Hello! I am new, just wanted to check in.

[stauph99]

Hello everyone. I have been reading a few of the posts and I think this is a wonderful site and I wanted to join!

I am 27 years old and was diagnosed with a seizure disorder in March of 2007. I had my first grand mal seizure driving home from work alone and managed not to kill anyone or myself for that matter. They busted out my windows b/c they said it appeared I was having a seizure but of course they had to run a gambit of tests and that seemed to go on for weeks/months. (I was not conscious during the seizure and don’t remember any of it) They finally determined it was a seizure. Especially when I told them about my “déjà vu” moments that I have had my whole life. I never really thought they were something major. I mean I knew they weren’t normal b/c I have had normal déjà vu moments and they are totally different. I guess they call those partial seizures. So with that and the abnormal EEG, I was diagnosed. I was immediately put on 100 mg of Lamictal per day and have not had a seizure since. I went for my check up last week (I go every six months) and she took some blood to check my Lamictal levels and they were way too low (she said that can be effected by birth control) so now my dosage has doubled. Which is fine b/c I don’t get side effects from the meds anyway.

When I was first diagnosed it was all a blur, I was so frustrated with the testing, I was just happy to have a diagnosis and be done with it so I just let it roll off. Now that it has been 1.5 years I think it has finally set in that I have this and probably always will. She told me at first that if I don’t have one for a few years the problem may have corrected itself but then this past visit from looking at my chart and the abnormal EEG and the partial seizures I have always had she said she has no intention of taking me off meds ever at this point. Anyway, I guess reality is finally setting in. I got married in June and now that we think about having kids the reality is even more scary that I have to take meds while pregnant and I guess its not as simple as I had always imagined!

Anyway enough of the pity party! I’m glad to be with you guys and hope to get a lot out of this! Thanks!!!

[Meetz1064]

how do ya do, Stauph? It's nice to "meet" you!

CWE is a really cool place to be, as I'm sure you'll find out soon. I'm glad to hear that you've been able to get your seizures under control so easily. That's really cool!

Stick around, kick up your feet, and stay awhile! We have a lot of neat little nooks & crannies in this AWESOME house that Mr B built for us........you'll just have to check them all out!

Take care!

Meetz

[skillefer]

Hi Stauph! Welcome to CWE. It's a friendly place, so feel free to kick back and ask questions, vent, or chime in when you want. There's lots of info here, and since you're thinking of having kids, there are several people on the forum here who have had kids while on meds. So I'm sure they'll be willing to give you the benefit of their experiences.

[brain]

Stauph!

Glad to have you on the bandwagon in CWE!
You'll find a lot of folks just like you in here,
so you'll feel right at home!

[stauph99]

Sometimes I don't feel like anyone in my life understands so its nice to see that other people out there know exactly how I feel.

[Bernard]

Hi stauph99, welcome to the forum.

You might look into EEG neurofeedback (see link in my signature) as means to normalize your brain activity. It could potentially allow you to reduce your need for medications (and therefore improve the chances of delivery a baby without increased risk of birth defects from anti-epileptic drugs).