technical degrees and had to write everything down, assignments, mathematical formulas, etc. (the rote method) until I memorized it.
Mnemonic methods have really been useful for me.
I still write everything down. Now that I have a cool cell phone, I set alarms on it as reminders for practically anything I need to remember like project deadlines, medications, meetings, and training classes/tests.

[shoestringilness]

Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and warm welcomes. When i found out that I had to go back on epilepsy medication i was very distraught because i thought that i could never make it through college. But it is encouraging to hear from some of you who have already achieved degrees! Thank you all for your suggestions!

[skillefer]

Hi shoestringilness! I've had grandmals for a long time....and managed to get my masters degree. So it is possible. If homework is really difficult..then you might consider going to your disabled strudent services office. Sometimes they assist by providing books on tape as well as other services. But you'll probably need a doctor's note stating that you have epilepsy...

[BuckeyeFan]

Memory loss! I sure understand that one. It can be the result of the E or the meds. Some good suggestions above. I am on the computer a lot with my work, so most things go on there. Writing is too slow for me because of shaky hands.

There are lots of college students here you will be able to meet. You might just start a thread called college students. Me, I am just an old grandpa (46).

I did earn two college degrees with epilepsy. One when I was in my early 20s and one around 40. So I have great confidence in you.

Best wishes!