Hello, Another Newbe!

[Becky]

Hi everyone, I'm Becky! I am 27 years old (in april I will be anyway, lol) and live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I recently had to go on short term disabilty because of the seizures I am experienceing. My doctor is having a very difficult time controling them. I have grand mal, petite mal and jacksonian seziures. I have no idea if these seizure names actually overlap one another I just know that this is what is written in my file. Before having to leave work I spent my days doing therapy. I worked with adolecent sex offenders. I have only been with this population for a year and it has been very interesting. Before that my client base has consisted of people with Develpmental/Behavioral Disabiliaties as well as basic therapy.


I began having TRUE seizures (I'll explain that later) in October of 2007, however this is a secondary condition we believe but still aren't sure. In 1994 at the age of 13 I became ill experiencing chest pain, dizziness, body pain and severe fatigue. I was told I had the flu and to rest. Eventually at a cheerleading competion, in the middle of our routine I passed out and was taked to the hospital. I was told I was dehydrated and to rest. Later that night I began convulsing and looked like I was having seizures. This began a two year run of multiple hospitals and doctors. The cardiologists said it was a neurologist problem. The neurologists said it was a cardio problem. I was living in Detroit at the time and eventually was sent to a doctor in Toledo Ohio that told me he was studying a disorder that was very unknown to the medical community and my tests showed to him that I had it. This disorder is of the Autonomic Nervous system. The part of the brain that controls the involuntary funtions in our body. These include heart rate, body temperature, circulation, digestion, hormone levels, breathing and sexual function just to name a few. This part of my brain does not work. Everyday things cause my body to go haywire. Oh yes, the overall condition is called Dysautonomia. Anyway...that isn't what this site is about but if you have any questions I love to spread to word so feel free to ask!

I say true seizures because I have always had convulsions from this disorder. My heartrate would go into the high 200's or my body temperature would go dangeroulsy high and basically it was explained to me that my brain would "reboot". In order to keep me from having a heart attack or stroke I would pass out (my blood pressure would never drop) and because my muscles would contract due to the lack oxygen I appeared to be having a seizure.

I became pregnant in late June of last year. The seizures began in October. I lost my baby due to these seizures. My son's due date was actually today. I do have a 2 and a half year old though. He is my world. I could not have faced all of this without him and my husband.

My main question is to you ladies. Most seizure medications are class D and Class C. Have any of you been able to down grade your meds or if any of you have been on class C meds when you were pregnant was your child affected by this at all? I want any imput from anyone including non pregnancy related issues! I am a very talkative person, remember all, I do therapy...talking is my life, lol. I hope to get to know you all soon. Thank you so much for listening to my story. Well, reading my story anway, lol! I look forward to going back and reading yours.

[skillefer]

LOL....Welcome Becky! The group here is pretty friendly, so feel free to ask any questions you may have, or vent if you need to. There are actually several people on the forum who have kids and were taking meds during the pregnancy. So I'll let them relate to you their own experiences. Read the epilepsy 101 thread. It'll help. My condolences on the loss of your baby. Did your doctor ever figure out what triggers your seizures?

[Meetz1064]

I'd like to say hi, and welcome to CWE...you've found a wonderful place to learn, and to get great support from.

I am so very sorry for your loss.

I've actually heard of your disorder. I just can't remember where... Anyway, has any progress been made of figuring out the cause of the seizures that started in October?

I have had 3 kids, all while I was on meds. My kids are 21, 20 & 18 now (it's been a while). At the time I was pregnant, I was not told about too many risks with the meds because they really didn't know about them. I knew about a few with my daughter (one of the meds I was one with her was Dilantin...she has messed up finger & toenails now...some are even missing), and my youngest son (originally he was thought to have spina bifida, but he didn't). However, I was monitored on a daily basis with all 3 of my kids because of the severity of my seizures. Phone calls every day, in one office or another 2 or 3 times a week.

Get as much information as you can...from the websites of the meds, from the doctors, from other moms like you if you can. If there's an Epilepsy Foundation nearby that has a support group, that would be a good way to find out, too.

Good luck!

Meetz

[Bernard]

Hi Becky, welcome to the forum.

Condolences on the loss of your baby. We lost a baby too (though not to seizures). Our second child must be tougher than steel because my wife was having tonic clonic (grand mal) seizures about once a week or so all throughout his time in utero and he made it through just fine.

[RobinN]

Hi Becky, my daughter is a Becky too... also Becca, but I love the name Rebecca.

WELCOME to CWE I hope that you find interesting information here.
I studied Dysautonomia too, because it sounded like what was occuring with my daughter in the beginning. I now know that her disturbances were occuring more often due to the seizure meds.

Hope you pull up a chair and stay a while.

[BuckeyeFan]

My deepest sympathy on the loss of your child. We lost our second child 7 months into the pregnancy. That was 25 years ago, but I still miss him. Please know that your little one is safe in God's hands.

Thanks to three healthy daughters, I now have two grandchildren, the younger one is also a 2 1/2 year old boy. What a great and challenging age. They are learning SO MUCH each day, while still growing emotionally (temper). At least as a grandparent, I can avoid some of the terrible twos. On Easter, we flew a kite together for the first time. That was so cool.


I am already impressed by you. Dealing with E while staying in your line of work. I am sure that is quite challenging. You can be as talkative as you want to be here.

WELCOME