Husband with PTSD?

[Pastor Mark]

Hey everybody, I've been married to my high-school sweetheart for almost 31 years. We were 15/16 when we started dating and we're 49/50 now, so I know more about her than anyone. Though we've been through a lot in our life together, last summer we were in Western Africa working in a small orphanage in the mountains. (on sabbatical/mission). She became ill and was diagnosed by a doctor in the local "hospital" as having malaria. After receiving some medication to take and being told that her symptoms would last a week or so, she stayed in our little room to rest while I spent time across the road at the orphanage. One evening I returned to find her still sleeping from earlier in the day. When I woke her she was very disoriented. (what I not know as either an aura or absence). I knew something was wrong and threw some stuff in a bag to take her to the big hospital about 1 1/2 hours away. When she stood up she had a tonic-clonic seizure. Now, I've been around crisis all of my life and usually I slow down and can handle it, but I thought at first she was having a stroke. After the seizure she fell unconscious and limp. I picked her up and started carrying her down the road till I was able to get a ride to the hospital. Although she came around in the car, she didn't know who I was or, that we had children, in fact, she was still disoriented and pretty much acted as though someone had hit her up-side the head with a board. (now I realize that she was). After arriving at the bigger hospital (1930's by our standards) she was still twitching and soon had another one. It was determined by a blood test that she had sepsis (an infection in the blood) which could cause a seizure.) She had also been experiencing increasingly frequent bouts of hypo-glycemia. We left the country and went to Germany to stay with our daughter who is an officer in the U.S. military for the rest of the summer. There we immediately saw a doctor who treated her sepsis and after several visits and tests told us that he felt she had a 'seizure disorder'. In other words, because of the intrinsic and extrinsic stresses of the infection and the trip, her body reacted with a seizure. She rested for a few days, recovered well (with a five day lapse in memory) and we spent the rest of the summer just relaxing, reading and taking a break from our normal busy lives.

After returning to the U.S., we moved to a new state because of my work. We were here two weeks when on a Saturday a.m. she again became disoriented. I immediately took her to the hospital (a modern hospital!) where she had a T-C seizure in the presence of a doctor and three nurses. It was then that she was diagnosed with Epilepsy. However, after being prescribed Keppra, she felt terrible and still suffered from low blood sugar. Although we weren't sure if she was feeling sick because of the Keppra, the hypoglycemia or, a combination of the two. We were scheduled to see the ego-centric Neurologist THREE MONTHS after the hospital incident and now matter how persistent we were, he would not move the appointment saying, "just be patient".

We finally were able to get into the Mayo Clinic where we spent a week seeing three different doctors and running a number of tests for both the Epilepsy and the hypo-glycemia. The Keppra was reduced slightly, her diet has changed and she has been feeling great. We're so grateful.

The thing is I'm still walking around like a bomb is going to go off any minute. Although I've gotten a little better, I'm still apprehensive about leaving her along too long (she back at work again). I still get freaked out a bit when I think of Africa and carrying her down a dark road thinking she had died, but I've been dealing with this by letting go through prayer. Today, she flew to another part of the country to see our daughter who's back in the U.S. for a course. It's the longest and the farthest she's been away from me since all of this happened, and then at the airport, I picked up the Newsweek article and although it was very informative, IT freaked me out a bit. Frankly, I think I'm struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the Africa event. I've got to see a Psychiatrist I think to work through this. It's just that I love her so much and we have a great relationship in every way, as well as a full and fruitful life. I guess it's not only her brain that gets out of control. Anyone?....

[skillefer]

LOL...Hi Pastor! Welcome to CWE. I'm glad to hear that your wife's diet is being worked on. I'm epileptic, as well as hypoglycemic as well. And when my sugar dips too low, I too can have seizures. Like your wife, I have tonic clonics. I know that they're scary to watch. But try to take comfort in the fact that during the seizure, she's not really feeling anything. Oh, she may be bruised up afterwards..but during it, she's not feeling a thing. As for the fogginess and not knowing that she had kids after the seizure, that's actually par for the course. If you notice her memory slipping, you might want to have her take fish oil. It tends to help. The thing to do to help you..and her..is to learn as much as you can. Also, try to think of epilepsy as being like asthma or diabetes. Treatable. As apprehensive as you are, can you just imagine how your wife must be feeling. For me, I tend to feel guilty when I have a seizure. Especially because I notice how worried my hubby gets. Your wife is still the same warm and caring person you fell in love with and married. She just has a medical condition. Hopefully, the meds will work for her. If they do, that's fantastic. But even if they do, just remember that seizures can change over time. We can go years without a seizure and then all of a sudden, have them start up again. Also, having to change meds is not that unusual either. So be prepared for it.

