Linda Peters |
Last Activity: 08-13-2009 10:30 AM
About Me
- About Linda Peters
- Seizure Background
- During puberty I began having grand mal, petit mal, and psychomotor seizures (auras preceding grand mal) that I called "hazy spells". Grand mals came in the morning only, usually when I was tired or stressed, and were followed by extreme headaches and sleepiness. Petit mals were random occurrences. I was 18 or 19 before a medication--at that time an experimental one--controlled the seizures.
I discontinued that after suffering three miscarriages, and took no medication but had no seizures for most of my adult years. Exceptions were when I would party too late then try to get up and function the next morning. At some point in my 40's I went back onto Dilantin, which hadn't worked for me as a teenager, and stayed on it for 15-20 years, mostly seizure free.
During my 60's, I had grand mal seizures on three occasions, and the recovery was long and difficult, with cognitive gaps lingering for weeks. On one occasion, I broke a hip. I'm now on Keppra, which seems to adequately control seizures, but am aware of what may be side effects (or just aging): arthritis, joint pain, kidney stones, dizziness, skin rashes.