Greetings

[Smorkringle]

I am a 50 year old Father of 3 that had epilepsy as a child. I had Petit mal seizures at age 4 which would also occur as moments of blanking out. I also experienced drop seizures at times. I was treated with dilantin and was diagnosed as having a normal EEG when I was 18 years old. The teasing I recieved as a child has caused me to follow my instincts and not rely on the popular crowd.

My daughter also had epilepsy as a child which may have contributed to a severe case of Scoliosis. She had surgery at age 16 to have rods put into her back to straighten her out. I became much more aware of the difficulties of Epilepsy when I watched my daughter struggle with having petit mal seizures every 5 to 10 minutes. She was placed in class with the learning disabled and took a severe blow to her self esteem as a result. She is 26 now with a child and a good life. Her experience has left her very strong and independent.


When I turned 45 I began to experience symptoms similar to when I was a child. I would start thinking about a subject and begin to suffer from an inability to concentrate. This became difficult for me since I was a Quality Engineer for a large company. The symptoms became worse as the stress of my job combined with my responsibilities as a parent began to take their toll on me. I had to leave my job after 25 years without getting my full retirement. I had an EEG performed but was told that my brainwave was normal. I have started my own business doing Consulting and am in the middle of recording 5 different CDs of songs I have written. I just have to work fewer days every week so that I can get the rest that I need.

At any rate I still feel like I have symptoms like the seizures I had as a child. I go through periods of increased spirituality and deep thought and then I have to sleep because of the exhaustion I experience. I really believe that I still have epileptic episodes, but that they don't occur during an EEG.

I would be interested if any one else has had a similar experience.

[Bernard]

Hi Smorkringle, welcome to the forum.

Reading your post reminded me of how Stacy was before she tried EEG neurofeedback. Are you getting enough uninterrupted sleep at night?

[Smorkringle]

That is always a tough one. I went to a sleep center a few years ago and found out I had restless leg syndrome that was waking me up around 150 times a night. I feel like I am sleeping a lot better than that now, but still don't know if I am getting the right kind of sleep. I will take a look at Stacy's diary.

Thanks

[Bernard]

Interesting. The reason I asked is because uninterrupted sleep is a key component in keeping the seizure threshold high: problems with lack of good sleep. It sounded like you were sleep deprived when you talked about how tired and stressed you were.

You might investigate if 5-HTP is an option for you.