I skimmed the Newsweek article. Let me guess, it was the mention of Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy that freaked you out a bit. If so, just remember, none of us knows exactly how many days we have on this planet. It's not like we're born with expiration dates stamped on the bottoms of our feet. Yes, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy happens. And yes, it's tragic. But you cannot let fear rule your life, or your wifes. Hold to each other, and hold to your faith. You'll find this site to be a fantastic place to ask questions, chime in, or just vent if you need to. You aren't alone...and neither is your wife. And stressing won't help either of you. So I'm going to give you the advice I usually give to newbies here...

1. Eat 6 small meals a day. (proteins and carbs at each meal)
2. Get 7 hours of sleep every night. (no ifs, ands, or buts)
3. find healthy ways to deal with stress (prayer, meditation, crafts, exercise, writing, yoga, etc....)
4. Stop the caffeine consumption. (No coffee, tea, mate, sodas, or energy drinks....)
5. Cut waaaay back on fast food and junk food. When grocery shopping, try to shop the perimeter of the store.
6. Avoid OTC medicines. some of them can trigger seizures.

Ok. the reason for my suggestions is that lack of sleep, stress, poor diet, drop in blood sugar, food allergies, caffeine, and antihistamines are all known triggers. So if you both make these lifestyle changes, it'll be easier for your wife to follow through with them, and that means a better chance of avoiding another seizure. Good luck..and you'll be in my prayers.

[epileric]

Good to have you here.

It does take a long time to see a neurologist in most places. I know the first time I saw my most recent neurologist I had to wait a 1 month & I was thrilled to get in so quickly .

I've been on Keppra myself & the side-effects were too much for me. Vitamine B6 is supposed to help with that. Your wife might want to give it a try.

Try not to stress too much about your wife having another seizure. From the sounds of what you've said they aren't too frequent, keep reminding yourself of this.

Epileric

[dfwtexas]

Welcome, this is a great place for information and support. I started having seizures last year at age 47. For me, this place has been the best for learning how to accept my E. It is funny that you mention the "time-bomb"...I told my friends when I got diagnosed that I was a walking timebomb. But now I don't feel that way...now I feel I have a condition that needs to be monitered closely, but I don't feel like I will drop dead any minute. I have an adult son that lives with me and I know he still has some issues dealing with it. He calls me constantly if I am home alone! But the rest of my family does not want to talk about my seizures and get very uncomfortable if I mention it. I sent the link to the Newsweek article to all my friends and family and only one friend called me to discuss it. I am pretty sure my family didn't even read it.
Education and support about seizures is really important. This place provides a great group of people and the seizures are as different as each individual here. Spend some time on here reading up on seizures and be supportive of your wife...that support is very important in helping her!
Glad you found us!

[RobinN]

Welcome Pastor -
My daughter began having seizures at the age of 14. She is now 17 and we are beginning to manage them better, now that we know that hers too are caused by hypoglycemia.

The problem with the doctors giving you the label of EPILEPSY is that they then begin to treat the label and not the cause. Has any one been working with her to detox the liver? Liver health is so important in healing blood and blood sugar disorders. Adding meds to it just makes it more complicated. Then the body has to learn how to function with this new toxin in the system.

My daughter is med free and we approach her care by making nutritional changes, vitamin and minerals for brain and body support, and neurofeedback, and she exercises every day. It has made such an improvement in her overall health, but has not been done on the short cut. I do believe that most people that go to a doctor want a quick fix. However, my wish is for the conventional medical doctors to treat the whole body and not just attempt to stop seizures. They will only be a bandaid in the longterm. Eventually the bandaid will need to be replaced, as break through seizures are bound to occur.

Total body health is the only way to train this beast. IMO