Glad to be here

[angico76]

I'm really glad I have found this site! I've had epilepsy for 11 years now...first diagnosed when I was 18. I have complex partial seizures in my left temporal lobe. Have been through a lot like you guys, different meds, different scans, different neurologists, good stages, bad stages, no insurance at times, 2 car wrecks without knowing about my epilepsy, participated in a study, and all kinds of different side effects. Side effects still common for me (probably because of my 2 meds Keppra and Lamictal) are drowsiness and fatigue. Other problems probably due to my epilepsy are deppression, panic attacks, and bad memory.
Does anyone ever blame all their problems on their epilepsy? I'm in school pursuing nursing. I'm a sophomore and have done good til these last 2 semesters. I feel like I'm always drowsy, can't concentrate, and am forgetful, so I'm really stressed about pursuing my goal. I need to get this done...better money for me and my family and a good field to go into. It's really frustrating!
Any pointers? I'm almost ready to give up! Aaaahhhh!

[epileric]

I also get partials. All the effects you described (drowsiness, depression etc) are all ones I get & I have to agree it's frustrating. Recently I got a little panic attack (over nothing really) but I needed something confirmed to resolve the panic & just caused a huge misunderstanding b/w me & my friend. It's since been resolved but the frustration of having to go through all that is... well.... frustrating.

Nursing sounds like a great thing to be in just for the fact that I'd expect less discrimination due to your seizures and because you have the opportunity to educate your class a bit more on how various practices apply to people with epilepsy. My only concern would be that the RN's I've known have said that it can be an extremely stressful field.

I realize certain things are due to my epilepsy but having been born with it I view mostly view it as just part of who I am regardless of the consequences. This thread might interest you though. What part of your epilepsy do you hate most?

[Nakamova]

Hi angico76, welcome to CWE!

Hang in there, it's great that you are so close to achieving your goal. If you think the meds are interfering with your sleep and cognitive abilities, is there any chance you can back off the dose slightly to see if it helps? If it;'s affecting your studies, can you talk to the school about making some accommodations? Short of that, can you build some break times into your schedule just to close your eyes and breathe -- they needn't be long, just ten or fifteen minutes once or twice to a day to shut out the world and clear the cobwebs.

Best,
Nakamova

[angico76]

Thanks you guys,
I'm trying my best to deal with it. I have been thinking that nursing may be a little too stressful, but what field would you recommend?

[msuder0583]

angico,
I am so with you on this one. I am in school as well. Except to be a teacher. But just like you, it is very hard to concentrate and do school work. My memory is terrible, I have slurred speech when I try to do presentations; it's just awful. And if you're on Topamax it doesn't help. They don't call it Dopamax for nothing. It makes you almost moronic in some ways. But just hang in there, things will get better and you will succeed. That's what I keep telling myself. Just picture yourself standing at the end of the road, not lying down in the middle of it, and overcome any med side effects or seizures that hit you during this period.

[SevenC]

angico,
I am so with you on this one. I am in school as well. Except to be a teacher. But just like you, it is very hard to concentrate and do school work. My memory is terrible, I have slurred speech when I try to do presentations; it's just awful. And if you're on Topamax it doesn't help. They don't call it Dopamax for nothing. It makes you almost moronic in some ways. But just hang in there, things will get better and you will succeed. That's what I keep telling myself. Just picture yourself standing at the end of the road, not lying down in the middle of it, and overcome any med side effects or seizures that hit you during this period.

I'm a teacher and epilepsy has been rough on me. I finished college before coming down with epilepsy. I came down with epilepsy my first year of teaching after being in a bad car accident and also developing PCOS the same year (2007) I had a terrible seizure in March of this year that we are pretty sure caused brain damage. I am still having a ton of trouble talking, spelling and reading. I had a great class this year. As part of our classroom emergency plan, we included my seizures. 2 tables of children were to put their heads down and just sit still. The table by the door was to go get help from other teachers on my hall. I also wear a medical ID bracelet.

The most aggravating thing about it has been having to stop in the middle of lessons and wait for things like reading and spelling to come back to me.

But we had a very successful year. I teach 2nd grade in an inner city school. At the beginning of the year, only 8 of my 23 kids could read on a 2nd grade level. 6 were on a kindergarten level. By the end of the year, all but 5 of my 23 were on a 2nd grade level. And those 5 improved substantially.

I'm so proud of them and myself for not allowing my condition to sabotage my job.

So don't belittle yourself ( anyone in this thread ) . Your best is all you can do.